Specialisation seminar in culture: Great American Novel: Infinite Jest 2510-f2ENG2S-SSC-GAN

The seminar aims to make the students familiar with the most recent developments in American long fiction. In the course of the seminar, the students will study in detail one of the most critically acclaimed contemporary American novels by a leading representative of his generation of authors, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace . In this work, the author brings together some of the most distinctive features of today's fiction in the United States of America: post-postmodernism, New Sincerity, neorealism, post-ironic writing and ecocriticism. By bringing together some of the most conventional features of fiction and new perspectives on writing, Wallace's novel is an excellent illustration of the developments in American fiction in the last three decades.

The classes will cover the following topics:

social changes in the United States after the year 1990

politics in relation to ecology

the role of the contemporary family in the USA

human relationships in terms of post-Freudian psychology

Total student workload

30 h - seminar (contact hours) 50 h - individual work: reading and preparing for classes 20 h - researching and preparing the midterm essay 25 h - researching and preparing the final essay

Learning outcomes - knowledge

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

Learning outcomes - skills

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

Teaching methods

Expository teaching methods: - description - discussion Exploratory teaching methods: - biographical - brainstorming - expert panels - seminar

Expository teaching methods

- narration
- discussion
- description

Exploratory teaching methods

- seminar
- brainstorming
- panel
- biographical

Course coordinators

Jarosław Hetman

Assessment criteria

ctive participation in classes - 20% (K_K02, K_K05),

Midterm Essay - 30% (K_W09, K_U10, K_U11),

Final Essay - 50% (K_W09, K_U10, K_U11).

60%-71% = 3.

72%-76% = 3+

77%-84% = 4.

85%-90% = 4+

91%-100% = 5.

In each of the criteria, the correct and precise use of the English language will be taken into consideration (up to 20% of the grade for the given component).

Additional information

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

Description of 2510-f2ENG2S-SSC-GAN in USOSweb