| Professor Gilbert
L. Gigliotti 304 Willard Hall 860/832-2759 gigliotti@ccsu.edu |
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UNIT
ONE: The Fictive In/On/Of America
Crevecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer
(1782)
Saar, “Heritage of American Ethnicity in Crevecoeur’s Letters from
an American Farmer” (Mixed 241-256).
Foster, The Coquette (1797)
Brown, Wieland, or The Transformation (1798)
Project A: “The Crown V. Carwin”
UNIT
TWO: Engendering America: A Critique of Puritan Language
Hall, The Antinomian Controversy 1636-1638
Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God (1682)
Sewall, “’So Unstable and Like Madmen They Were:’ Language and
Interpretation in American Captivity Narratives” (Mixed 39-55)
Project B: Williams, “The Gratification of that Corrupt and Lawless
Passion: Character Types and Themes in Early New England Rape Narratives”
(Mixed 194-221)
Bradstreet, selections (Course Packet)
Early American Portraiture: New Britain Museum of American Art
UNIT
THREE: “Auto-American Biography:” Writing American Lives
Occom, “A Short Narrative of My Life”
(1768) (Course Packet)
Marrant, “A Narrative of the Lord’s Wonderful Dealings with John Marrant,
A Black” (1785)
Montgomery, “Recapturing John Marrant.” (Mixed 105-115)
Project C: Sekora, “Red, White, and Black” Indian Captivities, Colonial
Printers, and African-American Narrative” (Mixed 92-104)
Franklin, The Autobiography (1789)
Project D: Kueren, “The American Indian as Humorist in Colonial Literature”
(Mixed 77-91)
Project E: Secor, “Ethnic Humor in Early American Jest Books” (Mixed163-193)
UNIT
FOUR: American Verses/American Voices
Taylor, selections
Wheatley, selections
Erkkila, “Phillis Wheatley and the Black American Revolution” (Mixed
225-240)
The Connecticut Wits, The Anarchiad (1786-1787)
Required
Texts and Tools:
Brown, C.B., Wieland, or The Transformation (Penguin)
Crevecoeur, St.J. de, Letters from an American Farmer (Penguin)
Foster, H. W., The Coquette (Oxford)
Franklin, B., The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (Signet)
Hall, D.D., ed., The Antinomian Controversy: 1686-1688 (Duke)
Rowlandson, M., The Sovereignty and Goodness of God (Bedford)
Shuffelton, F., A Mixed Race: Ethnicity in Early America (Oxford)
Grading
Breakdown:
E-mail Journals (at least 14 entries) 10%
Class Participation 10%
Paper (4-5 pages) 15%
Project 15%
Thesis Statement/Annotated Bibliography 5%
Research Paper (10-12 pages) 25%
Final Exam 20%
THEME
and DESCRIPTION of APPROACH(es)
The theme of Early American Literature (Eng 340) is the diverse searches
for identity (artistic, cultural, ethnic, political, philosophical, racial,
religious, and sexual) in American literature from the early seventeenth century
through the national period in the late eighteenth century. To reinforce and
build upon the broad foundation that students have received in the American
Literature I (Eng 210), the students examine select texts, thematically grouped,
by significant authors. Aiming at a thorough understanding of the issues of
identity raised by these authors, the predominant mode of instruction is class
discussion (including oral presentations, group work, and in-class writing)
accompanied by the directed lecture. Due to this very cooperative approach to
learning, regular class attendance and participation is encouraged (and required).
UNIT
SUMMARIES
Unit One: The Fictive in/on/of America
This unit explores three late eighteenth-century novels and their depictions
of the disparate philosophical and cultural concerns of the early national period.
Unit Two: Engendering America - A Critique of Puritan Language Through a close examination of the documents surrounding the trial of Anne Hutchinson as well as the writings of Mary Rowlandson and Anne Bradstreet, this unit discusses the subtle but serious attack leveled by these women on patriarchal Puritan culture.
Unit Three: "Auto-American-Biography"
- Writing American Lives Borrowing its title from Sacvan Bercovitch's concept
of the rhetorical strategy at the core of literary "American-ness,"
this unit focuses upon three first-person narratives and the ways in which the
authors (re)create their uniquely American selves.
Unit Four: American Verses/American Voices
"American Verses/American Voices" highlights the diverse ways in which
early Americans found their voice through poetry: from Edward Taylor's baroque
meditations to Phillis Wheatley's neoclassical assertion of self and the Connecticut
Wits' federalist burlesques.
ASSIGNMENT
DESCRIPTIONS
E-mail Journal (at least 14 "posts"): a collection of personal
responses to the assigned readings sent to the professor via e-mail. Students,
over the course of the semester, should choose no less than seven (7) of the
readings (literary and/or critical) to address in these e-mails. Having read
the first part of each selection chosen (from a stanza of a poem to a chapter
of a novel to a few pages of an article), students should respond in a "preview"
entry with comments and questions concerning the issues they believe to be central
to that reading. Then the students, having finished the reading, return to the
issues they raised in the preview and react once again in a "review":
Did the text adequately answer their concerns?, etc.. All "preview"
entries, of course, should be posted before the class in which the readings
are first discussed.
Due: Throughout semester.
Project: a group activity involving the
presentation and discussion of the concepts addressed in the four articles identified
in the syllabus as"Projects B, C, D, and E." The group may introduce
these ideas in any way they choose: debate, dramatization, oral report, artistic
interpretation, etc. The project grades is a 50%-50% composite of group and
individual scores. The group score is based upon the clear and imaginative presentation
of the significant ideas of the articles. The individual grade, meanwhile, is
based upon both the student's participation during the in-class activity itself
and an one-page self-evaluation of his/her contribution to its preparation.
(For an alternative to this presentation requirement, see "Project A: The
Crown v. Carwin" guidelines below.)
Paper (4-5 Pages): a detailed examination
of a particular passage, theme, or image in one of the novels discussed in the
first part of the course. This should explore how the passage, theme, or image
reflects/refracts the specific work as a whole. This paper will be evaluated
by the Diederich Scale (see attached sheet).
Thesis statement and annotated bibliography: a focused and well-articulated statement of the topic for the research paper (see below) together with a targeted bibliography of appropriate and applicable sources. In addition, for each source, the student will write a one-paragraph summary of the ideas and arguments presented. Research Paper (10-12 pages): a research paper on some aspect of identity (cultural, ethnic, literary, philosophical, political, racial, religious, or sexual) in early American literature. This paper also will be evaluated by the Diederich Scale (see attached sheet).
Final Exam: a comprehensive essay exam that concentrates on the major theme of identity (and its variations) as expressed in the texts, both literary and critical, read and discussed throughout the semester.