LITR 4231: Early American Literature    University of Houston-Clear LakePRIVATE

Fall Semester 2002, Tuesday & Thursday 1000-1120; Bayou 2231

Instructor: Craig White  Office: 2529-8 Bayou Bldg  Phone: 281 283 3380    email: whitec@uhcl.edu                  Office Hours: T 11:30-1 Th 11:30-1, 3-4

Course webpage: http://www.uhcl.edu/itc/course/LITR/4231/homepage.htm

Caveat: All materials on this syllabus are subject to change with minimal notice.

Course Text: Heath Anthology of American Literature, ed. Lauter, v. 1, 4th ed.

 

Graded Work: (details below; percentages only symbolic of approximate relative weight)

  • In-class midterm exam (20%; 3 October)
  • Research Project (30%; 6-8 pp.; proposal due 31 Oct.; project due 5 Dec.)
  • Final exam (30%; 10 Dec.)
  • Poetry presentations, class helpfulness, attendance, punctuality, reading quizzes (20%; silent grade)

 

Course Objectives:

1. To read early American literature and culture through methods of “historicism” and “American Studies.”

 

1a. Historicism: how do the literature and culture of America’s deep past relate to or differ from contemporary American literature and culture? (This contrasts with “antiquarian history,” in which the past is held up as a separate, special, or discrete system that modern humans can only admire from afar.)

 

1b. American Studies: the interdisciplinary study of American identity and culture in literature, history, religion, gender studies, and economics, whether dominant-culture or multicultural.  (This contrasts with “formalist” studies of literature, in which literature is seen as separate from the world, and readers read in order to escape from the world.  In American Studies and Historicism, literature both reflects and creates the wider culture.)

 

2. To manage a balance in defining American literature and identity between the "multicultural” aspect and the "dominant culture" aspect.

 

2a. To acknowledge the “culture wars” over “which America to teach” and these Americas’ significance as “origin stories” or “creation stories.”

 

2b. Correspondingly, to balance what literature is defined as “American,” between the “old canon” of white male writers such as Ben Franklin and the “new canon” of women and people of color such as Phyllis Wheatley.

 

2c. To study the “Pilgrim Fathers” and the “Founding Fathers” as early models of the USA’s dominant culture:

 

2d. To recognize alternative or resistant voices, cultures, values, and identities: women in the dominant culture; other ethnic communities such as Native Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans.

3. To trace the evolution of literature from a public, often spoken community function to its modern identity as a written form of enrichment or entertainment for individuals.

 

3a. To expand the definition of "Literature" to include diaries, legal documents, memoirs, sermon, letters, journalism, and histories, as well as poems, plays, and fiction. What is gained or lost by such an expansion of meaning?

 

3b. To observe how “private documents” like letters, diaries, and journals, which represent the private lives of real people but were not intended for publication, anticipate the development of published fiction, which represents private lives of fictional people and models manners or behavior.

 

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Email and webpage contributions

 

Each student is expected to contribute to the course webpage in order to benefit this course in its present and future offerings. Each student must make about four contributions to the webpage through the instructor via email or other electronic media. Your contributions may be anonymous or indexed by your name or initials.

 

The web address is http://www.uhcl.edu/itc/course/LITR/4231/homepage.htm. If convenient, install it as a “favorite” for easy access.

 

Here are the webpage’s “tabs” or sub-pages:

Syllabus,

Schedule, &

Other Handouts

Model

 

Assignments

Links

to

Courses

Research

 

Links

 

Required email contributions:

1. Poetry presentation handout and discussion summary

2. Midterm, or selections from midterm (may not be required)

3. Research proposal

4. Research project

 

Optional email contributions:

·         final exam

 

Email address: Send all emails to whitec@uhcl.edu. Note the "c" at the end of "whitec." If you send the email to "white" only, it goes to the wrong professor.

 

 

 

To email web materials to the instructor, please try both of the following

·         Paste the contents of the appropriate word processing file directly into the email message.

