English 2130.065/563/564/566

American Literature

 

 

 

Course Description:  A survey of important American writers from Colonial times to the present.

 

Texts:  The Norton Anthology of American Literature.  Shorter 6th ed.  Ed. Nina Baym, et al.  New York: Norton, .

A good college dictionary.

 

Instructional Activities:  This course will involve a substantial amount of reading.  Our meetings will be composed primarily of lectures and discussions.  Individual conferences may also be included as they seem desirable or necessary.

 

Attendance:  You are expected to attend every class meeting.  Attendance affects your ability to perform on exams; it also affects your class participation grade.  For this class, you may miss up to two (2) classes with little or no affect on your final participation grade; each absence beyond this number lowers this portion of your grade.  IMPORTANT:  It is Department of English policy that no absences are identified as either “excused” or “unexcused”; therefore, absences should be conserved for necessity.  REALLY IMPORTANT:  It is Department of English policy for a summer class meeting MTWRF that more than five (5) absences—again, there are no excused/unexcused distinctions—results in automatic failure of the course.

 

ITV Basics: Attendance will be taken each day at each site. This course is not like those you sometimes see on PBS. We're "Interactive" here, and participation is expected not only from those in Johnson City but also from those in Kingsport, Bristol, and Greenville.  I'll be out to each site periodically to hold "live" office hours there and then teach the class.

 

Grades:

·        15% Quizzes

·        15% Class Participation (Each of you begins with a "C" here, and your score for this portion of your final grade will go up or down in relation to your meaningful contribution to class discussion and activities, as well as your class attendance. Paying attention and showing interest can earn you as much as a B+, but only those who speak their minds in the context of our discussions are eligible for an A.)

·        20% Midterm Exam

·        20% Final Exam

·        30% average of 2-3 Short Academic Papers (2 pages+) addressing a specific writer, work, tradition, genre or literary theme/motif (assigned)

 

Rules:

·        Come to class on time, and bring your book, paper, and writing utensils.

·        Do not talk among yourselves when I have the floor.

·        Do not talk among yourselves when one of your classmates has the floor.

·        Do not ridicule or attack a classmate who voices an opinion with which you disagree.  Let's be civil, even in our disagreements.

·        Plagiarism will not be tolerated.  A clear violation will result in failure of the course.

 

Perhaps the most important thing you can do to perform your best in this class—outside of working hard—is to stay in touch with me.  I can't help you if I don't know what problems you're having with meeting course requirements.  I'm available to you through e-mail, telephone, and personal conference.

 

Course Reading Schedule:

 

7/7—Introduction to the course and getting acquainted; background to the New England colonies

7/8—Bradford 75-86; Winthrop, from A Model of Christian Charity: 94-97 (to the first "Quest." top of 97), section II 103-106 (top)

7/9—Poetry Day: "The Prologue" 115+, "The Author to Her Book" 124, "Before the Birth of One of Her Children" 124+, "A Letter to Her Husband . . ." 125+, "In Memory of My Dear Grandchild . . ." 126, ". . . Upon the Burning of our House" 127+

7/10— Rowlandson, from A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson: 135-52

7/11—Edwards, "Personal Narrative" 182-94

 

7/14— Franklin, from The Autobiography 219-20, 231-92

7/15—Jefferson, 334-49; Crèvecoeur, from "Letter III. What Is an American" 299-310

7/16—Wheatley, 366-77; Irving, "Rip Van Winkle" 446-60

7/17—Emerson, from Nature 486-93

7/18—Thoreau, "Resistance to Civil Government" 837-53

 

7/21—Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown" 610-19, "The Birth-Mark" 635-46

7/22—Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven" 697-700, "Ligeia" 704-14, "The Cask of Amontillado" 743-48

7/23—Midterm Exam

7/24—Dickinson, poems read in class are numbers 216, 303, 328, 448, 449, 632, 986, & 1463

7/25—Whitman (985 -89), "Song of Myself" sections 1-6, 15-17, 24, 51, & 52

 

7/28—Douglass 967-1001

7/29—Bryant, "The Prairies" 473-75; Occom 294-99; Apess 477-82; Cochise & Charlot 1462-66

7/30—Chopin (1594-96), "At the 'Cadian Ball" 1596-1603, "The Storm" 1603-07; Freeman (1611-12), "A New England Nun" 1612-20

7/31— Gilman (1658-59), "The Yellow Wall-paper" 1659-71; Glaspell, "Trifles" 1894-1903

8/1—Eliot 1975-79; skim poems by Frost 1879+, Stevens 1920+, Moore 1968+, & Hughes 2227+

 

8/4—Faulkner (2157-59), "A Rose for Emily" 2160-66; O'Connor (2427-28), "Good Country People" 2428-41

8/5—Ellison (2373-74), from Invisible Man (Chapter I: "Battle Royal") 2374-84; Walker (2580-81), "Everyday Use" 2581-73

8/6— Kingston (2556-57), "No Name Woman" 2557-66; Silko (2587-88), "Lullabye" 2588-94

8/7—Collins 2808+; Dove 2825+; Harjo 2834+; Lee 2849+

8/8—Final Exam

 

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