| Professor Christine
Doyle 319 Willard Hall 832-2764 doylec@ccsu.edu |
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COURSE DESCRIPTION: English 210 is a survey of American literature to 1865. We will read a variety of primary texts from a range of authors in this period, and discuss them in literary, historical, and cultural contexts. English 110 is a prerequisite for this course. This course may be used to fulfill General Education requirements in Study Area I (or Literary Mode, in the old system).
NOTE: If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please discuss this with me as soon as possible.
TEXT: The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Volume I (5th. Edition)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. First essay (due Oct.
22) 15%
2. Second essay (due
Dec. 10) 20%
3. Midterm Exam
15%
4. Final exam
20%
5. Quizzes
20%
6. Presentation/Participation
10%
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: Two, 3-5 page essays. The first will require you to make observations concerning materials from early nineteenth-century periodicals; the second will be a comparison/contrast essay, either dealing with connections between early American thought and contemporary issues or with the connections between two of the writers whose work we will be reading. Topics for the second essay should be selected and cleared with me no later than Nov. 26. Essays should be typed and proofread; they should include appropriate documentation; they should demonstrate a thoughtful, analytical approach to the subject matter (no personal reaction papers or plot summaries, please) and an ability to communicate effectively in writing. I encourage you to submit drafts of assignments before the due date for preliminary feedback. LATE PAPERS will be penalized a full letter grade for each day late. If something is going to prevent you from completing and/or handing in a paper on time, let me know BEFORE the paper is due. COMMUNICATE!!
EXAMS: Format will be about 1/3 objective, 2/3 essay. More details will be forthcoming closer to the exam dates.
QUIZZES: Unannounced quizzes on the factual content of the readings and lectures will be given at the beginning of class approximately ten times during the semester. No make-ups without a compelling reason for your absence (documentation and permission required). Lowest two grades will be dropped.
PRESENTATION/PARTICIPATION: Pairs of students will make SHORT (10 minute) presentations on the readings. These presentations are not meant to teach the class all there is to know about a particular reading, but rather to focus our attention on an aspect of the work that is especially interesting to you as the presenter and to draw the class into a discussion of the material. A filled-out Presentation Worksheet (see sample attached to this syllabus) should be turned in on the day of the presentation. Presentations that consist only of author biography or of plot summary will NOT receive passing grades. Presenters should meet with me AT LEAST one class period before the presentation to inform me of your focus. Sign-ups during the second week of class.
SCHEDULE: (This schedule is subject to change as the need arises. You are responsible for any changes made in the schedule that are announced in class.)
Readings listed are to be completed BEFORE class meets on the day designated.
SEPTEMBER
5 Introduction: Writing
America
7 Native American Creation stories
and Trickster tales; read pp. 1-10, 53-60,
120-31, 146-52
10 Intro (153-63); "Of Plymouth Plantation" (165-87)
12 "Of Plymouth Plantation" (187-end)
14 Other perspectives on the "New World": Morton (203-13); Williams (234-46)
17 Hawthorne, "The May-Pole of Merry Mount" (1245-52)
19 Bradstreet, "Prologue" (247), "The Flesh and the Spirit," "The Author to Her Book," "Before the Birth," "To My Dear and Loving Husband," "A Letter to Her Husband," the three grandchildren poems (275-77), ". . . the Burning of Her House," and "To My Dear Children" (280)
21 Bradstreet, cont.
24 Rowlandson, "A Narrative of the Captivity," (297-315)
26 Rowlandson, 316-end
28 Thomas Paine, from The Age of Reason (705-11); Franklin, "Way to Wealth" (493), Letter to Stiles (521), handout
OCTOBER 1 Franklin, Autobiography (523-39, 566-85)
3 Crevecouer, 640-665
5 Read Intro. to 1820-1865, pp. 917-31; meet in Curriculum Lab Classroom, 3rd floor, Burritt Library, for presentation on nineteenth-century periodicals
8 Library; meet on 4th floor
10 Irving, "Rip Van Winkle" (936)
12 Cooper, from The Pioneers (981)
15 EXAM
17 Emerson, Nature; read Introduction, Ch. I, Ch. VIII
19 Emerson, "Self-Reliance" (1126)
22 Thoreau, from Walden : pp. 1768-78, 1789-96, 1810-20; PAPER DUE
24 Thoreau, from Walden, Ch. 17 and 18 (1924-43)
26 Fuller, "The Great Lawsuit" ( from 1596, "It is worthy" --- end)
29 Alcott, "Transcendental Wild Oats" (2562)
31 Poe: "Sonnet" (1483), "Raven" (1492), "Philosophy" (1572), "Ligeia" (1489)
NOVEMBER 2 Reading Day
5 Hawthorne, "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" (1223)
7 Hawthorne, "The Birth-Mark" (1261)
9 Spofford, "Circumstance" (2574)
12 Douglass, 1990-2026
14 Douglass, 2026-end
16 Wheatley, "On Being Brought" (825), "To the University" (828), "To His Excellency" (834); Jacobs, 1717-39
19 Jacobs, cont.; Stowe, from Uncle Tom's Cabin (handout)
21-23 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!