·         “Attach” your word processing file to an email message. (My computer and most of its programs work off of Microsoft Word 2000. The only word processing program my computer appears unable to translate is Microsoft Works, though Microsoft Word is fine, as are most others.  If in doubt, save your word processing file in "Rich Text Format" or a “text only” format.)

If you cannot reach me by email, save your file to a 3 & ½ “ floppy disk and give it to me.  If you put your name on the disk, I’ll eventually return it to you.

 

Student computer access: Every enrolled student at UHCL is assigned an email account on the university server. For information about receiving your account name and password, call the university help desk at 281 283 2828.

 

Reassurances: You are not graded on your expertise in electronic media but on your intelligence in reading discussing, and writing about literature. I’ve tried similar email exercises for several semesters; a few students encounter a few problems, but, if we don’t give up, these problems always work out. Your course grade will not suffer for mistakes with email and related issues as long as I see you making a fair effort.

 

Descriptions of Assignments

Midterm exam

Date: 3 October

Relative weight: 20% of final grade

Course content: readings and themes up to midterm

Format: In-class or email; open-book and open-notebook

Materials: Write in blue or black ink in a bluebook or email instructor a copy of your exam.

Time: One hour and 20 minutes (regular class period). In-class writers may leave when finished; email writers should keep a log of when they start and stop (interruptions permitted). Everyone should probably spend at least an hour writing.

Length: Given different people's writing styles, length is hard to estimate, but generally the best exams have more writing, while the less impressive exams look scanty.

Assignment: Referring to at least 5 texts, write an essay summarizing and focusing the highlights of your learning experience regarding early American literature and culture. Organize your essay around a central theme or problem.  You may create a more-or-less unique topic, or center your theme on a course objective or a combination of themes and objectives.  Following are some approaches to consider, either individually or in combination.

·         What outlook on early American literature and culture did you come in with, and how has that view been extended, enriched, or challenged?

·         Objective 1: Have you gained insight into the American character (American Studies) or into the continuity between our past and present (Historicism)?

·         Objectives 2 & 4: Dominant culture, multicultures, the American character and, the study of early American literature and culture.

·         Material and spiritual aspects of American culture.

·         The different spiritual and material worldviews of the dominant culture and the Native Americans.

·         The Puritans as an early model of America’s dominant culture.

·         Different gendered worldviews or gender roles in early America.

·         Any topic or theme with obvious relevance to the course and texts.

Do not regard these items above as a checklist, as you don’t have enough time to cover all these subjects and organize them into a coherent essay.  Think about what you can do well in the allotted time.

Textual requirements: Refer to at least 5 texts total.  No penalty for referring to more, but, the more texts you refer to, the more superficial your treatment necessarily becomes. No more than 2 poems. Strike some balance between dominant-cultural and multicultural texts.  Do not copy out long passages from texts.  Quote briefly; otherwise simply remind your reader of events, characters, situations in texts.  No need for page documentation unless it’s something surprising. Refer to texts by full title and full name of author the first time; abbreviations welcome thereafter.

Preparation: You may do as much outlining and practicing as you like, but don’t bring in a pre-written essay that you copy out during the exam. Except that some students will take the exam by email, everyone is supposed to work under the same conditions, and the idea is that everyone will compose their essays during the time allowed. (They’ll be read with these conditions in mind—minor errors such as misspellings, awkward sentences, or slipped punctuation won’t count much unless they’re part of a bigger problem.)

Examples of previous midterm submissions & use requirement: Selections from two previous courses' midterms are posted on the webpage under "Model Assignments." You are expected to review these prior to the midterm and to make at least one reference to something you learned from these midterm samples.

 

Syllabus,

Schedule, &

Other Handouts

Model

 

Assignments

Links

to

Courses

Research

 

Links

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research Project

Students have a choice of two options for research projects. 
·         Option 1 is a traditional 7-10 page research and analysis paper relevant to the course. 
·         Option 2 is a 10-15 page journal of research and reflections concerning a variety of materials relevant to the course.

·         Weight: approximately 30% of final grade

·         Due dates: Proposal due via email by 31 Oct.; project due 5 Dec.

 

Research proposal: Due via email by 31 October (or before).

