Engl
2110 American Lit 1, O'Donnell, ETSU, Spring 2019
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last update: March 18, 2019
Class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:40-3pm, in
Burleson 302.
For the first nine weeks of the semester, the text
is volume B of the Norton Anthology of American Lit, 9th
edition. After that, we'll use volume
A.
Week 1
Monday January 14: Introductions. Overview.
Timelines.
Wednesday January 16:
Read "My Kinsman, Major Molineaux" by
Hawthorne.
Read "The Author's Account of Himself,"
from The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, by Washington Irving
(p27-28). Also read "Rip Van Winkle," by Irving. And read Cooper,
excerpt from Chapter III of Volume II of The Pioneers, [The
Slaughter of the Pigeons].
Week 2
Monday January 21: Martin Luther King
day. ETSU closed.
Wednesday January 23:
Read Poe, "Ligeia" and "The Black
Cat."
Read "The Humbug: Edgar Allan Poe and the
economy of horror." By Jill Lepore. The New Yorker, April 27,
2009, here online: www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2009/04/27/090427crat_atlarge_lepore.
(Click here for a cached
version.)
Also, RRE 1 due.
Week 3
Monday January 28: Read Frederick
Douglass, Narrative of the Life...[1845]; the headnotes, preface
and chapters 1-9 (p1159-1197).
Wednesday January 30: Continue reading Douglass's 1845 Narrative,
chapters 10-11 (p1197-1224), and the appendix (p1224-1228). And read "What to the Slave Is the
Fourth of July?" (p1236-1239).
Week 4
Monday February 4:
Read, from Henry David Thoreau's Walden;
or, Life in the Woods, the long first chapter entitled "Economy,"
p970-1012.
Wednesday February 6:
Read, from Thoreau's Walden, at least
one chapter of your choosing, from chapters 2 to 17. Be prepared to present
that chapter in class. Be prepared to discuss why you chose it; explain what
the chapter is about; and select a good passage to read aloud in class.
Also read the last chapter, chapter 18,
entitled "Conclusion," p1136-1144.
In order to browse through the chapters in Walden,
so that you can choose a chapter that you like, it will help for you to see the
table of contents. This website, here online,
shows the table of contents, with the chapter names:
xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/walden/toc.html
After choosing a chapter, then find where that
chapter appears in your anthology, between page 1012 and page 1144.
Week 5
Monday February 11:
Read selections from Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852
novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin: all excerpts from Volume I of the novel,
which are in the Norton anthology volume B (Chapters I, III, VII, IX, XII,
XIII, XIV.)
Wednesday February 13:
From Volume II of Stowe's novel, read Chapters
XXXIV and XL.
Read "Did a book start the Civil War? 'Uncle
Tom's Cabin' is a testament to the power of culture." By David
Reynolds. New York Daily News, Monday, April 11, 2011. www.nydailynews.com/opinion/book-start-civil-war-uncle-tom-cabin-testament-power-culture-article-1.112605
Also, RRE 2 due.
Week 6
Monday February 18:
Read the 5 poems in the anthology which are
selected from H. Melville's collection entitled Battle-Pieces (p1569-1571).
Also read "Disunion: 'Misgivings'," in the "Disunion" Civil
War blog, at the New York Times online website; a discussion
of Herman Melville's poem entitled "Misgivings," which was written in
the fall of 1860; by Ted Widmer, December 6, 2010: opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/misgivings/
Read "John Brown" by Emerson,
p285-287. And read the excerpt from
Thoreau's "A Plea for Captain John Brown," p1155-1159.
Wednesday February 20:
Also read Lincoln's Gettysburg address and 2nd
inaugural address.
Week 7
Monday February 25: Read Nathaniel Hawthorne's The
Scarlet Letter chap 1-6 (p451-480).
Wednesday February 27: Read The Scarlet Letter chap
7-12 (p480-512)
Week 8
Monday March 4: In class, we will review
for exam 1.
Wednesday March 6: Exam
1.
SPRING
BREAK! March 11 to 15
Week 9
Monday March 18:
Read The Scarlet Letter chap 13-24
(p512-569).
Wednesday March 20:
In volume A of the Norton anthology, read the by
Anne Bradstreet-- "To the Memory..." p224; "To Her
Father..." p226; "Before the Birth..." p236; "To My
Dear..." p237. Also read the 6 poems, and the letter, which
appear on p241-249.
Week 10
Monday March 25:
Read the following poems by Phillis
Wheatley: "On Being Brought..." p789; "To the Right
Honourable William..." p789; "To His Excellency General
Washington" p796.
Wednesday March 27:
Read Ben Franklin, excerpts from Part Two of his
autobiography, pages 514-530 in volume A of the Norton Anthology. Read Ben
Franklin's "The Way to Wealth."
Also read "The Creed: What Poor Richard cost
Benjamin Franklin," by Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, Jan
28, 2008: www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/01/28/the-creed (click
here for a
cached version).
Also, RRE 3 due.
Week 11
Monday April 1:
Read from the Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson,
p704-710 (wherein he discusses the drafting of the Declaration). Read
excerpts from "Notes on the State of Virginia," p711-721.
Wednesday April 3:
Read "President Tom’s Cabin: Jefferson,
Hemings, and a disclaimed lineage," by Jill Lepore, The New
Yorker, September 22, 2008: www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/02/22/president-toms-cabin (click
here for a
cached version).
Also read "The Monster of
Monticello" [on Jefferson's views of race]. By Paul Finkelman. New
York Times, November 30, 2012. www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/opinion/the-real-thomas-jefferson.html
Week 12
Monday April 8:
Read Thomas Paine, "The Crisis, No. 1,"
p689-695; and Chapter 1 from "The Age of Reason," p695-697.
Wednesday April 10:
Read Crevecoeur, from Letters from an American
Farmer, excerpts from "Letter III: What is an American?" p636-645.
Week 13
Monday April 15:
Read all the poems by Emily Dickinson on pages
1658-1673 of volume B of the Norton anthology.
Wednesday April 17:
Skim the Dickinson poems on p1674-1692 of volume B
of the Norton anthology. Pick 3 poems to read out loud, on your own time. Then
come to class prepared to present and discuss the 3 poems that you have
selected.
Also, RRE 4 due.
Week 14
Monday April 22: Earth Day!
Read these poems by Walt Whitman: "Whoever You
Are Holding Me Now in Hand" p1362-1363; "Crossing Brooklyn
Ferry" p1364-1368; "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"
p1382-1388.
Wednesday April 24:
In-class review
for exam 2.
Exam
2 during the final exam period: Monday April 29, 1:20-3:20pm