26 Melville, from Moby-Dick (2299-2311) and Benito Cereno (2372-2405)
28 Benito Cereno (2405-end)
30 Benito Cereno
DECEMBER 3 Early American Poets: Freneau (815-23); Bryant (1038-44); Longfellow (1449-59)
5 Emily Dickinson: Poems 67, 241, 249, 303, 315, 324, 341, 435, 441, 465, 501, 650, 709, 744, 986, 1078, 1129, 1545, 1624
7 Dickinson, cont.
10 PAPER DUE; Whitman, from Song of Myself, 2095 ff. (lines 1-139, 381-467, 662-802, 1131-end
12 Whitman, "Beat! Beat! Drums" (2168), "The Wound-Dresser" (2172), "Reconciliation" (2173)
14 Review and Wrap-up
FINAL EXAM: Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2-4 p.m.
American Literature I
Presentation Outline
1. Name(s) of Presenter(s):
2. Work to be discussed:
3. Aspect of the work
on which the presentation will focus:
4. Outline of presentation,
including significant passages you will discuss (give page
numbers or line numbers):
English 210: American
Literature I
Guidelines for written assignments:
DUE DATES 10/22, 12/10
You are required to write two 3-5 page essays (typed, double-spaced). Longer is acceptable: shorter is NOT. All essays should contain a clear and coherent THESIS with SPECIFIC TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to support the thesis. They should demonstrate college-level competence in diction, spelling, grammar, and sentence mechanics. Use proper documentation (MLA format) for all quotes and references.
PAPER #1: This paper will require you to make some observations about nineteenth-century American life as presented in any newspapers and/or periodicals dated from 1820-1865. Some suggested approaches: consult one or more issues of the same periodical and draw some generalizations from its various contents (pictures, articles, stories, etc.). What seem to be the issues in which Americans are interested, according to the contents of this magazine, and how are they treated? OR: Look at one of your magazine's standard features over a period of months. OR: look at two issues, several years apart, to see how the magazine is developing. OR: use an index to find articles on a subject that interests you. What was the status of science during this period? Women's rights? Education? OR: Follow a newspaper story through several issues. What is the coverage like? You are free to look at anything you like--find something that interests YOU!
PAPER #2: OPTION A. Choose one writer whose work we have read in this course, and one element of MODERN life. BASED UPON THE WRITER'S WORK, how do you think the writer would respond to the aspect of modern life you have chosen? This essay will require you to use your imagination, but it is NOT meant to be a fantasy piece. It requires that you argue your position using SPECIFIC evidence from the writer's background and work AND specific details of the modern situation you choose--so pick something about which you KNOW something or can easily research. Example: What would William Bradford think about multiculturalism?
OPTION B: You may choose
to write a more traditional literary analysis. Compare/contrast two
pieces from the Norton anthology, either by the same writer or by different
writers. (At least ONE MUST be part of the assigned class reading;
both MAY be) You may focus on any literary aspect of the works in
question, such as symbols, writing style, theme, etc. Focus on a
SPECIFIC aspect of the works you have chosen, rather than trying to write
everything you notice about them. EXAMPLE: Show how Hawthorne
opposes nature and progress. Compare a Poe narrator to an Irving
narrator. Show some of the ways in which Thoreau's (or Melville's,
or Whitman's) work seems to be a response to Emerson's "Self-Reliance."
I will be happy to assist you in focusing your topic to make it as appropriate
and manageable as possible. Please indicate your topic, in writing,
to me no later than Nov. 26.