EN2WAPN: Writing America: Perspectives on the Nation

Module code: EN2WAPN

Module provider: English Literature; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

ECTS credits: 10

Level: 5

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Professor David Brauner, email: d.brauner@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s): Before taking this module, you must have at least 40 credits of EN-coded modules at Part 1 (except for visiting students) (Open)

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2026/7

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 25 March 2026

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module is concerned with literary constructions of American national identity in American literature from a range of different perspectives.  We will focus on some of the ways imaginative writers have perceived and defined their sense of America as a New World in relation to the Old World of Europe and also study the way they helped to shape or challenge the nation’s sense of itself as culturally distinct.  We will examine both a diversity of American voices and the emergence of common preoccupations, including myths of the frontier, Manifest Destiny, personal and political liberty, and the construction of race, gender and sexuality. 

One focus of this module will be on the construction of national identity as tied to questions of race, especially as expressed in Indigenous Aboriginal (Native American) voices and the writing of Frederick Douglass (an ex-slave) as set against the now controversial Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. We will also study the way the texts on this module both celebrate and problematise ideas of the frontier and American expansionism (‘Manifest Destiny’). We will read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and explore how these two novels articulate their concerns over how to express America and American identity in literary terms; and through the work of two very different poets ,Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, we will examine their distinctively American poetic expression in terms of questions of gender and sexuality and their different concerns with the place of the individual in society, and with spirituality and personal liberty.  

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate broad, deep, and coherent knowledge of American literature in its principal modes and genres: across poetry and prose; covering a vital historical period
2. Apply discipline-specific practices of close reading, interpretative analysis and critical argument
3. articulate their own and other people’s ideas concisely, accurately, and clearly
4. Make sound judgments on complex and culturally sensitive issues, and to communicate them in an appropriate and effective manner

Module content

Since the module is concerned with literary constructions of America and American identities it requires an examination of both the diversity of American voices and a sense of shared preoccupations. The set texts for study will include Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry FinnFinn, Life of Black Hawk, or Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak and poetry by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson​.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module is taught by a combination of weekly in-person lectures and discussion-based seminars focusing on the close analysis of the set texts, where critical and theoretical issues raised in the reading are the subject of discussion as they arise from the close readings. 

Study hours

At least 22 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each calendar day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three calendar days;
• where the piece of work is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in you Individual Learning Plan), the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three calendar days of the deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

Where a piece of work is submitted late after a deadline which has been revised owing to an extension granted through the Assessment Adjustments policy and process (self-certified or otherwise), it will be subject to the maximum penalty (i.e., considered to be more than three calendar days late). This will also apply when such an extension is used in conjunction with a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

The formative exercise is an opportunity for students to write an essay plan for assignment 2 and to discuss that plan with the seminar leader in person. The essay plan is not marked but full feedback on it is provided in discussion. This feedback supports the development of Assignment 2 (Essay).

Reassessment

Additional costs