EN 251: Survey of American Literature
Summer 2008
Dr. Linda G. Raughton
English Instructor
Northeast Alabama Community College
E-mail: raughtonl@nacc.edu or use the Blackboard Message Board
E-mail for an appointment time. Request an online, phone, or in-person format.
No Tolerance
There will be no excuses for not turning in work on time. If you are late, more than once, turning in an
assignment, you will have to take the penalty. If your computer crashes or you lose Internet, go to another
computer. If your car breaks down, get a ride. If you are going out of town, find a computer, take a laptop
with Internet access, or locate an Internet Café. If the campus Blackboard is down, I WILL KNOW IT as
well as KNOW IT IS OUT OF YOUR CONTROL. Back up your work; work off line. Do not submit until
you are finished with document you have saved and are ready to go online. Moreover, do not wait until the
last minute to submit work; you will avoid some of the issues listed above by doing so. Online courses are
designed to give the student flexibility, not excuses.
Plagiarism
See Required Course Syllabus.
Students with Disabilities
See Required Course Syllabus
NACC Writing Center
Since you will be writing several drafts of numerous essays in this course, you may want to visit the NACC
Writing Center in the EN Building for assistance. The Writing Center is one of the best resources you will
find on campus. You can simply sign in and ask for help, or you can request an appointment with one of
the trained tutors to help with any phase of the writing process.
ONLINE INSTRUCTIONS:
WORK MUST BE SUBMITTED ON MICROSOFT WORD. IF YOU USE A
COMPUTER THAT HAS MICROSOFT WORKS, WORDPAD, OR MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007
(VISTA), YOU MUST GO TO FORMAT AND CHANGE THE FORMAT TO RICH TEXT
FORMAT OR FOR VISTA TO MICROSOFT 2003. I CANNOT OPEN THE OTHER FILES ON
BLACKBOARD! IF YOU IGNORE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, YOU WILL RECEIVE A ZERO
FOR THE WORK SUBMITTED WITH A NOTICE, "CANNOT OPEN FILE." PLEASE DO NOT
LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSISTENT COOPERATION. Make
sure you check your computer to find out what you have before you start this class. It could mean
the difference between an A and an F.
Assignments: To make it easier for you, every item worth points will appear under ASSIGNMENTS.
When you submit your work, you will see an (!) in your Gradebook. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO
GO TO THE GRADEBOOK TO SEE IF YOU CAN OPEN THE FILE AFTER YOU SUBMIT. IF YOU
CANNOT, THEN YOU WILL KNOW I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO EITHER. ASK ME TO CLEAR
YOUR ATTEMPT SO YOU CAN RE-SUBMIT. DO THIS IN A TIMELY MANNER SO THAT YOU
DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR WORK LATE. In case you are wondering how I will know if you are the
author, well, let's just say that at first I may not, but before the semester ends I will know you, your thought
process, and your style of writing.
Discussion Board: This is another category under which you will earn points for this class. Please do not
ignore this forum, for there are easily-earned points waiting for you by simply doing what each post asks
you to do. It can make a difference in your grade by as much as a letter grade at the end. In addition, this
will allow our class to create a community even in cyberspace.
YOU WILL BE ASKED NUMEROUS TIMES TO POST IN THE DISCUSSION BOARD (DB). WE
WILL USE THIS FOR OTHER CLASSMATES TO VIEW AND RESPOND TO YOUR POSTS AS
WELL AS TO GENERATE FOR THE CLASS WHAT IS TAKING PLACE IN OUR ONLINE CLASS,
WHAT WE'RE LEARNING, AND WHAT WE NEED TO IMPROVE. YOU WILL ALSO USE THIS
FORUM TO POST QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS THAT CLASSMATES AND I CAN CHOOSE TO
RESPOND.
Please remember that in every form of communication you use for this class you must remember it is first
and foremost an English class. With that said, please understand that STANDARD GRAMMAR is always
important and expected in any form of communication.
Course Materials: You will find the required Course Syllabus as well as the Detailed Course Outline you
will need for this class under this category.
Message Board: I prefer that all correspondence take place under Messages. When you want to ask me a
specific question that you do not want in DB for everyone to see, click on Messages and follow the
instructions.
