This course addresses how U.S. literatures shape evolving notions of what it means to be American. Through a variety of literary texts and genres, students will make connections between form, content and meaning while exploring how American literature delineates the capacious and often contested sense of American identity. Topics may include immigration and migration; performance; race, class, and gender; notions of liberty and oppression; place and space. Critical and writing skills will be enhanced through close analysis of texts and the application of basic literary concepts and methods of interpretation.