For your final assignment, you are tasked with tracing a careful development of American literature, from its earliest days to its current state. This should mostly be in your own words.
How did it start, how did it shift and evolve and grow? What were influences that led to this growth and evolution? How would you describe the current state of contemporary American literature? Are there other emerging periods we will soon see (e.g. Vietnam-era literature, Brat Pack & 1980’s literature, etc.)? How does identity come into play?
To do this assignment, you will have to refer to at least four of the major periods (e.g. Romanticism, Modernism) and at least six works we have studied in class with specific examples and your ideas. This should be in the form of an essay, not notes, an outline, or a presentation.
Length: 4-6 pages (more is fine).
*You are also allowed to use two secondary sources of research to lend authority to what you are saying, but I don’t want research and this type of scholarship to be the main focus of this paper. I am looking for your words and your original overview, so please use research sparingly. This part is not required, however, since the main focus is your original version of this development.
List of Works that can be Used in order of class scheduele
Navajo Origin Myth
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Rasin in the Sun (Play)
“If I told Him, A complete Portrait of Picasso” by gertude Stein
Sweat by Hurston
A good man is hard to fine by O’Connor
“The Wind” by Lauren Groff
Sonnys Blues by Baldwin
Daddy by Plath
Everyday Use by Walker
A temporary matter by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Man to Send Rain Clouds by Leslie Marmon Silko
Eight Bites by Carmen Maria Machado
Wont you celebrate with me by Lucille Clifton
Black Girl Going Mad by Rivers Solomon
What its like being queer by Julia Serano
Little Prayer by Danez Smith
