E 436 - American Fiction, 1945 - Present

Prerequisite

One course in literature.

Description

American Fiction, 1945 - Present (E 436) is an upper-division literature course. The purpose of the course is to acquaint students with representative works and critical developments in American (US) fiction [primarily the novel] since 1945.

This course:

• investigates how, since 1945, the genre of fiction in the United States has undergone interesting and provocative bifurcations (contextually, formalistically, polically, etc.);
• looks at how the fiction that has been produced in the US since 1945 both works within and deviates from a number of important critical frameworks; and
• examines representative works that illustrate the diversity of expression found in the fiction written in the US during this period.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

• recognize various key trends (i.e., formal, critical, expressive) in fiction written in the US since 1945;
• see reading as a dynamic--not static--interpretative act;
• argue successfully from (or for) a given critical or interpretative position; and
• do so by writing about literature from a critical/analytical--rather than impressionistic--standpoint.

This course can be applied towards:

• Liberal Arts (B.A.)

Textbooks and Materials

Textbooks and materials can be purchased at the CSU Bookstore unless otherwise indicated.

Required

• Beloved
  Toni Morrison
  ISBN: 1400033411
• Breakfast of Champions
  Kurt Vonnegut Jr
  ISBN: 0385334206
• Butchers Crossing
  John Williams
  ISBN: 1590171981
• Play it as It Lays
  Joan Didion
  ISBN: 0374529949
• Requiem for a Dream
  Herbert Selby JR.
  ISBN: 1560252480
• Revolutionary Road
  Richard Yates
  ISBN: 0375708448
• The Dud Avocado
  Elaine Dundy
  ISBN: 1590172329
• The Sheltering Sky
  Paul Bowles
  ISBN: 0141023444

Instructors

Kevin Foskin
(970) 491-2259
kevin@lamar.colostate.edu