Write at least two paragraphs containing the following information:

·         Indicate which option—Option 1 or Option 2—your research project will take. (If you are trying to choose between the two options, start your email by explaining the situation, then write separate entries for each option according to the guidelines below. The instructor will help you decide.

·         If Option 1 (research & analysis essay option), list the primary text(s) you intend to work with. Explain the source of your interest, why the topic is significant, and what you hope to find out through your research. Describe any reading or research you have already done and how useful it has been.

·         If Option 2 (journal option), survey range of possible contents or subjects that you may cover, plus any unifying theme or direction for the journal.

·         For either option, conclude by asking the instructor a question about your topic, sources for research, or writing your research project.

·         Email or otherwise transmit an electronic version of your proposal to whitec@uhcl.edu.

·         Research report proposals (and instructor’s responses) will be posted on the course webpage.

·         If you want to confer about your possible topic before submitting a proposal, feel free to confer with me in person, by phone, or by email.

·         You may change your option or topic as your research and writing progress. If the change is "natural" and still falls generally within the description of your original proposal, you do not need to submit another proposal. If, however, you change your option or topic completely, email the instructor a fresh proposal at least a week before the research project is due.

·         More details on each option follow below.

 

Response to Research Proposal

·         Student does not receive a letter grade for the proposal, only a “yes” or instructions for receiving a yes. Students will not lose credit for problems in reaching a topic as long as they are working to resolve these problems.

·         The only way you can start getting into trouble over the proposal is if you simply don’t offer much to work with, especially after prompts from instructor. In these cases, a bad grade isn’t recorded, but notes regarding the paper proposal may appear on the Final Grade Report.

Examples of these assignments on the Web

Five research-and-analysis essays (option 1) from LITR 4231 2000 are posted on a link under the “Model Assignments” tab. The journal (option 2) wasn’t a possibility that semester. However, the “Links to Other Courses” tab can connect you to examples of journals for other courses of mine.

 

Syllabus,

Schedule, &

Other Handouts

Model

 

Assignments

Links

to

Courses

Research

 

Links

 

 

Option 1 (essay) requirements

·         Length: 7-10 pages of text plus Works Cited page.

·         The topic is open to any type of literary analysis, but it must have some relevance to the course. That is, a member of the class reading your essay would be able to recognize the relevance of the text or its major themes. More on topics below.

·         In terms of primary texts, you may choose either poetry or prose texts. Usually you should involve at least two primary texts in your analysis for the sake of comparison and contrast. You may choose course texts and additional texts from outside the course. Beware of “warming up” old papers—confer with instructor.

·         In terms of research, you must incorporate references to at least three secondary and background sources--that is, your research sources must include both secondary and background types of research. The distinction is explained below.

·         Follow MLA style for documentation and mechanics.

 

Option 2 (journal) requirements

Length: Approximately 10-15 pages, though submissions up to 20 pages are acceptable.

Purpose & Contnet: Students will extend their range of knowledge or familiarity with the field of minority literature or one of its subject areas. In brief, the journal might answer the question,

"What do I want to know about this field of study, where do I find this knowledge, and what have I learned?"

Specific suggestions are given below, but overall the journal should demonstrate that you have, however briefly or tentatively, initiated research in an area relevant to early American literature.

Grading of journals is based primarily on the quality of writing and research. Is your journal “readable” and interesting, so that its reader feels like continuing to read it? Does the journal demonstrate “learning?”—that is, does your reader feel as though knowledge is being gathered toward a purpose?

Warning: If you choose the journal option, you are not choosing an option that involves less work than the traditional research paper option. You are expected to do just as much work and your writing will be judged by similar standards. However, the writing may be less centrally or consistently focused on one subject. Thus you may pursue several subjects, which may or may not equally cohere.  All the same, I expect to see good absorption and expression of research and well-polished if exploratory writing in what you turn in. (In brief, the journal I will read should not be restricted to your first drafts. Your grad is largely determined by the quality of your writing as well as your research.)

