Disclaimer: Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor. In the event that there are changes to the syllabus, I will notify you both in-person and electronically.
Course Schedule:
Week 1
W 8/27
Course Intro, Syllabus Review
F 8/29
Lecture Day: Early American Literature, Puritans, and Anne Bradstreet
Read: Anne Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband”, “Prologue,” “"Before the Birth of One of Her Children", "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment"
Week 2
M 9/1
No class – Labor Day
W 9/3
Discussion Day: Bradstreet
F 9/5
Student Presentations on Bradstreet
Week 3
M 9/8
Quiz 1
Read: Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette, pp. 1-70 (though letter XL)
Lecture Day: early American novels and the early republic
W 9/10
Read: Foster, The Coquette, pp 70-142)
Discussion day
F 9/12
Student Presentation day
Week 4
M 9/15
Quiz 2
Read: Charles Brockden Brown, Wieland, pp 3-55, Ch 1-5
Lecture day: The Enlightenment
W 9/17
Read: Brown, Wieland, pp. 56-128, Ch 6-11
Discussion day
F 9/19
Student Presentation Day
Week 5
M 9/22
Quiz 3
Read: Brown, Wieland, pp. 129-197, Ch 12-19
Lecture Day: Gothic literature
W 9/24
Read: Brown, Wieland, pp. 198-278, Ch 20-27
Discussion day
F 9/26
Student Presentation Day
Week 6
M 9/29
Quiz 4
Read: Washington Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
Lecture Day: American short stories
W 10/1
Read: Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown”
Discussion Day
F 10/2
Student Presentation Day
Week 7
M 10/6
Quiz 5
Lecture Day: early African American literature
Read: Victor Sejour, “The Mulatto”
W 10/8
Discussion Day
F 10/10
Student Presentation Day
Week 8
M 10/13
No Class – Fall Break
W 10/15
Due: Midterm Essay
Quiz 6
Read: selected poetry by Lydia Signourney and Jane Johnston Schoolcraft
Lecture Day: 19th-century sentimental literature
F 10/17
Student Presentations
Week 9 – Poe/Spofford
M 10/20
Quiz 7
Read: Edgar Allan Poe, “The Black Cat”
W 10/22
Read: Harriet Spofford, “Circumstance”
F 10/22
Student Presentations
Week 10
M 10/27
Quiz 8
Read: Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, pp. 1-56, Ch 1-9
Lecture day
W 10/29
Quiz 9
Read: Jacobs, Incidents, pp. 57-109, Ch 10-17
Discussion day
F 10/31
Student Presentation day
Week 11
M 11/3
Quiz 10
Read: Jacobs, Incidents, pp. 109-160, Ch 18-27
Lecture Day
W 11/5
Quiz 11
Read: Jacobs, Incidents, pp. 161-228, Ch 28-41
Discussion Day
F 11/7
Quiz 12
Student Presentation day
Week 12
M 11/10
Quiz 13
Read: Herman Melville, Benito Cereno, first half
Lecture day
W 11/12
Read: Herman Melville, Benito Cereno, second half
Discussion day
F 11/14
Student Presentation day
Week 13
M 11/17
Quiz 14
Read: Louisa May Alcott, “My Contraband”
Lecture Day
W 11/19
Discussion Day
F 11/21
Student Presentation Day
Week 14
11/24-11/28 – No Class – Thanksgiving Break
Week 15
M 12/1
Quiz 15
Read: Walt Whitman, Calamus sequence, from Leaves of Grass; selected poetry of Emily Dickinson
Lecture and discussion day (link in Canvas)
W 12/3
Student Presentation Day
F 12/5
Last Day of Class
In-class work on Final Essays
Due: Creative Imitation Project
Finals Week:
Wednesday, Dec 10, 5 pm: Final Essay Due