NCHU Course Outline

Course Name	(中) 美國文學:二十世紀迄今(3027)
	(Eng.) American Literature since the 20th Century
Offering Dept	Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Course Type	Required	Credits	3	Teacher	LIN, JIAN-GUANG
Department	Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures/Undergraduate	Language	中/英文	Semester	2026-SPRING
Course Description	This course is a survey of American literature, beginning with Walt Whitman to modernism. Students will read a diverse of literary works renowned in the history of American literature. Through reading these works, students are expected to have a mastery of a significant portion of American literary heritage, improve their skills in reading and analyzing literary works, and cultivate their critical thinking ability. Besides the instructor’s lecture, this course also requires discussion and active class participation, so it is very important that students taking this course prepare lessons before the class.
Prerequisites				self-directed learning in the course	Y

Relevance of Course Objectives and Core Learning Outcomes(%)			Teaching and Assessment Methods for Course Objectives
Course Objectives	Competency Indicators	Ratio(%)	Teaching Methods	Assessment Methods
By the end of the course, the students are expected to (1) identify key ideas, authors, and works in the history of American literature before 1865, (2) better understand the themes, metaphors, symbols, and other literary devices of a certain literary work, (3) analyze literary works from historical, cultural, or ideological perspectives.	1.Foreign language skills 2.Professional expertise	50 50	Discussion Lecturing	Attendance Oral Presentation Quiz
Course Content and Homework/Schedule/Tests Schedule
Week Course Content Week 1 Course Introduction; Walt Whitman: “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” Week 2 Quiz 1; Whitman: “Preface to Leaves of Grass,” “Spontaneous Me” Week 3 Quiz 2; Mark Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Week 4 Quiz 3; Booker T. Washington: Up from Slavery Week 5 Quiz 4; W. E. B. Du Bois: The Souls of Black Folk Week 6 Quiz 5; Stephen Crane: “The Open Boat” Week 7 Midterm Thematic Review: American Identity from Whitman to Naturalism Week 8 Midterm exam Week 9 Film watching: the American dream and Citizen Kane Week 10 Quiz 6; Robert Frost: “After Apple Picking,” “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”; Carl Sandburg: “Chicago,” “Fog,” “Grass” Week 11 Quiz 7; Wallace Stevens: “The Snow Man,” “The Idea of Order at Key West” Week 12 Quiz 8; William Carlos Williams: “This Is Just to Say,” “A Sort of a Song”; Ezra Pound: “In a Station of a Metro”; H. D.: “Helen” Week 13 Quiz 9; Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire Week 14 Quiz 10; T. S. Eliot: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Pruffrock” Week 15 Quiz 11; Philip K. Dick: “Precious Artifact” Week 16 Final Exam self-directed learning    01.Participation in professional forums, lectures, and corporate sharing sessions related to industry-government-academia-research exchange activities.
Evaluation
1. Midterm exam: 25% 2. Final exam: 25% 3. Group presentation: 10% 4. Weekly group assignments: 20% 5. Quizzes and attendance：20% 6. Voluntary class discussion and participation: 5%
Textbook & other References
Norton Anthology of American Literature.
Teaching Aids & Teacher's Website
Norton Anthology of American Literature (tenth shorter edition).
Office Hours
Tuesday 13:00-15:00, and/or by appointment.
Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs(Link URL)
04.Quality Education include experience courses：N

Please respect the intellectual property rights and use the materials legally.Please respect gender equality.
Update Date, year/month/day：2026/02/03 11:31:27	Printed Date, year/month/day：2026 / 3 / 10
The second-hand book website：http://www.myub.com.tw/