Abstract
As literature is ‘writings that are valued for their beauty of form,’ (Oxford Dictionary, 1983), it is perhaps incumbent on teachers of literature to make their lessons more than a reading comprehension task. Yet, viewing the current scenario of English and American literature teaching at tertiary level in Vietnam potentially discourages language practitioners and material designers as the artistic genre of literary texts is rendered to learners more or less a reading paper with focus on word level. It is time for a shift in both teaching and learning culture of these highly interactive texts in EFL class in Vietnam to keep them “a form of art”. Accordingly, the writer of this paper would like to present her research findings in how to make American literature teaching and learning a truly analytical and sensing experience by applying discourse analysis in analyzing literary texts with a hope to better learners’ literary appreciation and competence.