 

Coherence: A journal provides opportunities for variety in learning, but students should look for opportunities to organize their diverse sources into larger themes according to the purposes of the assignment. The introduction and conclusion provide the primary opportunity for you to generalize on your learning, or at least to summarize its parts. Also you may make connections between parts of your journal as they appear.

 

Research Requirements: From 4 to 7 background or secondary sources. Occasionally the journal may involve reading a primary source beyond the course’s readings—consult with instructor.

 

Where to list or how to document your “works cited” or “bibliography’ for a journal: You may either fully document your research as you review it, or you may save full documentation for a “Works Cited” at the end of the journal. However, you need not do both; that is, there is no need to duplicate information at the end that you’ve already provided on the way through.

 

Topics for Research Project

With either option, you are responsible for your own topic, and frequently the choice of an original and interesting topic is the first step towards a strong paper.  Therefore you should explore possibilities of topics beyond any suggestions I make.  Following, however, are some broad considerations that may help you explore the possibilities.

 

First, the topic must have some connection to our course. You may expand your discussion beyond our course, but part of your research base should relate to texts that we studied or could have studied.  However, you may consider comparing or connecting texts or authors of early American literature to later texts and authors in the USA or elsewhere.

 

You may attempt a more-or-less standard Literature paper involving analysis of literary texts, or you may try a more "cultural" or "American Studies" approach. If you prefer the “analysis” approach, you probably should take “Option 1 (essay).” For the “cultural” or “American studies” approach, you might try either Option 1 (essay) or Option 2 (journal).

 

 

 

 

Literary topics

For your primary research, you might choose the kind of text(s) you normally associate with a Literature course, such as poems by Anne Bradstreet, Phyllis Wheatley, or Edward Taylor.

            Or you might relate these "literary" texts to less literary texts, for instance by comparing the slave poetry of Wheatley with the slave narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or you might contrast the private letters of Abigail Adams with the public declarations of her husband John or of Thomas Jefferson.

            Or relate developments in American literature to developments in other nations.  Taylor's poetry bears many resemblances to that of the English poets Donne or Herbert.  Franklin and other "Founding Fathers" were very much "men of the world" who responded to European debates and discourse.

 

Cultural, "American Studies," or Literary History Topics

With these emphases, you might explore a cultural, economic, or religious theme, or you might explore the development of a literary tradition.  Following are some topics from the last offering of this course, followed by the category the topic might fit.

 

·         "The Development of American Theater" (Literary History)

·         "Navajo and Christian Religion" (Cultural Studies or American Studies)

·         "A New World Apart: Puritan New England vs. the Virginia Colony" (American Studies)

·         "The Interested Few: The Use of Propaganda in the American Revolution" (Literary History)

·         "Puritan Fathers and Founding Fathers--A Consideration of the Educational Legacy" (Cultural Studies or American Studies)

·         "Reactions of the Indians to Catholic Religion" (Cultural or American Studies)

·         "The Roots of Women's Literature" (Literary History)

·         "The Power of Religion for African Americans" (Cultural or American Studies)

 

How do American Studies and Cultural Studies topics count as Literature? Compared to papers you might write for history, sociology, or anthropology courses, your papers for this course will refer more directly to primary texts.  Instead of describing historical action from a distance, they allow the historical actors to speak for themselves.  So there is close attention to writing and language as in traditional Literature courses.  However, the definition of Literature and its significance in relation to other human activities is expanded.

 

Background and secondary research.  You are required to refer directly to at least three background and secondary sources, though your mix of these three may vary, and of course you may refer to more than three.

 

Background sources refer to handbooks, encyclopedias, and companions to literature that provide basic generic, biographical, or historical information.  For purposes of Literature, these books are generally shelved in the PR and PS sections of the Reference section of the library.

 

Secondary sources refer to critical articles about particular authors or texts.  (When you write your analytic / research paper, you are creating a secondary source.)  These may take the form of articles or books.  Articles may be found in journals or in bound collections of essays.  Secondary books may be found on the regular shelves of the library.  To find secondary sources, perform a database search on the MLA directory in the Reference section of the library--the reference librarians will help you.

 

Documentation style: MLA style (parenthetical documentation + Works Cited page, as described in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 4th or 5th edition.

