Engl 2110
American Literature to 1865, O'Donnell, ETSU, Fall 2025
[ Policies ] [ Calendar ]
Calendar
last update: August 24, 2025
- Class
meets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:30 to 11:25am in Gilbreath
Hall 313.
- See
"Policies" link, above, for a calendar overview.
WEEK
1
Monday,
Aug 25: Introductions.
Wednesday,
Aug 27: Read
"My Kinsman, Major Molineaux", by Nathaniel Hawthorne, on pages
308-321 in the 2nd volume of the 10th edition of the Norton Anthology
of American Lit.
Friday,
Aug 29
Class
cancelled.
Read
"Young Goodman Brown," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, on pages 321-329 in
the 2nd volume of the Norton anthology.
Due: Post a reading response to the
D2L discussion, regarding "Young Goodman Brown": What do you make of
the story?
WEEK 2
Monday,
Sep 1: Labor day.
Wednesday,
Sep 3
Read "The
Author's Account of Himself," from The Sketch Book of
Geoffrey Crayon, by Washington Irving (p27-28). And read "Rip Van
Winkle" (p29), also by Irving.
Also
read James Fenimore Cooper, excerpt from Chapter III of Volume II of The
Pioneers [The Slaughter of the Pigeons] (p72).
Friday,
Sep 5
Read Edgar
Allan Poe, "Ligeia" and "The Black Cat." (I will not
necessarily provide page numbers for reading assignments, from here on out. Use
the index, in the back of the anthology, to find page numbers for the readings.)
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.)
WEEK
3
Monday,
Sep 8: Read
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life...[1845];
the headnotes, preface and chapters 1-9.
Wednesday,
Sep 10: Read
Douglass chapters 10-11, and the appendix.
Friday,
Sep 12
Class
cancelled.
Read
the first chapter from Volume I of Stowe's 1852 novel, Uncle Tom's
Cabin, which is on pages 762-769 in Volume B of the Norton anthology.
Due: Post a reading response to the
D2L discussion: Compare Douglass's narrative to Stowe's novel, based on what you
can glean from reading just the first chapter.
WEEK 4
Monday,
Sep 15:
Read
headnotes for Harriet Beecher Stowe (p760-762), and read these 3 chapters from
Volume I of Stowe's 1852 novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin: Chapters III,
VII, and IX; pages 762-794.
Also
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
Wednesday,
Sep 17
Continuing
Volume I of Stowe's novel, read chapters XII, XIII, and XIV.
Friday,
Sep 19
From
Volume II of Stowe's novel, read chapters XXXI, XXXIV and XL; pages 843-859.
WEEK
5
Monday,
Sep 22
Read
"The Cherokee Leader Who Paved the Way for MLK." By Steve
Inskeep. The Washington Post, May 29, 2015. Click here: faculty.etsu.edu/odonnell/readings/inskeep_cherokee_leader.pdf
Read
Elias Boudinot -- headnote, and excerpt from the first edition of
the Cherokee Phoenix, Feb 21, 1828; pages 287-291.
Wednesday,
Sep 24
Read
"The Cherokee Memorials," headnote and Memorial of the Cherokee
Council dated Nov 5, 1829; pages 292-297. And read the letter from R. W.
Emerson to Martin Van Buren, April 23, 1838; pages 301-304.
Friday,
Sep 26: Class
cancelled.
WEEK 6
Monday,
Sep 29
Read
Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem, "Brahma," here online: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45868/brahma-56d225936127b
Read
Herman Melville's poem, "The Portent," page 1422.
Read
Thoreau, excerpt from "A Plea for Captain John Brown;" pages
1060-1064.
Wednesday,
Oct 1
Read,
from Thoreau's Walden, at least one chapter of your choosing, from
8 chapters that are included in our anthology (chaps 1, 2, 7, 11, 12, 16, 17,
18), on pages 947 to 1049. Be prepared to present the chapter you choose, in
class. Be prepared to discuss why you chose that chapter, explain what the chapter
is about, and select a good passage to read aloud in class.
Friday,
Oct 3
Read
Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Divinity School Address;" pages 203-216.
WEEK 7
Monday,
Oct 6
Read
the first 3 chapters -- pages 406-419 -- of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel, The
Scarlet Letter.
