ENGL 225-02, Southern Literature, Fall 2008

Abstract

We will read, analyze, and write about the works of Southern American fiction written and published during the 20th century. Beginning with two novels that offer contrasting accounts of the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras, we will continue to chart changes in the region via novels and short stories that provide a complex picture of the south's attempt to come to terms with its antebellum myths. The course will also explore the centrality of race in the Jim Crow period, as well as the brooding religious eschatology that has shaped the region's collective sense of destiny. Writing assignments will conduct close readings of individual texts. There will also be two exams focusing on the reading assignments.