 

Email copy of paper to instructor at whitec@uhcl.edu. You are welcome to give me a hard copy on or around the due date, but before the semester is over you are required to provide an electronic copy.

 

Final exam

Date: Tuesday, 10 December, 10am until 12:50pm

Relative weight: 30% of final grade

Course content: emphasis on readings and themes from midterm to final; some questions may encourage references to pre-midterm readings. The questions will likely be centered around course objectives or combinations of objectives.

Format: In-class or email; open-book and open-notebook

Materials: In-class students should write in blue or black ink in a bluebook; you may bring in fragmentary notes for your prepared essay.

Time: The exam will be designed so it can be completed in two to two-and-a-half hours, but you may have the entire 2 hours and 50 minutes. In-class writers may leave when finished; email writers should keep a log of when they start and stop (interruptions permitted). Everyone should probably spend at least two hours writing. Email exams are expected by 2:30pm the day of the exam.

Length: Given different people's writing styles, length is hard to estimate, but generally the best exams have more writing, while the less impressive exams look scanty.  However, good organization and sharpness of reference can be better than great length.

Organization: You will write two essays of approximately one hour each in response to a choice of 3 or 4 questions.  For one of these, you may be allowed to choose a topic beforehand and prepare notes.  The other question will be given to you at the time of the exam, though you may be given some choice.  Further details on the final exam will be given as the time approaches.

Availability of questions: In-class students will be handed the questions at the beginning of the exam period. Just before the exam period, copies of the exam will be emailed to all students and posted on the course webpage.

Poetry presentations

Each student will give one poetry presentation and serve as a respondent or recorder for one or more other presentations.

 

Format  for poetry presentation:

1.    Announce author, title, and location of poem in anthology.

2.  Review biographical information regarding poet, especially if the poem is by a poet we’re not studying otherwise.

3.  Announce the point or main angle or interest of your interpretation or commentary in relation to a course objective or another point raised in class.

3a. One approach to the poem may be the “historicist” method—that is, explore how a reader today may relate to the poem at hand and how the poem resists reading or seems strange or “unreadable” to a modern reader.

3b. You might also compare the poem to other poems we will have read in the course, remarking similarities or stylistic and intellectual changes.

4. Read aloud the poem or passages from the poem.  You should look up and practice pronunciations of any unusual or foreign words before you read aloud.

5. Comment briefly on prominent passages in the poem, the meaning you gathered, and how it helps us to understand the chosen course objective or our historical relation to early American literature.

6. Ask a question regarding the selection.

7. Time limit: 10 minutes. (Discussion may exceed.) Recorder takes notes of discussion.

 

Respondents: These roles, which are somewhat more ambiguous or flexible than those of the presenters, are meant to solve a problem: in previous courses featuring poetry presenters, the rest of the class sometimes just sat there without responding to the presentation.  The “respondents” are first responsible for having read the poem before the class meeting and for having some interpretations in mind.  When the presenter asks the question to begin discussion, the respondents should pause before contributing their own ideas in case other members of the class are ready to respond on the spot.  Sooner or later, however, the respondents should contribute to the discussion of the poem. They may support the presenter’s interpretation of the poem and re-emphasize passages that the presenter highlighted, but they may just as likely offer alternative interpretations in which they direct the class’s attention to other brief passages of the poem, which they are welcome to read. Occasionally the discussion runs in such a direction that the respondent is forgotten—not to worry.

 

Recorder: An assigned student will take notes of the discussion, writing down as much as possible of what students say and connecting it, if possible, to names. (Instructor will help with names.) The note taker will share these with the reader and consult as far as desirable in helping with the email / webpage summary (see below). The reader and note taker may share and consult in person, by phone, or by email.

 

If your poem has a previously-existing web summary, make at least one reference to the points raised about the poem in that presentation or discussion.

 

Post-presentation email assignment:

The presenter writes a 3-4 paragraph summary of her or his presentation and the discussion that followed and emails this summary to the instructor within a week for posting to webpage. Head this summary with your name, the course, and the title of the poem. Summarize the nature and contents of the poem, the highlights of your presentation (featuring brief quotations from the poem), and the highlights of discussion (with attributions where possible). Be sure to include your respondent's comments. (Attribute by name.) You are welcome to re-interview the respondent and other discussion participants.