Gradebook: This feature will show you work due, work you have submitted, work I have graded, and your
total points to date of the final total possible for the course. Once too many days pass for you to get credit
for submitting work, I will automatically place a zero in the column. If you lock your work as" in
progress," I cannot open your file. Please do not submit until you are ready and finished. Use another
document file, attach, and submit once you have completed the assignment. Locks are hard to remove,
sometimes impossible. No credit can be assigned when a lock is in place. Please note that I, as
administrator, have documentation as to the time and date of your last submission. That equals knowing if
you claim to have submitted when you actually did not.
E-MAIL: PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS FEATURE ON BLACKBOARD. BY SAYING THIS, I AM
TELLING YOU THAT I LIKE TO CONDUCT ALL TRANSACTIONS IN BLACKBOARD NOT IN
MY REGULAR E-MAIL ACCOUNT. WHEN STUDENTS E-MAIL ME, I HAVE TO LEAVE THAT
ACCOUNT AND LOG IN TO BLACKBOARD, HUNT THE ANSWER, AND FINALLY RETURN TO
E-MAIL TO REPLY TO THE STUDENT. IF I STAY IN BLACKBOARD, MY WORK IS MORE
ACCURATE AND MORE PRODUCTIVE FOR YOU, THE VALUABLE STUDENT. THANK YOU
FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
Recipe for a Fruit Salad: American Literature, History, and Culture
Find these ingredients:
Who is an American?
What does it mean to be an American?
When did the wild world of wilderness become a culture?
Where did Americans acquire the notion of the U. S. linguistic culture?
How should an American live?
Why is America a fruit salad, not a melting pot?
Text:
Textbooks are available in the Campus Bookstore. Texts are new; be sure you purchase the Norton
Anthology. Students must choose two of the following short novels to read. These may borrowed, checked
out from the library, or purchased online. Charlotte Temple by Rowson, Education of Little Tree by Carter,
Narrative of Sojourner Truth by Truth, and Walking the Trail by Ellis may be used for the Critical Book
Review.
Guidelines:
The course assignments will include the following: weekly log postings along with written discussion of
class reading logs, answers to study questions, written essays, exams, a digital storytelling project, a critical
book review, and a final exam.
Check frequently for updates on ongoing or upcoming assignments. The fact that this is an online syllabus
makes it possible for us to alter the schedule and to take advantage of availability of new resources.
The reading listed for each week should be completed before the beginning of the next week’s class.
Sometimes the text may be available online rather than in your book.
Discussion Board
You should post a paragraph of quality that demonstrates an important aspect of your assigned reading for
that week based upon the given topic for discussion. This reflection should be posted in the Discussion
Board for all class members to view. Grammar and mechanics will count.
You should respond to two postings of other members of your class. Once a reflection has two replies
underneath, students must select another reflection under which to post. This is so that every member of
the class will have two postings under their reflection each week.
Essays
Essays submitted after the class in which they are due will receive a lowered grade. Papers submitted two
weeks or more after the due date will NOT be accepted. Plagiarized work will be handled in accordance
with college guidelines published in your student handbook.
Regular attendance to the journal postings is the only way to keep up with the ongoing threads of
conversation. It will also be a factor in the final grades. You should not expect to pass the course if any
one of the major areas of the course is missing or labeled unsatisfactory. The course areas include the
following: two essays, postings, log participation, digital storytelling project, and the final exam.
Please consult the instructor a) if there is a legitimate reason that you cannot turn in an assignment on time,
b) if you require special accommodations for any assignment; c) if you have a question concerning a grade
or assignment; or d) if you have a comment or suggestion to improve the course for next time. In any of
these cases, you can send me an e-mail with the information or questions or make an appointment to meet
with me to discuss any of these matters.
Grading: 1000 points
Essays (3) = 300
Novels (2) = 200
SQ = 310
Paragraph Analysis = 100
Academic Leadership = 90
Points actually accumulate to 1000 possible. It will be easy for the student to keep track of his grade by
going to MyGrades.
*Academic Leadership refers to the quality of written contribution to the course via journal logs. You will
be graded on your willingness to raise useful questions for the class to explore and test hypotheses, on your
ability to discuss the reading material both scholarly and efficaciously, and on the display of your
independence and persistence in pursuing appropriate evidence and answers to reading material examined.
