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LIT 70 — 20th-Century American Novel Masterpieces

Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Michael Krasny
Duration: 10 weeks
Location: Online
Date(s): Jan 16—Mar 20
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Thursdays
 
Class Meeting Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Tuition: $550
   
Refund Deadline: Jan 18
 
Unit(s): 2
   
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 8:30 am (PT)
 
Quarter: Winter
Day: Thursdays
Duration: 10 weeks
Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 16—Mar 20
Unit(s): 2
Location: Online
 
Tuition: $550
 
Refund Deadline: Jan 18
 
Instructor(s): Michael Krasny
 
Recording Available: Yes
 
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 8:30 am (PT)
 
 
For many years, the idea of a so-called “Great American Novel” has held sway and become a kind of boilerplate aspiration for both writers and readers. The real question is, if there is a Great American Novel, what novel or novels deserve being designated as such and why? In this course, the instructor has selected three Great American Novels that make the grade—not so much because they represent the American experience, although each in its own way does, but because all three are profoundly American literary masterpieces and each is part of the nation’s literary pantheon. The three are Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, and James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain. All three have come to be recognized as brilliant thematic and stylistic works of literary art and great storytelling that take us into the depths of understanding American history, culture, and language.

For students who have previously taken the course, the structure is the same but the content is new. Past students are encouraged to join.

MICHAEL KRASNY
Professor of English, Emeritus, SF State

Michael Krasny is a literary critic, scholar, and broadcast journalist. He is the author of many books, including Off Mike, Spiritual Envy, and Let There Be Laughter; the co-author of Sound Ideas; and the creator and presenter of the audio lecture series Masterpieces of Short Fiction. He is the host of Grey Matter with Michael Krasny and former host of Forum on KQED Radio.

Textbooks for this course:

(Required) Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (ISBN 978-0486848549)
(Required) Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were WAtching God (ISBN 978-0060931414)
(Required) James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain (ISBN 978-0375701870)