TYPE OF COURSE UNIT	Elective Course
LEVEL OF COURSE UNIT	Master's Degree With Thesis
YEAR OF STUDY	-
SEMESTER	-
NUMBER OF ECTS CREDITS ALLOCATED	10
NAME OF LECTURER(S)	Assistant Professor Selen Aktari Sevgi
LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THE COURSE UNIT	At the end of this course, the students; 1) will be able to trace the development of American humor from its early roots to modern examples, 2) will be able to discuss the ways in which early good-natured humor gave way to bitter satire and black humor, 3) will be able to examine the relationship between humor and power by looking at both mainstream and marginal works, 4) will be able to investigate the subversive power of humor.
MODE OF DELIVERY	Face to face
PRE-REQUISITES OF THE COURSE	No
RECOMMENDED OPTIONAL PROGRAMME COMPONENT	None
COURSE DEFINITION	The course is designed to trace the development of American humor from the early tall tale tradition to contemporary humor. While established humorists such as Mark Twain, James Thurber, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., etc. will be an integral part of the course, it will also explore lesser known types of humor, such as women's humor, ethnic humor, African-American humor, etc.
COURSE CONTENTS	WEEK TOPICS 1st Week Introduction: What is Humor? Theories of Humor 2nd Week Early American Humor: The Tall Tale 3rd Week Regional Humor (with Special Emphasis on Southwestern Humor) 4th Week Mark Twain 5th Week Mark Twain 6th Week Mark Twain 7th Week Ethnic Humor 8th Week Women's Humor 9th Week Women's Humor 10th Week Women's Humor 11th Week Social Humor (Vonnegut and Coover) 12th Week Absurdism and Dark Humor 13th Week Absurdism and Dark Humor 14th Week Absurdism and Dark Humor
RECOMENDED OR REQUIRED READING	Boskin, Joseph. Humor and Social Change in Twentieth Century America. Boston: Trustees of the Public Library, 1979. Covici, Pascal. Humor and Revelation in American Literature: The Puritan Connection. Columbia: U of Missouri P, 1997. Hughes, Langston. The Book of Negro Humor. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1966. Sloane, David E. E., ed. New Directions in American Humor. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P, 1998. Walker, Nancy A. A Very Serious Thing: Women's Humor and American Culture. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1988.
PLANNED LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND TEACHING METHODS	Lecture,Discussion,Presentation
ASSESSMENT METHODS AND CRITERIA	Quantity Percentage(%) Project 1 30 Attendance 1 10 Presentation of Article 2 20 Total(%) 60 Contribution of In-term Studies to Overall Grade(%) 60 Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade(%) 40 Total(%) 100
ECTS WORKLOAD	Activities Number Hours Workload Midterm exam Preparation for Quiz Individual or group work 14 5 70 Preparation for Final exam 1 10 10 Course hours 14 3 42 Preparation for Midterm exam Laboratory (including preparation) Final exam 1 3 3 Homework Project 1 60 60 Article Presentation 2 25 50 Weekly Articles and Resource Research 14 5 70 Total Workload 305 Total Workload / 30 10,16 ECTS Credits of the Course 10
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION	English
WORK PLACEMENT(S)	No