AMERICAN LITERATURE

This course focuses on three major Canadian writers of the late twentieth century: Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro and Michael Ondaatjie. Students are expected to:
1. know in depth representative texts from the works of the three authors under scrutiny;
2. understand the ingredients of what is meant by Canadianness in the three contexts that emerge from the texts under scrutiny (the wilderness, rural Canada, urban Canada);
3. skillfully handle stylistic and formal concepts, applying them to the texts in the syllabus contrastively with special attention to the effect they create on readers;
4. read and discuss knowledgeably the secondary materials in the syllabus, formulating judgements;
5. analyze and contextualize primary and secondary texts with self-direction and autonomy.

Recognize and compare the texts in the syllabus as well as articulate with ease their formal and thematic features.
Mastery in handling secondary materials in order to enter in a critical conversation on primary materials.

Advanced knowledge of English language

The course presents some representative texts (both novels and short stories) by three writers who have been prominent in Canadian literature in the second half of the twentieth century. The texts in the syllabus help to explore the three contexts that are deemed crucial for an understanding of the concept of Canadianness: the wilderness, the rural and the urban contexts.

Margaret Atwood
Primary texts:
Surfacing
From Wilderness Tips (“Hairball”, “The Bog Man”, “Death by Landscape”, “Wilderness Tips”)
Secondary texts:
Atwood, Margaret. Survival. 25-68
——. On Being a Woman Writer.
Bouson, Brooks. “Cultural Feminism, Female Madness, and Rage in Surfacing.” In Brutal Choreographies. Oppositional Strategies and Narrative Design in the Novels of Margaret Atwood. 39-61.
Davidson, Arnold. “Negotiating Wilderness Tips.” In Approaches to Teaching Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Other Works. 180-186.
Atwood, Margaret. Paris Review. The Art of Fiction. No. 121
http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2262/the-art-of-fiction-no-121-margaret-atwood

Alice Munro:
primary texts:
From Dear Life, "Dear Life"
From Dance of the Happy Shades, The Peace of Utrecht"
From Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (“Floating Bridge” “Nettles”)
secondary texts:
Munro, Alice. Paris Review. The Art of Fiction. No. 137
http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1791/the-art-of-fiction-no-137-alice-munro
Blodgett, E.D. Alice Munro. Pp. 1-13
Martin, W.R. Alice Munro. Paradox and Parallel. Pp. 1-13; 187-206.

Michael Ondaatje
primary texts:
In the Skin of a Lion
Secondary texts:
Barbour, Douglass. Michael Ondaatje. 1-9;179-205.

All course materials (with the exclusion of the two novels, Surfacing and In the Skin of the Lion) are available on moodle.

The written exam consists of brief questions, and two Close Readings. It aims at assessing the student’s skills at:
1. applying a specific and precise vocabulary in discussing the relationship between formal choices and thematic issues (brief questions);
2. recognizing the crucial thematic and formal features of the primary texts in the syllabus demonstrating the capacity to handle the critical materials flexibly and appropriately (brief questions);
3. articulating interpretive autonomous judgments while entering into a critical conversation with the texts in the syllabus (Close Readings).

Duration and evaluation:
the exam must be completed in 3 hours. Each question and close reading has its own value (32 points all in all).

written

The grading scale is determined by:
- knowledge of primary texts (range: 10 points);
- ability to explore the topic in depth (range: 5 points);
- detailed and precise knowledge of the formal issues involved (range: 5 points);
- clarity in structuring the argument (range: 5 points);
- ability to articulate the discussion independently entering in conversation with secondary materials (range: 5 points).

Lectures and class discussion + forum partiipation