Convenor: Dr. Tom. F. Wright
tom.wright@sussex.ac.uk Autumn 2014
American Literature to 1890 Part 1 -­‐ Reading List American Literature to 1890 Part 1 examines the foundations of American literature, from the colonial period until the first years of an independent republic. By asking where, when, and how literature in America begins, we will enquire into the beginnings of American culture itself. During the autumn term, we will read and discuss works by a diverse range of writers from the fifteenth to the turn of the nineteenth century, comprising several languages, distinct cultures, and a variety of genres, including captivity narratives, poetry, autobiography, political writings, theological treatises, sermons, journals, and letters. We will start by considering Native American oratory and various accounts of European exploration, pay particular attention to the Puritan writing of New England and the founding texts of American government, and end with a series of post-­‐Revolutionary texts in which a republican ‘American’ identity first emerged. For each week of class you will be expected to come to class having read the below primary and secondary readings, and be prepared to discuss them. The two essential texts are the Norton Anthology of American Literature Vol. A (NA) and Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the United States of America (PH) 1. Introductions ‘Introduction’, NA 2. Native American Cultures The Iroquois Creation Story, NA Native American Trickster Tales, NA Native American Oral Poetry (Study Direct) Secondary Reading: Lisa Brooks, ‘Indigenous Oral Traditions Then and Now’ (Study Direct) 3. Collisions Christopher Columbus, from Letters, NA Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca The Relation of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, NA Adriaen van der Donck, ‘A Description of New Netherland,’ (Study Direct) John Smith, selections, NA Powhatan, ‘Speech to Captain John Smith’ (Study Direct) Secondary Reading: Howard Zinn, ‘Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress’, PH 4. Pilgrims, Puritans, and their Discontents William Bradford, from ‘Of Plymouth Plantation, NA John Winthrop, ‘A Model of Christian Charity’, NA Roger Williams, A Key into the Language of America; from ‘The Bloody Tenet of Persecution’, ‘A Letter to the Town of Providence’, NA Secondary Reading: Emory Elliott, ‘Dream of a Christian Utopia’ (Study Direct) Page 1 of 2
Convenor: Dr. Tom. F. Wright
tom.wright@sussex.ac.uk Autumn 2014
5. Puritan Poets Anne Bradstreet, ‘Prologue’, ‘The Author to Her Book’, ‘Before the Birth of One of Her Children’, NA Michael Wigglesworth, from ‘The Day of Doom’, NA Edward Taylor, selected poems, NA Secondary Reading: Emory Elliott, ‘Early American Poetry’ (Study Direct) 6. Assessment Week 7. Captivity Narratives and Diaries Mary Rowlandson, ‘Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration’, NA Sarah Kemble Knight, ‘Private Journal of a Journey’, NA William Byrd, From, ‘The Secret Diary’, NA Secondary Reading: Lorrayne Carroll, ‘Captivity Literature’ (Study Direct) 8. Reason and Revelation Cotton Mather, ‘The Wonders of the Invisible World’; ‘Magnalia Christi Americana’, NA Jonathan Edwards, ‘Personal Narrative’, ‘A Divine and Supernatural Light’, ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God’, NA Secondary Reading: Thomas Kidd, ‘Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening’ (Study Direct) 9. Franklin’s Self-­‐fashioning Benjamin Franklin, ‘The Way to Wealth’; ‘The Speech of Miss Polly Baker’; ‘Information to Those Who Would Remove to America’; ‘Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America’, and ‘The Autobiography’, NA Secondary Reading: DH Lawrence, ‘Benjamin Franklin,’ (Study Direct) Kevin Hayes, ‘Benjamin Franklin’ (Study Direct) 10. Crisis Thomas Jefferson, ‘A Summary View of the Rights of British America’ (1774) (Study Direct) Edmund Burke, ‘On Conciliation with America’ (1775) (Study Direct) Thomas Paine, Common Sense; The Crisis No.1; The Age of Reason, NA Secondary Reading: Howard Zinn, ‘Tyranny is Tyranny’ , PH Nathaniel Hawthorne, ‘My Kinsman, Major Molineux,’ NB 11. Revolution Thomas Jefferson et al., ‘The Declaration of Independence’, NA John Adams and Abigail Adams, ‘Letters’, NA Secondary Reading David Shields, ‘Writing the Revolution’ (Study Direct) 12. Republican Identities J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, ‘Letters From an American Farmer’, NA Judith Sargent Murray, ‘On the Equality of the Sexes’, NA Philip Freneau, Selected poems in NA Phillis Wheatley, selection writings, NA Secondary Reading: Zinn, ‘The Intimately Oppressed’, PH A comprehensive list of suggested readings and online resources for further study is available on the Study Direct Site Page 2 of 2