English 23/English 123/American Studies 150
American Literature and Culture to 1855
Judith Richardson
Lectures: TuWTh 10-10:50, Bldg 200, room 034
Office Hours : TBD Location: Bldg 460 (Margaret Jacks Hall), Room 323
E-mail: judithr@stanford.edu; Phone: 723-2724
This course surveys American literature and culture from the early colonial period to the Civil
War. Texts include poetry, sermons, captivity narratives, autobiographies, novels, slave
narratives, and short stories. Lectures will situate textual readings in relation to historical
contexts.
Text: The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 8th Edition, Volumes A (Beginnings to
1820) and B (1820-1865). Available at the Stanford Bookstore. Unless otherwise noted,
readings can be found in this anthology. Please have read the texts before the relevant class date.
Check the CourseWork website for more specific reading instructions each week.
Schedule of Readings and Lectures
Week 1:
1/6: Introduction: America, Through the Looking Glass
1/7-1/8: Mount versus Hill: Some Colonial Models:
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Thomas Morton, New English Canaan
William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, all selections from Book I, and “The
Remainder of Anno 1620”; “Mr. Morton of Merrymount”; “War with the Pequots”; and
“A Horrible Truth” from Book II
John Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity”
Week 2 (1/13-15): Puritan Delights and Dilemmas
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Edward Taylor, selections from Sermon VI (handout), and selected poems.
Anne Bradstreet, selected poems
Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary
Rowlandson
Cotton Mather, “The Wonders of the Invisible World”
Week 3 (1/20-22): Enlightenments and 18th Century Selves
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Jonathan Edwards, “Personal Narrative” and “A Divine and Supernatural Light”
Benjamin Franklin, “The Way to Wealth” and The Autobiography Parts I, II, and part of
Part III
Over/
2
Week 4 (1/27-29): Revolutionary Sentiments: Affection, Seduction, and the Female Subject
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Phyllis Wheatley, selected poems
Hannah Foster, The Coquette; or, The History of Eliza Wharton
Week 5 (2/3-5) Tell a Tale of Haunting
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Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
Edgar Allan Poe, “The Black Cat”
Week 6 (2/10-12): A New England Primer
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Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
Week 7 (2/17-19): Expansive Americans
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Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”
Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”
Week 8: (2/24-26) A Week in the Woods
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Henry David Thoreau, Walden (selected chapters)
Week 9 (3/3-5): Constricted Americans
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Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Harriet Jacobs, selections from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Week 10 (3/10-12): Loopholes
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Jacobs, cont’d.
Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener”
Requirements:
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All students are required to attend and participate fully in lecture and section, and to
submit any section assignments (i.e. responses or focus points). 25%
Students taking the course for 5 units will write:
o a midterm essay of 5-7 pages, due Monday, 2/19. 30%
o a final essay of 8-10 pages, due Wednesday 3/18. 45%
Students taking the course for 3 units will have the option of writing either one essay of
7-8 pages (due by the final essay due date, 3/19) or two essays of 3-4 pages (due at
midterm and final due dates—2/10 and 3/19). You must let me know which option
you choose (1 or 2 essays), by the end of week 3. Writing will count toward 75% of the
final grade.