Unit 1: The New World
Recipe: Add Armchair Explorers from Twenty-first Century.
Mix in the Ability to Imagine New World during Colonial Period.
Blend Together Ideas of What It Means to Be an American.
Melting Pot Concept-Think about what this means to you when someone says
America is a melting pot. Use a search engine to see if you can
learn more. This will become an important topic in our class this
semester. Later, you will have to defend or refute this statement
by citing passages from our reading to support your argument.
Importance of “American” voices for understanding what it means to be an AmericanThumb through the syllabus as well as your texts to discover the diversity of
voices we will hear as we, as armchair travelers, begin our journey to the past.
Unit 2: The Wild Wilderness
Recipe: Add a pinch of English Colonists in Virginia and the Puritan Mission in New England.
Introduce spices of charters, compacts, and covenants in a wild world of wilderness.
Begin to look for who an American is.
Unit 3: Myths, Tales, and Legends
When did the wild world of wilderness become a culture?
Unit 4: Versions of Transcendentalism and Representations of Women
How should an American live?
Recipe: Sweeten to taste with Revelation and Reason.
Unit 5: Slavery and Rebellion
How should an American live?
Recipe: Pour in a cup each of race, class, community, and the American Dream.
Unit 6: Nineteenth Century American Conversation
Where did Americans acquire the notion of the U. S. linguistic culture?
Recipe: Stir in a set of behaviors, assumptions, cultural forms, prejudices, attitudes, stereotypes, ways of
thinking about language, religio-historical circumstances, and the linguistic priority of English.
Recipe: Fruit Salad
Marinate. “Remove and enjoy when English becomes the language that links multicultural writing
programs, multicultural universities, and multilingual polity.”
DETAILED COURSE OUTLINE TIMELINE
(Tentative and subject to change)
May 28
June 2
June 4
June 9
June 11
June 16
June 18
June 23
June 25
June 30
July 2
July 7
July 9
July 14
July 16
July 21
July 23
July 28
July 30
Orientation/Syllabus Understanding/Novel Explanation/Learner.org website/Essay assignment
Vol. A: Intro pp. 1-15; Study Questions (SQ) due (Discussion Board posting)
Bradford-Thoreau/SQ: pp. 104-105, 147, 187-211,217,235,267-269, 307, 350 (DB)
Intro-Wheatley/SQ: pp. 357, 378, 384-396, 437,440-442, 449, 595-596, 649-651, 710, 742,
745, 746, 751-753, 763 (DB)
Native Voices video (learner.org) SQ due; New World Encounters video /SQ due
Paragraph analysis on one of the videos/Education of Little Tree exam
Utopian Promise video/SQ; English Settlement video/SQ due
Walking the Trail exam /paragraph analysis on one of the videos/Essay 1 due
Spirit of Nationalism video/SQ; Growth and Empire video/SQ due
Paragraph analysis on one of the videos; Last of Mohicans/SQ: pp. 985, 1002-1008
Vol. B: Intro – “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”/SQ: pp. 929-948, 951, 965-984 (DB)
Hawthorne and Longfellow/SQ: pp. 1272-1275, 1320-1331, 1495-1496, 1500 (DB)
Masculine Heroes video/SQ; Coming of Independence video/SQ/Poe /SQ: pp. 1528-1531,
1612-1616
Charlotte Temple exam/ paragraph analysis on one of the videos/Essay 2 due
Westward Expansion video/SQ; Redemptive Imagination video/SQ/Gothic Undercurrents
video/SQ
Narrative of Sojourner Truth exam/paragraph analysis on one video/Essay 3
Sigourney-Boudinot/SQ: pp. 1028, 1030, 1044-1047, 1106-1100, 1245, 1252, 1260, 1263(DB)
Grimke-Whitman/SQ: pp. 1682, 1692, 1695, 1792, 2171, 2190, 2282 (DB)
Dickinson video: Dickinson SQ: pp. 2554 plus “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain,” “I’m Nobody!
Who are You/” “I Heard a Fly…” “Because I Could not Stop…” “A Narrow Fellow…” “The
Bustle in the House” (DB)