English 241/002
Fall 2002
9:30 MWF
112 Armstrong

Carolyn Nelson
Office: 329 Stansbury
Office Hours: 10:30-11:20 MW
cnelson2@wvu.edu

American Literature Survey I

Required Text: George McMichael, et al, eds. Anthology of American Literature, Volume I, 7th edition (Prentice Hall)

8/19 Introduction
8/21 Literature of Colonial America
       Columbus 13; 15-22
8/23 Capt. John Smith 22; General History of Virginia 24-35

8/26 Native American Voices 45-60
8/28 Bradford 60; Of Plymouth Plantation 67-84
8/30 Morton 84; The New English Canaan 86-93. Winthrop 94; Journal 99-106, 108-9

9/2 Labor Day Recess
9/4 Williams 109; 110- 16. New England Primer 120-3
9/6 Bradstreet 127; Poems 129-30, 137-51

9/9 Taylor 169; Poems on 170, 172, 173, & 181-2
9/11 Mather 183; Wonders of the Invisible World 185-92, 199-200
9/13 Rolandson 212; A Narrative of the Captivity 213-30, 243-5

9/16 Byrd 245; Secret Diary 246-50. Woolman 256; Journal 257-65
9/18 Test #1: Colonial Writers
9/20 Literature of Reason and Revolution
       Franklin 307; An Address 322, Autobiography 323-44, 368-9, 376-81

9/23 Crevecoeur 440; Letters from an American Farmer 442-55
9/25 Equiano 455; The Life 457-83
9/27 Paine 483; Common Sense 485-87, American Crisis 487-93, The Age of Reason
       493-5

9/30 Jefferson 501; Declaration 503-5, Notes 506-14, To John Adams 518-21
10/2 The Federalist 521; Madison, The Federalist No. 10, 525-30
10/4 Native American Voices 576; Apess 577-84, Curly Chief 588, Orations 599-602

10/7 Test #2: Reason and Revolution
10/9 The Age of Romanticism 603-8
       Bryant 710; Thanatopsis 712, To Cole 718. Longfellow 1519; 1521-24. Emerson
       Concord Hymn 913. Freneau 545; 554-6
10/11 Irving 609; Rip Van Winkle 619-32; Adventure of the German Student 654-7

10/14 Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 632-53
10/16 Emerson 811; Self-Reliance 866-73, 878-83; The American Scholar 841-48
10/18 Poe 723; The Fall of the House of Usher 763-77

10/21 Poe, The Purloined Letter 780-93
10/23 Hawthorne 922; My Kinsman 925-38
10/25 Hawthorne, The Birth-Mark 965-76

10/28 Hawthorne, The Minister's Black Veil 956-64
10/30 Discussion of paper topics (Irving to Hawthorne)
11/1 Thoreau 1320; Walden, Where I Lived, and What I Lived For 1383-93,
       Conclusion 1513-19

11/4 Paper#1 due.
        Slavery and the Civil War
      Thoreau 1320; Civil Disobedience 1322-33
11/6 Thoreau, Civil Disobedience 1333-38
11/8 Douglas 1891; Narrative of the Life 1892-1918

11/11 Douglas, Narrative 1918-50
11/13 Jacobs 1951; Incidents in the Life 1952-79
11/15 Stowe 1561; Uncle Tom's Cabin 1562-77

11/18 Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1599-1615
11/20 Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Death of Tom 1862-71; 1876-81; Concluding
         Remarks 1884-91

11/22 Lincoln 1979; 1981-3. Civil War Poems: Melville 1308-11. Whittier 1530-34.
         Bryant 722-3

Thanksgiving Recess: 11/23 to 12/1

12/2 Whitman 2019; 2102-8; 2110-17
12/4 Dickinson 2158; poems 2160-82
12/6 Dickinson, poems

Take home final exam: Bring your exam to my office or put it in my mailbox in 231 Stansbury during exam time. You may submit your exam earlier in the week if you so desire.

Policies and Requirements

This course is designed to acquaint you with the diversity of literature and ideas in America from the Colonial Period until the Civil War. You are expected to read all the assigned material on the syllabus although we may not have time in class to discuss every selection in detail. The text contains far more literature than we can discuss in one semester; I suggest that you read beyond the syllabus, if not now at least in later years.

Attendance: To get the greatest benefit from the course, it is important to attend all classes. Do all the assigned readings for the day before you come to class and always bring the text to class. You are permitted to have four absences. After that, 3 points per absence will be subtracted from your final grade. If some crisis comes up in your life, you need to notify me as well as the university immediately, not at the end of the semester. If you have any questions about the assignments or your progress in the class, please see me during office hours or send me an e-mail message.

Response Papers: You are required to write response papers for each of the readings for 8 of the 15 weeks of the semester. Hand these in on Friday. Include a brief statement of the overall thesis of the essay, story, etc., and a brief response to one or more of the ideas in it. These responses will be used as the basis for class discussion. Don't just provide a plot summary of the material or make remarks such as "I found this essay to be boring." Such responses will receive low grades. The responses should be typed, with appropriate headings, and will receive from O to 5 points. They cannot be made up at a later date.

Class Discussions: Students are expected to contribute in a meaningful way to the class discussion. Class participation does not mean that you simply need to talk a lot in class. Rather, it means contributing ideas and insights that have taken into consideration the class readings and other students' contributions.

Presentation: Students who would like to make a presentation to the class on one of readings for the day are encouraged to do so. This presentation should be about 10 minutes and can take a variety of forms, such as handing out questions for discussion, assigning student groups a question or topic to discuss among themselves, having a quiz in the form of a game, etc. Don't just read notes to the class. Be creative and get the class involved. Depending on the quality of the presentation, you will get from 0 to 5 points added to your total grade.

Grades: Your grade will be calculated on the basis of the points seen below. All tests must be taken on the assigned day and the paper must be handed in on time or it will be graded down 3 points for each late day. I will not accept responses or papers sent by email or through attachments.

Reading Responses: 8 x 5 points each         40 points
Tests: 2 x 14 points each                         28
Paper:                                                  14
Final Exam:                                            14
Participation:                                           4