In-class
review for exam 1. Click
here for the study guide.
Wednesday,
Oct 8
Exam
1, in class
today.
Friday,
Oct 10: Class
cancelled.
WEEK 8
Monday,
Oct 13: Fall
break! No class.
Wednesday,
Oct 15: Read
chapters 4 through 10 -- pages 419-457 -- of The Scarlet Letter.
Friday,
Oct 17: Read
chapters 11 through 14 -- pages 457-476 -- of The Scarlet Letter.
WEEK 9
Monday,
Oct 20: Read
chapters 15 through 19 -- pages 476-497 -- of The Scarlet Letter.
Wednesday,
Oct 22: Read chapters
20 through 24 -- pages 497-523 -- of The Scarlet Letter.
Friday,
Oct 24
Class
cancelled.
Due: Post a reading response to the
D2L discussion, regarding The Scarlet Letter: What do you make of the
novel? Was it a good reading experience? Would you recommend it to peers? What
are the main themes?
WEEK 10
Monday,
Oct 27
Read
Lincoln's Gettysburg address and 2nd inaugural address, in volume B of the
Norton anthology.
Wednesday,
Oct 29
Read
"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" by Whitman, pages
1382-1388 in volume B of the Norton anthology.
Friday,
Oct 31
Read
three poems that George Moses Horton published in 1865, on pages 1618-1621 of
volume B of the Norton.
Read
five poems that H. Melville published in 1866, on pages 1422-1425.
WEEK 11
Monday,
Nov 3
In
volume A of the Norton anthology, read the following by Anne Bradstreet --
"To the Memory of My Dear and Ever Honored Father ..." p218; "To
Her Father..." p220; "The Author to Her Book" and "Before
the Birth..." p230; "To My Dear and Loving Husband"
p237. Also read the 5 poems on p234-238, and the letter which appear
on pages 241-249.
Wednesday,
Nov 5
Read,
in volume A of the Norton anthology, the following poems by Phillis Wheatley
-- "On Being Brought..." p715; "To the Right Honourable William..."
p715; "To S.M., a Young African Painter..." p721; "To His
Excellency General Washington" p722.
Friday,
Nov 7: Class
cancelled.
WEEK 12
Monday,
Nov 10
Read from
the Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, volume A, p622-628 (wherein he discusses
the drafting of the Declaration). Read excerpts from "Notes on the
State of Virginia," p629-639.
Wednesday,
Nov 12
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
Friday,
Nov 14
Read,
here online: "Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were
written. Black Americans have fought to make them true." By Nikole
Hannah-Jones. The 1619 Project. The New York Times, August 14,
2019. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/black-history-american-democracy.html
WEEK 13
Monday,
Nov 17
Read
Thomas Paine, "The Crisis, No. 1," p607-613 of volume A of the
Norton; and Chapters I and II from "The Age of Reason,"
p613-616.
Wednesday,
Nov 19
Read
Ben Franklin, excerpts from Part Two of his autobiography -- including the
prefatory short letters by James and Vaughan, respectively -- on pages 504-520
in volume A of the Norton Anthology. Also read Franklin's "The Way to
Wealth."
Friday,
Nov 21
Class
cancelled.
Read,
here online, "The Creed: What Poor Richard cost Benjamin
Franklin," by good ol' Jill Lepore, The New Yorker,
Jan 28, 2008: www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/01/28/the-creed (click
here for a
cached version).
Due: Post a reading response to the
D2L discussion, regarding Ben Franklin's writings. What do you think of
Franklin? What does Lepore think of Franklin?
WEEK 14
Monday,
Nov 24
Wednesday,
Nov 26: Thanksgiving
holiday.
Friday,
Nov 28: Thanksgiving
holiday.
WEEK 15
Monday,
Dec 1
Read the
25 poems by Emily Dickinson that appear from page 1512 through the top of page
1525, in volume B of the Norton anthology.
Also,
skim the Dickinson poems on pages 1525 to 1544 of volume B of the Norton
anthology. Pick 2 poems to read out loud, on your own time. Come to class
prepared to discuss the poems that you picked.
Wednesday,
Dec 3
In
class review for exam
2.
Friday,
Dec 5: ETSU
Study Day. No class.
Exam
2 during final exam period – Weds, Dec 10, 8-10am