 

Grading of Presentations.  Presentations and summaries are graded “silently.”  That is, no grade is announced directly to the student during the semester.  However, a grade for your presentations will be recorded on your final exam as part of the tabulation of your final grade, so you can see what you made if you pick up your final exam from the instructor.  Also, if you want to discuss the general success of your presentation with the instructor, feel welcome to do so.

 

Examples of poetry presentatiosn on the Web

Eight presentation summaries from LITR 4231 2000 are posted on a link under the “Model Assignments” tab. The journal (option 2) wasn’t a possibility that semester. However, the “Links to Other Courses” tab can connect you to examples of journals for other courses of mine.

 

Syllabus,

Schedule, &

Other Handouts

Model

 

Assignments

Links

to

Courses

Research

 

Links

 

Final Grade Report

Grades are submitted and may be checked by the usual means. Additionally, I will email each student a breakdown of their grades. Though this message should be accurate, it will be “unofficial” in that none of its information is recorded or supported by the university registrar. The message will appear thus:

 

LITR 4231 2000

[Student Name]

[contact information]

Absences:

Quiz grades:

Presentation grade:

Midterm grade:

Final exam grade:

Course grade:

Course Policies

 

Attendance policy: You are expected to attend every scheduled class meeting.  As this course meets twice a week, you are allowed two free cuts without penalty or question.  Avoid taking your cuts early in the semester, however, as this is often a symptom of further difficulties.  Attendance may not be taken systematically, but, if you miss more than one meeting, you start jeopardizing your status in the course.  If you keep cutting or missing, you should drop the course.  Even with medical or other emergency excuses, a high number of absences or partial attendances will result in a lower or failing grade.

            If shockingly absent, return and make contact (281 283 3380) ASAP in normal office hours or leave message.  Catch up fast!  If you miss more than two classes (especially early!), consider dropping, unless prior arrangements are made.  More than two absences affects final grades.  You are always welcome to discuss your standing in the course.

            Taking exams by email does not affect attendance records.

 

Class participation: Students' participation is judged less on quantity than on its quality and appropriateness to the topic under discussion and the point being pursued. Final course grades may be affected by inappropriate student participation. Such inappropriate participation obviously includes offensive or distasteful remarks and persistent chatting while class is in progress. It may also include interruptions of lecture or discussion with irrelevant or untimely comments or questions. It may also include long-winded "life stories" of limited relevance to the course or interest to the students.

 

Academic Honesty Policy: Please refer to the catalog for the Academic Honesty Policy (2002-2003 Catalog, pp. 76-78).  Plagiarism—that is, using research without citations or copying someone else’s work as your own—will result in a grade penalty or failure of the course. Copying someone else's test leads to heavy losses of credit for the test and the course in general.  Refer to the UHCL catalogue for further details regarding expectations and potential penalties.

 

Disabilities: If you have a disability and need a special accommodation, consult first with the Health Center and then discuss the accommodation with me.

 

Incompletes: A grade of "I" is given only in cases of documented emergency late in the semester.  An Incomplete Grade Contract must be completed.

 

Make-up exam policy: Ask way in advance for times before the regular exam.  Professor has the right to refuse accommodations requested on short notice.

 

 

 

 

Reading & Presentation Schedule, fall 2002 (all page numbers are keyed to The Heath Anthology of American Literature, 4th ed., vol. 1)

 

Tuesday, 27 August: introduction

 

Thursday, 29 August: Christopher Columbus, 107-119, + handout; Genesis (from the Bible; handout).

(Note resemblances between Columbus's "discovery" of the New World and the Creation of the World in the Bible.)

Poetry: “Two Songs,” 89

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Tuesday, 3 September: Introduction to “Colonial Period: to 1700,” pp. 2-4 ("Native American Culture and Traditions'). Native American Oral Narratives, 21-50; 53-59; handouts regarding Origin Stories.

