NORAM2305 - Literature and Society in the United States and Canada
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Course content
This course tries to show how a selection of American and Canadian novels and short stories can be studied as a means to gain insight into a number of important aspects of contemporary American and Canadian society. The primary focus will be on the ways in which these texts reveal various facets of what may still be called “the American/Canadian mind” at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century. An attempt will also be made to establish a comparative perspective on these two societies that are so similar and yet also quite distinctive in a number of ways.
The selected texts will also be studied as great works of art on their own literary premises, but this approach will still be subsidiary to the primary purpose of the course, which is to use the literature as documents of social and cultural history. About three quarters of the texts will be American and one quarter Canadian, and the great majority of them will be from the last thirty years of American and Canadian literary history.
Learning outcomes
After completing this course you will have:
- acquired insight into the complex and multi-faceted North American societies.
- improved your ability to handle written and spoken (American) English.
Admission
Students at UiO must apply for courses in StudentWeb.
International applicants, if you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
The examination in this course is not available for external candidates. Only students admitted to the course may sit for the examination.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisites
The course can be taken as a first course. Admission to the course is required.
Recommended prior knowledge
The course assumes a good proficiency in written and oral English
Overlap
Overlaps with NORAM4305 - Literature and Society in the United States and Canada.
Teaching
Seminar, two hours per week for ten weeks, 20 hours in all.
The seminar format assumes active student participation in the discussion of the texts, based on a list of questions related to each text that will be distributed at the beginning of the semester. The course will not use Fronter, except for the submission of student essays at the end of the semester.
The course has obligatory attendance (75% of class time).
Exam information
The submission of exam papers takes place on Fronter. Read about the submission procedures here:http://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/ilos/eksamensintruks%20engelsk.html
Students are required to familiarize themselves with submission procedures and attend courses at the Student-IT service if necessary.
The course uses portfolio assessment, where the portfolio consists of a five-page essay plus a two-hour classroom exam.
Assessment and grading
The results will be found on the StudentWeb three weeks after the exam is completed.
Course grades are awarded on a descending scale using alphabetic grades from A to E for passes and F for fail. Read more about the grading system .
Explanations and appeals
Students can request an explanation of their grades, and can also appeal against their grades or make a complaint about formal examination errors. Read more about explanations and appeals
Possibility of make-up exams and re-takes
You can usually resit an exam, but the conditions depend on whether you had a valid reason for absence from the regular exam. Read more about resitting an exam .
Withdrawing from exams and limits on re-takes
A student can sit for this exam up to 3 times. If a student wishes to withdraw from the exam, s/he must do this in StudentWeb at least two weeks prior to the first day of the exam. Failure to do so will be counted as one of the three opportunities to sit for the exam.
Exam options for students with special needs
Students may apply for access to alternative exam resources or exam forms on the basis of chronic illness and/or special needs that create a marked disadvantage to other students in the exam situation. Mothers who are breastfeeding may apply for extra time to complete the exam.
Evaluation of this course
Feedback from our students is essential to us in our efforts to ensure and further improve the high quality of our programmes and courses. As a student at the University of Oslo you will therefore be asked to participate in various types of evaluation of our courses, facilities and services. All courses are subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students on a particular course to participate in a more comprehensive, in-depth evaluation of this course, a so called "periodic evaluation".
Contact us
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages
Visiting address:
Niels Treschows hus, Level 7
Visiting hours:
Monday - Friday 12.30-15.00
Postal address:
P.O. Box 1003 - Blindern
0315 Oslo
Fax: 22856887
E-mail: henvendelser@ilos.uio.no
Web: http://www.hf.uio.no/ilos