G2 E2: American Literature from the Civil War to the Turn of the Century

  • Course Outcomes (COs)

  1. CO-1.  They will survey the prominent works of American literature up to the turn of the century.
  2. CO-2.  Students will be able to comprehend the work of Mark Twain in the light of Bildungsroman.
  3. CO-3.  Students will be able to appreciate the experimental and narrative strategies through a detailed study of the prescribed text.
  4. CO-4.  Students will identify the various trends in American fiction at the turn of the century.
  5. CO-5. Students will be able to interpret and critically appreciate the late 19th Century American poetry.


  • Syllabus :

               Unit 1. Bildungsroman: Mark Twain (1835 1910) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)

               Unit 2. Narrative Techniques: Henry James (1843 1916) Turn of the Screw (1898)


(Note: The course is equally shared with the Contributory Teacher. S/He dealt with the remaining two units of the Course: Unit 3. American novel at the turn of the century: Edith Wharton (1862 1937) and Unit 4. Late 19th Century American Poetry)

  • Reference Books:

  1. Ford, Boris (ed.). The New Pelican Guide to English Literature, Vol.9: American Literature. London: Penguin, 1995.
  2. Gray, Richard. A History of American Literature. 2nd ed. Chichester, West Sussex: Blackwell, 2012.
  3. Lauter, Paul (ed.). A Companion to American Literature and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell, 2010.
  4. Robinson, Forrest G., Ed. The Cambridge Companion to Mark Twain. Cambridge: CUP, 1995.