American Literature I
Fall, 2008
Instructor: Wen-ling Su
Office: LC 306
E-mail: wling1@ms23.hinet.net
Time: Mon. 5:40-8:20 pm
Classroom: TBA
Office hours: Wed. 12:30-1:30 pm
Course description: This is a survey course of American literature before 1865,
covering the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Romanticism periods. A wide range of texts
will be explored to introduce key issues and concepts in American literature during
this period, including the American national identity, the Puritan vision,
Transcendentalism, American Gothic, racial and gender conflicts. Class activities
consist of lectures and multi-media presentations.
Textbook: The Norton Anthology of American Literature. (Shorter 7th ed.)
Grading Policy:
Participation & Presentation: 20%
Midterm: 40%
Final: 40%
Requirements:
1. Attendance Policy: The FIRST absence for whatever reason will not be held
against you, but each subsequent absence will result in a 5-point deduction of the
class average. Late arrivals will cost you a 3-point deduction each time. You will
get a zero if you miss a test. There will be NO make-up tests.
2. Group presentation: 3-4 people form a group. Each group needs to sign up for
ONE presentation topic. At the time of the presentation, each group will provide a
one-page handout to the class that consists of a written summary of the text
assigned and discussion questions. Please limit the presentation time to 30
minutes.
Tentative Schedule:
W Date
Weekly Readings
1
Orientation
9/15
Beginnings to 1700 (pp. 1-14)
--Christopher Columbus, from Letter to Luis de Santagel Regarding
the First Voyage (pp. 25-26); from Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella
Regarding the Fourth Voyage (pp. 27-28)
Film: 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992, R. Scott, dir.)
2
9/22
--William Bradford, Book II from Of Plymouth Plantation (pp. 65-75)
--John Winthrop, from A Model of Christian Charity (pp. 76-87)
--Cotton Mather, from The Wonders of the Invisible World (pp.
144-49)
3
9/29
--Ann Bradstreet, “The Prologue,” “The Author to Her Book,” “Before
the Birth of Her Children,” “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon
Public Employment,” “Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of
Our House, July 10th, 1666”
American Literature, 1700-1820 (pp. 151-59)
--Jonathan Edwards, Personal Narrative (pp. 170-80); “Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God” (pp. 194-205)
4
10/6
5
10/13 --Benjamin Franklin, from The Autobiography (pp. 231-92)
American Literature, 1820-1865 (pp. 431-48)
--Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” (pp. 455-66)
6
10/20 --Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American Scholar” (pp. 520-32);
“Self-Reliance” (pp. 532-550); “Each and All” (pp. 565-66); “Brahma”
Film: The Crucible (1997, N. Hytner dir.)
--Benjamin Franklin, from The Autobiography (pp. 231-92)
(p. 569)
7
10/27 --Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown” (pp. 605-14); “The
Minister’s Black Veil” (pp. 622-34); “The Birth-Mark” (pp. 634-43)
8
11/3
9
11/10 Midterm
--Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven” (pp. 675-78); “The Fall of the House
of Usher” (pp. 689-701)
10 11/17 --Edgar Allan Poe, “The Purloined Letter” (pp. 711-24)
--Margaret Fuller, from The Great Lawsuit (pp. 739-47)
11 11/24 -- Henry David Thoreau, “Resistance to Civil Government” (pp.
829-44); from Walden, or Life in the Woods (pp. 886-901)
12 12/1
--Frederick Douglass, from Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass, An American Slave (pp. 924-91)
13 12/8
No class. (School anniversary, make-up holiday)
14 12/15 --Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself” (pp. 1011-55); “Crossing Brooklyn
Ferry” (pp. 1057-62); Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” (pp.
1062-66); “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” (pp. 1071-77)
15 12/22 --Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener” (pp. 1093-1118)
16 12/29 Film: Moby Dick (1956, J. Huston, dir.)
17 1/5
--Emily Dickinson, “I felt a Funeral in my Brain” (p. 1207); “A Bird,
came down the Walk” (p. 1210); “After great pain, a formal feeling
comes” (p. 1211); “Because I could not stop for Death” (p. 1214); “I
heard a Fly buzz-when I died” (p. 1215); “My Life had stood-a Loaded
Gun” (pp. 1218-9); “Tell all the truth but tell it slant” (p. 1221)
18 1/12
Final Exam.