1 year, 6 months ago
What books will I read in an American Literature class?
When I take a literature class in college, what American classics can I expect to read? How many books does a literature class read in one semester?
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M$1 Answer
A few books that you can easily expect in an American Literature course are:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
nearly anything by Ernest Hemingway or William Faulkner
If you read any plays in the course, the choice will typically be The Crucible by Arthur Miller.
There are rarely female authors on these lists (particularly for early American literature as there were so few female authors at that point in time) and for that reason, a token female author is often appointed in any given syllabus. Common choices for that list of authors are Harriet Beecher Stowe and Toni Morrison.
There are many other books that commonly make the list, but those initial list above on the tend to be on nearly every syllabus. Of course, most American Literature classes don't cover only novels. You can likely expect a few short stories and novellas as well. Every literature course is different, but I would venture to say that you will likely come across four to five novels in a semester. Sometimes less, but rarely more than that unless the course moves very fast. Short stories will often be added in alongside a specific books as supplement reading.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
nearly anything by Ernest Hemingway or William Faulkner
If you read any plays in the course, the choice will typically be The Crucible by Arthur Miller.
There are rarely female authors on these lists (particularly for early American literature as there were so few female authors at that point in time) and for that reason, a token female author is often appointed in any given syllabus. Common choices for that list of authors are Harriet Beecher Stowe and Toni Morrison.
There are many other books that commonly make the list, but those initial list above on the tend to be on nearly every syllabus. Of course, most American Literature classes don't cover only novels. You can likely expect a few short stories and novellas as well. Every literature course is different, but I would venture to say that you will likely come across four to five novels in a semester. Sometimes less, but rarely more than that unless the course moves very fast. Short stories will often be added in alongside a specific books as supplement reading.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
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