Literature and culture today: Cringy Narratives, or On the Limits of Sincerity. “Brief Interviews With Hideous Men”, “A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius” and “Funeral Girl” 2510-f1ENG2S-LCT-CN

The class aims to introduce the students to one of the most recent movements in American Literature, New Sincerity, via a selection of short stories by some of the most accomplished contemporary writers: David Foster Wallace, Dave Eggers, and their most recent disciple, Don Hough.

Over the course of our meetings, we will be proposing sets of questions that will then form the backbone of our discussions on such topics as loneliness, consumerism and the aesthetics of commercial culture.

The classes are going to be organized around formulating and addressing sets of key issues that each of the stories puts forward and confronting them with the sets of crucial problems proposed by the course instructor.

Total student workload

5 ECTS points = 125 hours 30 hours - seminar 25 hours - reading and preparation for classes 20 hours - individual consultations (face to face and via the Internet) 20 hours - writing and editing the midterm essay 30 hours - writing and editing the final essay

Learning outcomes - knowledge

W1: The graduate has basic knowledge of the American New Sincerity literature and is familiar with its distinctive features (K_W04), W2: The graduate has basic knowledge of selected historical, social, religious, philosophical and political issues determining the development of the American New Sincerity literature (K_W08).

Learning outcomes - skills

U1: The graduate is able to place American New Sincerity literature in a general historical and cultural context (K_U09), U2: The graduate is able to analyze and interpret contemporary American New Sincerity literature with the use of basic terminology and appropriate methods (K_U11), U3: The graduate is able to recognize the literary conventions of the contemporary American New Sincerity literature (K_U10).

Learning outcomes - social competencies

K1: The graduate is able to work and assume various roles in a team whilst analyzing a selection of contemporary American New Sincerity literature (K_K02), K2: The graduate appreciates the tradition and cultural heritage of the United States of America and is aware of their responsibility for preserving them (K_K05).

Expository teaching methods

- description

Exploratory teaching methods

- brainstorming
- biographical
- seminar
- case study

Course coordinators

Jarosław Hetman

Assessment criteria

Responsive participation in classes - K1, U1, U3. - 20% of the final grade

Midterm essay: W1, W2, W3, U2, U3. - 30 % of the final grade

Final essay: W1, W2, W3, U1, U2, U3. - 50% of the final grade

60%-71% = 3.

72%-76% = 3+

77%-84% = 4.

85%-90% = 4+

91%-100% = 5.

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 2510-f1ENG2S-LCT-CN in USOSweb