(Compare values and dynamics of Indian Origin Stories to Creation in Genesis.)

Poetry: "Deer-Hunting Song," 96-97

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Thursday, 5 September: Aztec Poetry, 93-96; "History of the Miraculous Apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531," 165-173

Poetry: “Like Flowers Continually Perishing,” 90-91

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Tuesday, 10 September: Introduction to “Colonial Period: to 1700,” pp. 1-2; 5-8. John Smith, 242-250

Poetry: “Woman’s Divorce Dance Song,” 98

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Thursday, 12 September: Inuit, “Improvised Greeting,” 98; "New France," 201-2; Samuel de Champlain, 205-211

Poetry: “Widow’s Song” (Quernertoq [Copper Eskimo]), 93-94

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Tuesday, 17 September: William Bradford, 311-327, 333-4. (+ handout from Mourt's Relation)

 

Thursday, 19 September: Introduction to “Colonial Period: to 1700,” pp.8-11.  John Winthrop, 294-311 (esp. 294-297, 303-304, 304-311 [on Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson]; Roger Williams, 335-6, 353-5

Poetry: Anne Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” 394-95

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Tuesday, 24 September: Anne Bradstreet, 382-85; 390-401

Poetry: Sarah Whipple Goodhue, “Lines to her Family,” 541-2

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Thursday, 26 September: Mary White Rowlandson, 425-456; also review 182-200 for Spanish-Indian conflicts comparable to King Philip's War. Preview midterm topics.

 

Tuesday, 1 October: Cotton Mather, 495-504; Edward Taylor, 456-461. Discuss midterm topics.

Poetry: Edward Taylor, “Huswifery,” 467-8

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Thursday, 3 October: midterm exam

 

Tuesday, 8 October: Sarah Kemble Knight, 572-590; "Voices of Revolution and Nationalism," 777-9.

 

Thursday, 10 October: Jonathan Edwards, 620-22; 625-6; 631-52.

 

Tuesday, 15 October:  Benjamin Franklin, 782-92, 798-821.

 

Thursday, 17 October: J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur 898-899, 903-910, 911-918.

Poetry: Freneau, “To Sir Toby,” 1181-83

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Tuesday, 22 October: Olaudah Equiano, 1116-1149.

 

Thursday, 24 October: Handsome Lake, 780-781; John and Abigail Adams, 954-964

 

Tuesday, 29 October: Thomas Paine, 934-954;Introduction to “Patriot and Loyalist Songs and Ballads,” 1030

Poetry: “The Liberty Song,” 1031-2

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Thursday, 31 October: Thomas Jefferson, 968-974, 988-991, 1004-1007; research proposal due

Poetry: “When Good Queen Elizabeth . . . ” & “Song for a Fishing Party,” 1044-1046

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Tuesday, 5 November: The Federalist, 1008-1022

Poetry: Richard Steere, “On a Sea-Storm nigh the Coast,” 544-5

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Thursday, 7 November: review "Founding Fathers" (and Mothers)

 

Tuesday, 12 November: "Contested Visions, American Voices," 1050-52; Samson Occom, 1078-84.

 

Thursday, 14 November: Jupiter Hammon, 1053-60; Phillis Wheatley, 1205-1221

Poetry: Phillis Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” (1212)

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Tuesday, 19 November: begin Royall Tyler, The Contrast, 1257-1278

 

Thursday, 21November: complete Royall Tyler, The Contrast, 1278-1300

 

Tuesday, 26 November: Hannah Webster Foster, from The Coquette, 1306-1325; Susanna Rowson, from Charlotte Temple, 1326-1339

 

28 November: no class meeting—Thanksgiving Holiday

 

Tuesday, 3 December: Philip Freneau, 1175-1191

Poetry: Freneau, “The Wild Honey Suckle,” 1183-84

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Thursday, 5 December: Washington Irving, 2071-2, 2081-2112; research project due by email.

Poetry: Poe, “The City in the Sea,” 2461(1507)

Reader:

Respondent:                          Recorder:

 

Tuesday, 10 December: Final exam, 10am-12:50pm