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Syllabus #4
English 211: American Literature I
Professor Myrna Goldenberg
Text: Paul Lauter, ed., The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume 1
English 211 covers the literature of the colonial periods, before 1700 and from 1700 to 1800, and Early Nineteenth Century, 1800 to 1865. We will begin with writings of Native Americans, the Spanish explorers and settlers, and the European (essentially British) settlers. Then we will move to the visionary and enlightened voices of the colonists who became the revolutionaries and early citizens of the United States. Throughout this course, we will be reading the voices of Native Americans, African Americans, and the women of all colors-the populations that, until very recently, were omitted from the body of works called American literature.
By the end of this semester, you should be familiar with the many types of writing that comprise the literature of the colonies and the early Republic. You should be able to identify the social, religious, economic, and political influences on American literature, and, in turn, the influences of literature-in its many forms-on the emerging nation. Most important, I hope that this course deepens your appreciation of the literature of the United States, particularly its diversity, humor, sincerity, strength, uniqueness, and beautiful Whitman and Dickinson poetry.
Assigned Readings
Week 1, Sept. 6 Introductions, lecture, beginnings
Week 2, Sept. 13 Background 3-21, ethnocentrism; Puritanism, slavery, diversity; 22-40, Native American voices; 67-80, Columbus; 131-136, Chaplain; 146-148, 317-342, Rowlandson.
The Sermons: 176-255, Morton, Winthrop. Bradford, Williams; 342-350, 363 Taylor; 399-406, Mather; 512-575 Edwards. Skim all of these and select one to read carefully. Read these "inspired" men carefully enough so that you can describe their attitudes toward God, their view of the nature of white and nonwhite men and women, their idea of the proper relationship between God and (white) humans. Read one of them carefully enough to be able to paraphrase his work. Write a paragraph paraphrasing one of the sermonizers.
Begin your journals.
Week 3, Sept. 20 256-277 Bradstreet; 312-313 Ward; 470-490 Knight; 611-614 pre-Revolutionary poetry, (skim the Marylanders-Cook and Lewis). 641-643 Terry, Moore, Bleecker, Smith, Anon; 712-727 Wheatley; 694-712 Vassa; 774-871 Franklin.
Week 4, Sept. 27 1153-1163 Rowson; 1163-1177 C. B. Brown; 1238-1280 Irving; 1280-1282, 1296-1307 Cooper; 1322-1417, Poe
Week 5, Oct. 4 1180-1216 Background; 1467-1528 Emerson; 1580-1626 Fuller
Week 6, Oct. 11 1637-1723 Douglass; 1723-1751 Jacobs; 1792-1795 Garrison; 1795-1821 Child; 1813-1816 Whittier; 1825-1838 the Grimké sisters; 1846, 1858-1873 Higginson; 1873-1882 Chesnutt; 2584-2595 Brown; Wilson 2628-2637
Week 7, Oct. 18 Women's Voices: 1893-1899 Stanton; 1899-1908 Fern; 1908-1915 Sojourner Truth; 2307-2362 Stowe
First paper due
Week 8, Oct. 25 1964-2062 Thoreau
Week 9, Nov. 1 Read 1180-1216; 2082-2112, 2157-2272, 2278-2285 Hawthorne
Week 10, Nov. 8 2400-2431, 2464-2581 Melville
Week 11, Nov. 15 Poetic Voices 2633-2663, 2668-2671, 2702-2708
Week 12, Nov. 29 2709-2838 Walt Whitman: "Preface"; Song of Myself
Week 13, Dec. 6 Second paper due. 2838-2920 Emily Dickinson: #67, 258, 280, 288, 303, 341,435, 441, 508, 632, 657, 712, 986, 1129, and the Letters
Week 14 Review
Dec. 20 Final Exam
"We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are."
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