Though the term “The American Dream” was coined by historian James Truslow Adams in 1931, the idea has long shaped American life and literature. This course examines how six novellas explore the dream, asking whether Americans share a common definition of it and how it connects to individualism and American exceptionalism. Through stories of disappointment, deferred hopes, self-reinvention, and difficult periods in history, the course considers whether the American Dream is a myth, a mistake, a call to action, or a defining force in American culture and literature.
Read: Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton; Passing, Nella Larson; The Ballad of the Sad Café, Carson McCullers; Seize the Day, Saul Bellow; Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Truman Capote; The Buddha in the Attic, Julie Otsuka
This course is offered with the generous support of the Association for Continuing Education