This course is offered in the first semester. Its main goal is to to provide students with an overview of the literary, artistic and cultural production of ethnic “minority groups” in the United States. For this purpose, students will look at the way the artistic production of these communities portrays themes such as life in America, the history of the group, social relationships, racism, stereotypes, multiculturalism and other basic themes and concepts for the construction of their group and individual identities. Students should develop critical understanding of these bodies of literature, as well as familiarity with the field of ethnic studies, upon which we will base many of our readings of the literary works.

This subject belongs to the English Literature Module. Thus, it aims at achieving the Module competences:

M06CM01. – To understand the English language and to use it properly through the reading of different literary texts.

M06CM02.- To examine literature written in English exploring the interaction of the literary texts with the cultural and historical context in English-speaking countries.

M06CM03.- To understand, analyze and interpret critically literature in English, using adequate text analysis techniques and to transmit and discuss it in groups and individually.

MO6CM04.- To understand the role of literature in the genesis of personal and collective ideas related to fields of general interest, such as history, social relations or gender.

M06CM05.- To use appropriate critical approaches, taking into account the diverse nature of the texts to be analyzed.

M06CM06.- To think and develop a critical and respectful attitude towards diversity.



The achievement of the Module competences above will entail the fulfillment of the following Degree Competences:

G001.- To be able to produce and understand any type of oral and written text in English.

G002 .-To know the history, civilization and culture of the English-speaking countries.

G004.- To understand, analyze and interpret English literature and to be able to evaluate critically texts and documents in English.

G007.- To be able to relate the specific knowledge of the degree with other areas and disciplines and to transmit that knowledge in further studies in order to favour conciliatory and tolerant attitudes towards multilingual and multicultural diversity

G008.- To be able to work autonomously and in teams, making use of the techniques and tools acquired.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course the student will be able to:

• Identify the group of writers and representative works in the field of U.S. ethnic literatures, being able to contextualize the literary production with the social and cultural context in which it is developed.

• Analyze the texts critically, by means of using different sources, and express individual critical thoughts correctly in their written and oral production.

• Explain one’s ideas in the context of group work, using different bibliographical sources and relating them to the proposed literary works.

• Discuss critically the role of literature and the arts for the construction and deconstruction of social and cultural stereotypes.





This subject favors training in the development of ODS 4,5,10,16 and 17 proposed by the UN, as well as ODS 18 of the UPV/EHU.

• Unit 1.The New Literatures and the Canon

• Unit 2.The Promised Land/Getting to America

• Unit 3. Living(in)America/Fighting Stereotypes

• Unit 4. On Gender, Class and Ethnicity

The course is intended as a fully practical one. The first weeks of the course will be devoted to developing a group project, where students will work on a different aspect of the ethnic communities we will we dealing with. The second part of the course will aim at analysing several literary and visual texts, paying special attention to the issue of representation. Thus, students will have to prepare some GROUP PRESENTATIONS ON DIFFERENT HISTORICAL ISSUES that will serve as a contextualisation of the literary bodies we will be working on. Moreover, students will have to propose a CLOSE READING OF A GIVEN TEXT and bring it to class for discussion in pairs. Thus, students will have to work in two ways:



- group work on specific historical, contextual issues

- pair work on specific literary texts

- individual critical essays

• Final Assessment System
• Tools and qualification percentages:
  • Oral defense (%): 10
  • Realization of Practical Work (exercises, cases or problems) (%): 10
  • Individual works (%): 70
  • Team projects (problem solving, project design)) (%): 10

The type of assessment is continuous. The final grade for this course will be formulated based on the following criteria:





1.Three essays on the dates marked in the proposed schedule (70%)



2. Group work/oral presentations (10+5%)

3. Pair work/oral text analysis(10+5%)







Information on the use of resources and materials for the assessment tasks/exam:



Exam: The use of mobile or electronic devices, notes, books is not allowed

Home-assignments: the work submitted by the students must be their own work and must have been written completely by themselves. The students must identify and include the source of all facts, ideas, opinions and viewpoints of others through in-text referencing and the relevant sources should all be included in the list of references at the end of their work. Direct quotations from books, journal articles, internet sources or any other source must be acknowledged and the sources cited must be identified in the list of references.



