COURSE UNIT TITLE

: AMERICAN URBAN EXPERIENCE IN LITERATURE

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
AKE 6047 AMERICAN URBAN EXPERIENCE IN LITERATURE ELECTIVE 3 0 0 5

Offered By

American Culture and Literature

Level of Course Unit

Third Cycle Programmes (Doctorate Degree)

Course Coordinator

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR YEŞIM BAŞARIR

Offered to

American Culture and Literature

Course Objective

The aim of this course is to enlarge the intellectual awareness on literary representation of cities as portrayed by American authors.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   To understand the symbols and metaphors associated with the city
2   To examine the cross-textual signifiers of city in the West
3   To develop a heightened cultural consciousness of city in American literature
4   To analyze the historical and cultural layers of American city in short fiction
5   To problematize the literary stereotypes identified with the American city

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 City in Art and Literature Introduction to the course content
2 American Urban Culture "The American City: The Old Knot of Contrarity" (Neil Campbell)
3 Wandering through the Streets as an Urban Experience: Gothic Encounters "Man of the Crowd" (E.A.Poe)
4 Wandering through the Streets as an Urban Experience: Postmodern Puzzles CITY OF GLASS (Paul Auster)
5 Wandering through the Streets as an Urban Experience: Aesthetics of Idling and Flaneur Thought "Painter of Modern Life" (Charles Baudelaire) and examples from American literature
6 Wandering through the Streets as an Urban Experience: Visual Representations of Sorrow Paintings of Edward Hopper
7 Poetics of Loneliness as an Urban Experience Examples from American poetry (T.S. Eliot, Allen Ginsberg, Adrienne Rich, Denise Levertov)
8 Decay and Loss as an Urban Experience: Post-apocalyptic Spaces Examples from American cinema
9 Dystopia as an Urban Experience: Counter Civilizations Examples from American literature
10 Poverty as an Urban Experience: Practicing Survival Examples from American poetry (PATERSON - William Carlos Williams and poems of Gwendolyn Brooks)
11 Homelessness as an Urban Experience: Streets Becoming a Home Examples from American fiction (IRONWEED - William Kennedy)
12 Homelessness as an Urban Experience: Streets Becoming a Home Examples from American cinema
13 Migration as an Urban Experience: The Urban Sublime Naturalism in American literature
14 City in American Culture and Society: Conclusion General evaluation of the course content

Recomended or Required Reading

Campbell, Neil, Alasdair Kean. "American City," American Cultural Studies: An Introduction to American Culture. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Gelfant, Blanche Housman, "The City Novel as Literary Genre," The American City Novel, University of Oklahoma Press, 1954.
Mumford, Lewis. The City in History. Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961.
Hurm, Gerd. Fragmented Urban Images: The American City in Modern Fiction From Stephen Crane to Thomas Pynchon.Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1991.
Infante, Guillermo Cabrera. Şehirler Kitabı. Istanbul: Türkiye Iş Bankası Yayınları, 2003.
Kılıçbay, Mehmet Ali. Şehirler ve Kentler. Imge Kitapevi Yayınları, 2000.
Machor, James L. Pastoral Cities: Urban Ideals and the Symbolic Landscape of America. Madison: The U of Wisconsin P, 1987.
Marx, Leo. The Machine in the Garden. New York: Oxford U P, 1999.
Siegle, Robert. Suburban Ambush: Downtown Writing and Fiction of Insurgery. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins U P, 1989

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

1. Courses: Of the teaching strategies, courses are the primary components of instruction to lay the theoretical basis of subject and introduce the reading material relevant to the studied topic. Courses display a central role in getting to know the terms and concepts defining the topic.
2. In-class discussions: In-class discussions aim at questioning the applicability of course material to diverse situations, thus increasing the factual tangibility of the information. The last hour of each weekly lecture is reserved for discussions.
3. Visual presentations and films: It includes the in-class projection of visual data such as pictures, illustrations, photographs, and maps as well as films and
documentaries complementing the topic.

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 MTE MIDTERM EXAM
2 FCG FINAL COURSE GRADE
3 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE MTE * 0.40 + FCG* 0.60
4 RST RESIT
5 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTE * 0.40 + RST* 0.60


*** Resit Exam is Not Administered in Institutions Where Resit is not Applicable.

Further Notes About Assessment Methods

Exams are to inquire the correct use of terms and concepts profiling the course material and question the major thinking patterns acquired in the course.

Assessment Criteria

1. Exam questions aim at measuring student's performance on discussing the social, cultural and ideological controversies, and helping him develop an analytical and critical viewpoint.
2. Depending on analytical approach, question may require multiple responses.
3. Questions examine the student's ability for combining theory with literary and intellectual history in handling issues of discussion.

Language of Instruction

English

Course Policies and Rules

1. Students are required to attend 70% of the course schedule.
2. Exam questions are based on open-book and open-note principle to improve students' thinking abilities and encourage them for higher cognitive responses.
3. Any form of cheating in the exam will result in a zero grade and also in disciplinary action.
4. Midterm exam covers the topics instructed in class from the beginning of semester to the day of the exam. Final exam covers the topics instructed in class after the midterm exam to the end of the semester, with some vital references to the content of the midterm exam.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

yesim.basarir@deu.edu.tr
ext: 18514

Office Hours

Monday 14:00-15:00

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 13 3 39
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 13 4 52
Preparation for midterm exam 1 10 10
Preparation for final exam 1 5 5
Preparing assignments 1 5 5
Preparing presentations 2 3 6
Reading 13 1 13
Midterm 1 3 3
Final 1 3 3
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 136

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10PO.11PO.12PO.13PO.14PO.15PO.16PO.17
LO.155554534
LO.255554534
LO.355554534
LO.455554534
LO.555554534