Bestseller Lists by Decade:

1900-1909	1910-1919	1920-1929	1930-1939	1940-1949
1950-1959	1960-1969	1970-1979	1980-1989	1990-1999

Course Description:

In this course, we will use 20th-century American literature as a means of understanding 20th-century America.  We will do so by reading best-selling novels and analyzing the causes and components of their popularity.  Supplementary reading will focus on the publishing industry and the profession of authorship in America, and it is worth adding that you can check out one or more movie versions of most of the assigned readings (and perhaps your own book as well) from the Robertson Media Center. In the spring of 2000, the course theme will be the evolution of childhood in the 20th century.

Required Reading:

• Electronic Reserve Readings and other hardcopy reserve reading (See March 29 entry on the Schedule of Readings for more information).
• Eleanor Porter, Pollyanna (1913)
• Booth Tarkington, Seventeen (1915) [text available online from the Etext Center]
• Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943)
• Grace Metalious, Peyton Place (1956)
• Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint (1969)
• William Blatty, The Exorcist (1971)
• You will also, of course, need to read the book you choose for your database assignments

Assignments:

Schedule of Readings and Grading Policy

Students will be required to complete a series of assignments during the semester, focused on a single best-seller (chosen from the lists of bestsellers by decade, above, but not a book that has already been chosen by someone else, nor any of the required readings for the course). These assignments will comprise a bibliographical description of a first edition, a publication history (including performances in other media, if any), a biographical sketch of the author, a reception history, and a critical analysis of the work in its cultural and literary contexts. All of these assignments will be submitted online, using Web-based submission forms: they will become part of an ongoing project to compile a Web-accessible database of information about bestselling 20th-century American literature. For each assignment, students will also submit a printed list of the sources used in completing the online submission, listed by assignment subsection.

Due Dates	Submission Forms	Help Docs
Monday, January 24	Choose a bestseller to work on for the five database assignments
Monday, February 7	Assignment 1: Bibliographical Description	Help Documentation and Examples for Assignment 1
Monday, February 21	Assignment 2: Publication and Performance History	Help Documentation and Examples for Assignment 2
Wednesday, March 8 (in-class)	Midterm Exam
Monday, March 27	Assignment 3: Biographical Sketch of the Author	Help Documentation and Examples for Assignment 3
Monday, April 10	Assignment 4: Reception History	Help Documentation and Examples for Assignment 4
Monday, May 1 (last class)	Assignment 5: Critical Analysis Help Documentation and Examples for Assignment 5 Alternate Assignment 5: Electronic Edition Help Documentation and Examples for Alternate Assignment 5
Friday, May 5 (2-4 pm)	Final Exam
Any Time	Add Supplementary Materials	Help on Formatting Entries
Any Time	Update Assignments or Supplementary Materials

Online Resources	Class Email Log	Library Resources	Supplemental Reading