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| Overview |
| In this course we will read some short representative works of American literature from the seventeenth century to the present. Our discussions will focus on close analysis of texts (fiction, poetry, essays, autobiography, oratory), while lectures will introduce individual authors and survey relevant historical issues (for example, the American Revolution, Western expansion, slavery, immigration, industrialization) and cultural movements (like Puritanism, Transcendentalism, realism, and modernism). The course offers students a deeper understanding of American culture and identity, a good knowledge of some important literature, skills in literary analysis, and a framework for future reading. |
| Required
Text: Norton Anthology of American Literature, Shorter
Fourth Edition,
1995 Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (Oxford UP) Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (Oxford UP) |
| There will be several video presentations, to be announced. This course is complemented by a web site accessible through the English Department home page. There you will find the syllabus, study questions, and (gradually) paintings and photographs related to the literature. The site will also contain a bulletin board for discussion. After this week, the web site will be the place to get the study questions for the upcoming class. |
| Grading:
paper, 30%; final exam, 35%; quizzes, group presentation, and class
participation, 35% |
| Dates |
|
|
| 9/21 | Introduction to course
Puritanism Winthrop, "A Model of Christian Charity," 111-12 Taylor, "Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children" Bradstreet, "Upon the Burning of Our House" |
|
| 9/28 | No Class | Reading Assignment: Hawthorne, The Scarlet
Letter, Ch. 1-14
Study questions for The Scarlet Letter Chap. I-VIII |
| 10/5 | No Class | Reading Assignment: Hawthorne, The Scarlet
Letter, Ch. 5-8
|
| 10/12 | No Class | Reading Assignment: Hawthorne, The Scarlet
Letter, Ch. 9-12
|
| 10/19 | The Great Awakening and the Enlightenment
Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" Franklin, "To Ezra Stiles" (224-25); The Autobiography, 278-286 Bishop, "In the Waiting Room" (2459) See map of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1682 Early National Literature
|
Study questions for Irving, "Rip Van Winkle" |
| 10/26 | Transcendentalism and the American Renaissance
Emerson, Nature, 440-42; "The American Scholar" Thoreau, Walden, 788-91; 835; 845-859 Pictures related to Walden |
Study
questions for Emerson, Nature
Study questions for Thoreau, Walden |
| 11/2 | Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Ch. 1-12 | |
| 11/9 | Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Ch. 13-24 | Study
questions for The Scarlet Letter
Chapter 9-24 |
| 11/16 | Whitman, "Song of Myself," Paragraphs: 1-15;
24-32; 46-52
Ginsberg, "A Supermarket in California" (2564) Douglass, Narrative of the Life of an American Slave, 885-888 Pictures related to Walt Whitman |
Study
questions for Whitman
Study question for Ginsberg Study questions for Douglass |
| 11/23 | Dickinson, poems #216, 249, 258, 328, 341, 448,
465, 632, 640, 712, 754
Douglass, Narrative of the Life of an American Slave, 897-905 |
Study
questions for Dickinson
|
| 11/30 | Realism and Regionalism
Twain, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" Freeman, "A New England Nun" Crane, "The Open Boat" |
Study questions for Crane |
| 12/5 | James, "The Beast in the Jungle" | Study questions for James |
| 12/14 | Modernism
Hemingway, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" Stevens, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"; "The Idea of Order at Key West" Pound, "In a Station of the Metro" Lowel, "Skunk Hour" |
Paper Due |
| 12/21 | Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby | |
| 12/28 | Cather, "Neighbour Rosicky"
Sandburg, "Chicago" Frost, "Mending Wall"; "After Apple-Picking"; "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" |
|
| 1/4 | Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily"
O'Connor, "Good Country People" |
|
| 1/11 | Kingston, "No Name Woman"
Walker, "Everyday Use" Rich, "Dividing into the Wreck" |
|
| 1/18 | Final Exam | Study questions for Final |
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