Withdrawal from the Continuous Assessment: All students have the right to be evaluated according to the final evaluation procedure independently of whether or not they have participated in the continuous assessment module. In order to withdraw from the continuous assessment, they must write the instructor responsible for the course expressing their desire to do so. Students can withdraw within the first 9 weeks of the course, according to the academic calendar of their centre. The form that has to be filled in is available at the website of the faculty http://www.ehu.eus/eu/web/letrak/idazkaritza

Withdrawal from an Exam Call: Withdrawal from a call will be assessed as “no grade reported” [no presentado/a, ez aurkeztua].

1. In the case of continuous assessment,

a. If the final exam is worth more than 40%: not sitting the exam on the official date of the exam qualifies as an automatic withdrawal from the corresponding call.

b. If the final exam is worth 40% or less: all students can withdraw from a call until at least one month before the date of the end of the teaching schedule of the corresponding course. This withdrawal must be submitted in writing to the instructor responsible for the course.

2. In the case of final assessment, not sitting the exam on the official date of the exam qualifies as an automatic withdrawal from the corresponding call.

The new regulation about assessment can be found at the following link:

http://www.ehu.eus/es/web/estudiosdegrado-gradukoikasketak/ebaluaziorako-arautegia

he mark will be based on an exam (50%) and and 8/10 page essay.







Information on the use of resources and materials:



Exam: The use of mobile or electronic devices, notes, books is not allowed

Home-assignments: the work submitted by the students must be their own work and must have been written completely by themselves. The students must identify and include the source of all facts, ideas, opinions and viewpoints of others through in-text referencing and the relevant sources should all be included in the list of references at the end of their work. Direct quotations from books, journal articles, internet sources or any other source must be acknowledged and the sources cited must be identified in the list of references.

The regulation about assessment can be found at the following link:

http://www.ehu.eus/es/web/estudiosdegrado-gradukoikasketak/ebaluaziorako-arautegia

Tentative selection of texts:

1. Tapahonso, Lucy,“In 1864”.
2. Momaday,Scott. Extract from The Way to Rainy Mountain.****
3. A selection of Angel Island poetry
4. A Selection of the Japanese Internment Camps poetry
5. Anzaldúa, Gloria, extracts from Borderland/La Frontera
6. Tan, Amy, extract from the Joy Luck Club.
7. Hurston, Zora,“How it feels to be colored me
8. Jacobs,Harriet,“Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
P9. Ellison, Ralph, Extract from Invisible Man, Prologue
10. Morrison, Toni, extract from The Bluest Eye
11. Okada, John, extract from No-No Boy
12. Serros,Michele,extract from “How to be a Chicana Role Model”
13. Lemus,Felicia Luna,“Like Son”
14. Erdrich, Louise. Love Medicine
15.. Silko, Leslie Marmon. “Tony’s Story”
16. Otsuka, Julie. Extract from The Buddha in the Attic
18. Gaspar de Alba, Alicia. Extract from Desert Blood
18. Kingston, Maxine Hong. Woman Warrior

Basic bibliography

- Afro-American Writers before the Harlem Renaissance. Detroit: Gale Research, 1986.



- Afro-American Writers from the Harlem Renaissance to 1940. Detroit: Gale Research, 1987.



- Cheung, King-Kok. Asian American Literature : An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1988.



- Chin, Frank. Aiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian American Writers. New York: A Mentor Book, 1974.



- Hurtner, Gordon. American Literature, American Culture. New York: Oxford University PresS, 1999.



- Lomelí, Francisco, ed. Chicano Literature: A Reference Guide. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1985.



- Mintz, Steven, ed. 1995. Native American Voices: a History and Anthology. St. James, New York: Brandywine.



- Nelson, Emmanuel Sampath, ed. The Greenwood Encyclopaedia of" Multiethnic American Literature. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005.



- Roche Rico, Barbara and Mano, Sandra. American Mosaic. Multicultural Readings in Contexts. Boston: Houghton Migfflin Company, 1991.



- Villanueva, Tino. Chicanos: Antología histórica y literaria. México: Fondo de Cultura económica, 1980.



- Wiget, Andrew. Native American Literature. Boston: Tawyne, 1985.