The Second World War and its Aftermath

Background

1. What social conditions pervade America in the aftermath of World War II?
2. What new scientific developments are taking place?
3. What insecurities do Americans face?
4. What new developments take place in
• Drama
• Poetry
• Fiction

5. Define the multiculturalism of post-war America.

Reading Assignments

Tennessee Williams—“The Glass Menagerie”

Gwendolyn Brooks—“a song in the front yard” and “We Real Cool”

Eudora Welty—“A Memory”

A Century Ends and a New Millennium Begins

Sylvia Plath—“Morning Song,” “Daddy” and “Lady Lazarus”

Joyce Carol Oates—“Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?”

The Globalization of American Literature

Saul Bellow—“A Silver Dish”

Required Journals

1. Discuss the frustration and disillusionment that consumes the characters in Williams’ play.
2. Discuss the portrait of black urban life Brooks’ portrays in her works.
3. Discuss Welty’s use of visual images in “A Memory.”
4. Characterize the speaker in Plath’s poem “Lady Lazarus.”
5. Discuss the terror and ---- response to it in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.”
6. Discuss the father/son relationship in “A Silver Dish.”