Engl 2110
American Literature to 1865, O'Donnell, ETSU, Fall 2026
[ Policies
] [ Calendar ]
Calendar
last update: August 23, 2026
- Class
meets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:30 to 11:25am in the Academic
Building room 301.
- See
"Policies" link, above, for a calendar overview.
- See
the course D2L site for discussion forums and zoom links that are referenced
here.
WEEK
1
Monday,
Aug 24: Introductions.
Wednesday,
Aug 26: 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 28
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,
Aug 31
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.
Wednesday,
Sep 2
Also
read James Fenimore Cooper, excerpt from Chapter III of Volume II of The
Pioneers [The Slaughter of the Pigeons] (p72).
Friday,
Sep 4
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 7: Labor
Day.
Wednesday,
Sep 9: Read
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life...[1845]; including the
headnotes, preface, chapters 1-11, and the appendix.
Friday,
Sep 11: 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 14
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 16
Continuing
Volume I of Stowe's novel, read chapters XII, XIII, and XIV.
Friday,
Sep 18
From
Volume II of Stowe's novel, read chapters XXXI, XXXIV and XL; pages 843-859.
WEEK
5
Monday,
Sep 21
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 23
Class
meeting on zoom today. Check the D2L calendar for the zoom link.
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 25: Class
cancelled.
WEEK 6
Monday,
Sep 28
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,
Sept 30: Class
cancelled.
Due: Post a reading response to the
D2L discussion, regarding Walden: From the reading assignment, below,
select a passage that strikes you or interests you. Write about 500 words in
response. Attach a picture of the passage to your discussion post.
Read
the following excerpts from Thoreau's Walden:
- Chap
1 "Economy," from the beginning on p948 at least through the break on
p955.
- Chap
2 "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For," p990-1000.
- Chap
11 "Higher Laws," p1006-1013.
- Chap
12 "Brute Neighbors," p1013-1021.
Friday,
Oct 2: Class
cancelled.
Read
Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Divinity School Address;" pages 203-216.
WEEK 7
Monday,
Oct 5: Class
cancelled.
Review
on your own for exam 1. On D2L, I will post a discussion forum with an exam 1
study guide. Students can use the forum to review and prepare for the exam. (I
will be out of town and will be unable to log onto that discussion.)
Wednesday,
Oct 7: Exam
1, in class today.
Friday,
Oct 9: Class
meeting on zoom today. Check the D2L calendar for the zoom link.
Read
the first 3 chapters -- pages 406-419 -- of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850
novel, The Scarlet Letter.
WEEK 8
Monday,
Oct 12: Fall
break! No class.
Wednesday,
Oct 14: Read
chapters 4 through 10 -- pages 419-457 -- of The Scarlet Letter.
Friday,
Oct 16: Read
chapters 11 through 14 -- pages 457-476 -- of The Scarlet Letter.
WEEK 9
Monday,
Oct 19: Read chapters
15 through 19 -- pages 476-497 -- of The Scarlet Letter.
Wednesday,
Oct 21: Read
chapters 20 through 24 -- pages 497-523 -- of The Scarlet Letter.
Friday,
Oct 23: 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 26
Read
Lincoln's Gettysburg address and 2nd inaugural address, in volume B of the Norton
anthology.
Wednesday,
Oct 28
Read
"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" by Whitman, pages
1382-1388 in volume B of the Norton anthology.
Friday,
Oct 30
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 2
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 4
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 6
Class
meeting on zoom today. Check the D2L calendar for the zoom link.
Read
this article: "Whose Independence? The question of what Jefferson meant by
'all men' has defined American law and politics for too long." By Annette
Gordon-Reed. The Atlantic Monthly, November 2025. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/11/thomas-jefferson-declaration-of-independence/684321/.
(Click here for a cached
version.)
WEEK 12
Monday,
Nov 9
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 11
ETSU
closed for Veterans Day.
Friday,
Nov 13
Read,
the following two articles:
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.)
"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 16
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 18
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 20: 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 23: No
additional reading assignments. We'll have a lot to discuss in class today.
Wednesday,
Nov 25-Friday, Nov 27:
Thanksgiving holiday.
WEEK 15
Monday,
Nov 30
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 2: In class
review for exam
2.
Friday,
Dec 4: ETSU
Study Day.
Exam
2 during final exam period – Weds, Dec 9, 8-10am