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English 241/002 Carolyn Nelson
Fall 2003 329 Stansbury
9:30 MWF Office Hours: 11:30 -12:30 MWF
207 Armstrong cnelson2@wvu.edu
American Literature Survey I
Required Text: George McMichael, et al, eds. Anthology of American Literature, Volume I, 8th edition (Prentice Hall)
8/18 Introduction to the course
8/20 Literature of Early America. Columbus 14; 16-23
8/22 Capt. John Smith 23; General History of Virginia 25-36
8/25 Native American Voices 47-62
8/27 Bradford 78; Of Plymouth Plantation 84-102
8/29 Morton 102; The New English Canaan 104-111. Winthrop 112; Journal 117-124, 126-7
9/1 Labor Day Recess
9/3 Williams 127; 128-34. New England Primer 138-9
9/5 Bradstreet 145; Poems 147-8, 155-67
9/8 Taylor 187; Poems: 188, 190, 191, 196-7, 199
9/10 Mather 201; The Wonders of the Invisible World 203-10, 217-8
9/12 Rolandson 230; A Narrative of the Captivity 231-48, 257-8, 262-3
9/15 Byrd 263; Secret Diary 264-8. Woolman 274; Journal 275-83
9/17 Test #1
9/19 Literature of the Eighteenth Century. Franklin 330; Autobiography 330, 335-49, 376-7, 385-9
9/22 Equiano 463; The Life 465-91
9/24 Crevecoeur 448; Letters from an American Farmer 452-63
9/26 Paine 491; Common Sense 493-5; American Crisis 495-501; Age of Reason 501-4
9/29 Jefferson 509; Declaration 511-13; Notes 518-22; To John Adams 526-29
10/1 Native Voices 584: Son of the Forest 585-92; Story of the Indian 594-5; Orations 607-10
10/3 Poems: Bryant 716-7; Longfellow 1541-4; Emerson 909; Freneau 561-2 . 1 ~
10/6 Test #2
10/8 Literature of the Nineteenth Century
Irving 626; Rip Van Winkle 637-50
10/10 Irving; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 650-71
10/13 Poe 731; Ligeia 746-57; Tell-Tale Heart 785-88
10/15 Poe; The Fall of the House of Usher 771-85
10/17 Poe: The Purloined Letter 788-801
10/20 Hawthorne 943; Young Goodman Brown 958-67; Maypole 968-76
10/22 Hawthorne; The Birth-Mark 985-96
10/24 Fuller 931; Woman in the Nineteenth Century 933-42
10/27 Discussion of paper topics. Bring to class the first paragraph of your paper with the thesis statement underlined and an outline of the rest of the paper. (Irving to Fern) 10/29 Fanny Fern 1647; Essays 1649-57 10/31 Paper#1 due
11/3 Slavery and the Civil War Thoreau 1340; Civil Disobedience 1342-58
11/5 Douglas 1658; Narrative of the Life 1659-86
11/7 Douglas; Narrative of the Life 1686-1718
11/10 Jacobs 1719; Incidents in the Life 1720-39
11/12 Jacobs; Incidents in the Life 1739-47; Sojourner Truth 727; 728-31
11/14 Stowe 1581; Uncle Tom's Cabin 1582-1601
11/17 Stowe; Uncle Tom's Cabin 1633-47
11/19 Lincoln 1747; 1749-51. Civil War poems: Melville 1328-31; Whittier 1550-54; Bryant 726
11/21 Whitman 1787; Drum-Taps 1870-76; When Lilacs Last 1878-85
Thanksgiving Recess: November 22 to November 30
12/1 Whitman 1804; 1856-62, 1869-70, 1885-6
12/3 Dickinson 1926; Poems 1928-50
12/5 Dickinson; finish poems. Letters 1950-55
Take home final exam: Bring your exam to my office during exam time or put it in my mailbox in 231 Stansbury by exam time. You may certainly turn it in early. Exam time is 8 to 10 a.m. on Thursday, December 11.
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. Some of the readings may seem to be more about religion, history, and politics than what you would expect to encounter in a literature class. However, the ideas in these writings are important to our literary history and reveal the interests and concerns of the nation from its beginning.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 depth. The text contains far more literature than we can discuss in one semester. I suggest that you read beyond the syllabus, if not now then 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 so that you can contribute to the discussions. Always bring the text to class. You are permitted 4 absences. After that, 2 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. The last few weeks of class are not the time to try to straighten out all your absences and to account for your missed assignments. Please do not use cell phones during the class time.
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 Fridays. Include a brief statement of the overall thesis of the essays, stories, etc., that we read that week and a brief response to some of the ideas in them. 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.
Presentation: Students who would like to make a presentation to the class on one of the 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, having a quiz, etc. Don't just read notes to the class. The main point is to get the class involved. Depending on the quality of the presentation, you will get from O to 5 points added to your final grade. This is the only extra credit it is possible to earn.
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 point for each late day. I will not accept responses or papers send by email or through attachments.
Reading Responses: 8 x 5 points each 40 points
Tests: 2 x 15 points each 30
Paper: 15
Final Exam: 15
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