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LITR215

Course Summary

Course: LITR215 Title: Literature of American Encounters, Revolution, and Rebellion Length of Course: 8 Weeks

Prerequisites: [leave blank] Credit Hours: 3

Description

Course Description:

How does a young country develop a literature of its own? From explorers to frontiersmen, follow the search for freedom and new lands through early American literature, guided by the adventuresome spirit reflected in works from the Colonies to the advent of the Civil War. How do we rationalize reports from explorers and early settlers on the indigenous populations? What impact did religion have on early colonial writing and why did the focus shift to reason? How did American writing reflect and shape thought about rebellion and war? How did American women carve out space for themselves as writers of merit?

This course explores these questions and more through the writing of American history and the American character, deepening our understanding of a literature that came to be defined by courage, passion, idealism, andyeseven objection and protest.

Course Scope:

In this course, we will explore American literature from the oral tradition of the native inhabitants and the first accounts of the European explorers through the start of the Civil War. We will consider a range of texts that work to define the history and literary movements beginning with the first nations; moving through the colonial era, the Enlightenment, and the Romantic era; and ending with the onset of American Realism. Our authors include explorers, revolutionaries, and rebelsvoices that demand to be heard as we consider what is our national identity and who, exactly, does our literature represent?

Objectives

1. Articulate the relationship between American historical events and the literature produced during those periods
2. Categorize major authors of America’s literature written prior to the Civil War by both genre and movement
3. Analyze literary genres including poetry, narratives, and biographical or historical accounts
4. Distinguish the characteristics that make a literary work uniquely American
5. Articulate an original opinion based on materials read
6. Demonstrate knowledge of material covered throughout the term

Outline

Week 1: First Nations and Exploration—Growing Pains Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the earliest types of American literature and the historical events that precipitated them
2. Describe several texts classified as exploration literature
3. Discuss several themes that run through much early American literature
4. Explain several of the tensions and conflicts that arose among the earliest explorers and in the New World and show how these tensions and conflicts were reflected in literary works

Readings:

-Native American Oral Tradition

-Introduction: Explorers, Invaders, and Colonists

-Christopher Columbus: Introduction

-Christopher Columbus, “Letter of Columbus, Describing the Results of His First Voyage” -Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: Introduction

-Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, “The Character of the Country”

-Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, “The Assault from the Indians”

-John Smith: Biography

-John Smith, from The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles, Chapter II: “What Happened Till the First Supply” and “The Building of James Towne”

-Samuel de Champlain: Biography

-Samuel de Champlain, from Voyages of Samuel de Champlain: The Voyages of 1604-1607

Assignments:

Introduction (Forum)

-Initial post and peer replies due Sunday

Revisionist History (Forum)

-Initial post and peer replies due Sunday

Week 2: Colonization and the Puritans—Growing Pains Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the two groups of Puritans that came to the New World
2. Explain the six elements of Puritanism
3. Describe some of the Puritan beliefs that led to tensions and conflicts within the movement
4. Discuss several Puritan works by different authors
5. Describe the connections between the historical events and the literary works of the period
6. Identify the most common kinds of literary texts that were produced in this period
7. Be familiar with additional captivity narratives
8. Understand the views on Indians and witchcraft of the time

Readings:

-Introduction: Pilgrims, Puritans, and Opponents

-William Bradford: Biography

-William Bradford, from Of Plymouth Plantation, (9^th Chapter)

-Anne Bradstreet: Introduction

-Anne Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” “The Author to Her Book,” and “On the Burning of Our House”

-Mary Rowlandson: Biography

-Mary Rowlandson, from A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson -Edward Taylor: Biography

-Edward Taylor, “Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children”

-Cotton Mather: Biography

-Cotton Mather, Wonders of the Invisible World: “The Author’s Defence” and “The Trial of Martha Carrier”

-St. John de Crevecoeur: Letters from an American Farmer, “What is an American?”

Assignments:

Course Notes (Forum)

-Initial post due Wednesday, peer replies due Sunday

Quiz 1

-due Sunday

Week 3: Reason and Revolution—Civil Disobedience and Discontent Learning Objectives:

1. Compare and contrast the goals of writers in this era with those of earlier writers
2. Discuss the most important political authors and foundational works that were written in America
3. Understand the ideas behind the Age of Enlightenment and the Spirit of Rationalism
4. Discuss the influence of key African American writers of the age

Readings:

-Introduction: Nationalism in the Age of Enlightenment

-Benjamin Franklin: Biography

-Benjamin Franklin, “Aphorisms”

-Benjamin Franklin, “Plan for Attaining Moral Perfection”

-Benjamin Franklin, “Information to Those Who Would Remove to America”

-Thomas Paine: Introduction

-Thomas Paine, from Common Sense

-Thomas Jefferson: Introduction

-Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

-Olaudah Equiano: Biography

-Olaudah Equiano, Chapter II from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano -Phillis Wheatley: Biography

-Phillis Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America”

-Phillis Wheatley, “On the Death of a Young Lady of Five Years of Age”

Assignments:

Course Notes (Forum)

-Initial post due Wednesday, peer replies due Sunday

Essay 1

-due Sunday

Week 4: Transcendentalism—Civil Disobedience and Discontent Learning Objectives:

1. Define Transcendentalism
2. Understand the philosophical underpinnings of Transcendentalist philosophy
3. Identify the important Transcendentalist writers and their works

Readings:

-Introduction: Transcendental Theory and Practice

-Ralph Waldo Emerson: Introduction

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”

-Henry David Thoreau: Introduction

-Henry David Thoreau, “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience”

-Margaret Fuller: Author Bio

-Margaret Fuller, “The Wrongs of American Women. The Duties of American Women.” (from Woman in the Nineteenth Century)

-Margaret Fuller, “Educate Men and Women as Souls.” (from Woman in the Nineteenth Century) -Margaret Fuller, “Household Nobelness.” (from Woman in the Nineteenth Century)

Assignments:

Course Notes (Forum)

-Initial post due Wednesday, peer replies due Sunday

Quiz 2

-due Sunday

Week 5: The Romantics—Individualism and Imagination Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the relationship between Romanticism and the historical events in America during this period
2. Identify the general characteristics of Romantic literature and thought
3. Explain how Irving and Hawthorne’s literary works represented and influenced the Romantic movement
4. Identify and discuss the themes and literary devices in several of Irving and Hawthorne’s shorter works
5. Summarize the human weaknesses that Herman Melville portrayed in his shorter works
6. Identify several of the important cultural elements that existed during this period
7. Explain how and why the reigning Romanticism gave way to new ways of thinking and writing

Readings:

-Introduction: The New Nation and Its Literature

-Washington Irving: Introduction

-Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle”

-Introduction: Nathaniel Hawthorne and the American Gothic -Nathaniel Hawthorne: Introduction

-Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown”

-Nathaniel Hawthorne: “The Birth-Mark”

-Herman Melville: Introduction (2017)

-Herman Melville, “Bartleby, A Story of Wall-Street”