COURSE UNIT TITLE

: THE AMERICAN MEMOIR

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
AKE 5061 THE AMERICAN MEMOIR ELECTIVE 3 0 0 5

Offered By

American Culture and Literature

Level of Course Unit

Second Cycle Programmes (Master's Degree)

Course Coordinator

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ESRA ÇÖKER

Offered to

American Culture and Literature

Course Objective

This course aims to provide a critical understanding of selected memoirs and autobiographies of contemporary American authors.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   By focusing on the issues of narration, memory, identity, examine the historical development of memoir writing in the United States from the 19th century onwards.
2   Understand the role and function of storytelling in memoir writing.
3   Discuss the ideological and philosophical framework of memoir writing.
4   Distinguish and critique the relationship between self and the other, truth and fiction and the public and private in memoir writing.
5   Analyze American memoirs from different textual and critical angles.

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Introduction Class Discussion
2 Memoir: Definitions and Disctinctions Class Discussion
3 Memoir in Historical Perspective Class Discussion
4 Autobiographical Acts Class Discussion
5 Autobiographical Acts Class Discussion
6 Remembering the Bonehouse Class Discussion
7 Remembering the Bonehouse Class Discussion
8 Class Discussion Class Discussion
9 When I was Puerto Rican Class Discussion
10 When I was Puerto Rican Class Discussion
11 Womenfolks Class Discussion
12 Womenfolks Class Discussion
13 Composing A Life Class Discussion
14 Composing A Life Class Discussion

Recomended or Required Reading

Primary Sources
Abbott, shirley. Womenfolks: Growing Up Down South.
Bateson, Mary Catherine. Composing a Life. New York: Plume-Penguin, 1989.
Mairs, Nancy. Remembering the Bonehouse. New York. Harper, 1990.
---. Plaintext: Essays by Nancy Mairs. Tucson: U of Arizona P,1986.
Santiago, Esmeralda. When I was puerto Rican. New York. vintage, 1994.

Secondary Sources:
Bruss, E. Autobiographical acts: The Changing Situation of a Literary Genre. Baltimore, John Hopkins UP, 1976.
Casey, Edward. Remembering: A Phenomenological Study. 2nd Ed. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2000.
Eakin, P.J. How Our Lives Became Stories: Making Selves. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1999.
Freeman, M. Rewriting the Self: History, Memory, Narrative. New York: Routledge, 1993.
Olney, J. Metaphors of Self: The Meaning of Autobiography. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1972.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

1. Courses: Courses are the primary components of instruction among teaching strategies 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 and 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

Will be announced.

Assessment Criteria

1. Midterm exam covers the topics instructed in class from the beginning of semester to the day of the exam.
2. 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.
3.Some exam questions are essay type questions that require students to use their analytical and comprehension skills.
4. Students are expected to give reference to the primary sources that they use

Language of Instruction

English

Course Policies and Rules

1. Students are required to attend 70% of the course schedule.
2. No dictionaries are allowed during the exam. All vocabulary used in the exam are covered previously in the class and expected to be familiar to the student.
3. Any form of cheating in the exam will result in a zero grade and also in disciplinary action.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

korpez@hotmail.com veya esra.coker@deu.edu.tr

Office Hours

Will be scheduled according to the annual program schedule.

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 13 3 39
Preparation for midterm exam 1 10 10
Preparation for final exam 1 15 15
Preparing presentations 1 15 15
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 13 4 52
Final 1 3 3
Midterm 1 3 3
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 137

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10PO.11PO.12PO.13PO.14PO.15PO.16
LO.14544355454
LO.234343555454
LO.35254435555
LO.45254435555
LO.55254435555