ENGLISH 2327
American Literature to 1865
REQUIRED TEXT:
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course surveys American writers from the colonial period to the Civil War. Topics for
discussion include the spiritual and material motives for exploration and settlement, Native
American responses to colonization and cultural imperialism, evolving conceptions of human
nature and the natural world, the struggle against slavery, the quest for a national literature,
evolving conceptions of God, shifting gender ideologies, and the struggle against conformity and
materialism. Numerous texts, both canonical and emerging, will give us ample opportunity to
explore these issues in distinctly American contexts. In addition to exposing you to the diversity
and range of what we call American literature, this course will challenge you to read closely,
think critically, and write clearly.
COURSE THEMES:
True to an adult learning environment, this course will present many sensitive topics, including
race, class, sexuality, gender, religion, profanity, politics, and violence. I encourage you not to
shy away from these topics in class, but you must be aware that others have different
backgrounds and hold different opinions on any given subject than you. It is of utmost
importance that we all be willing to be open to and considerate of the thoughts and comments of
others. Please respect each individual’s right to have and share her/his ideas and opinions.
Listening to others’ perspectives should help create greater understanding of the diversity of
experience in contemporary America. As chief facilitator, I will do my best to make our
differences of background and opinion enhance the course.
ATTENDANCE:
Absences are costly in terms of missed learning opportunities. You are responsible for making
up missed work. After three absences, your final grade will be marked down one third of a letter
grade for each additional absence. Upon your eighth absence, you automatically fail the course.
If you are engaged in a UTPB approved activity (such as a sport), you will be permitted to make
up missed class time by appropriate documentation and a 250 word discussion of the reading
assigned for the missed class period within one week of your absence. To be fair to all students,
I will make no exceptions to this policy. Also, please do not be late for class. Three late arrivals
will equal one absence. Do not leave class early. If you must do so for a legitimate reason,
please let me know before class starts. Finally, please shut off and PUT AWAY all cell phones,
etc., whether for talking or texting. Each time your cell phone goes off in class, I will gladly
accept a $1 donation to Sigma Tau Delta, the university English club. If you text during class, I
might ask you to leave.
ACCEPTABLE STUDENT BEHAVIOR:
All classroom behavior should enhance the instructor’s ability to conduct the class and the ability
of other students to learn from the instructional program (Code of Student Life). Unacceptable or
disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Students engaging in unacceptable behavior may be
instructed to leave the classroom. Inappropriate behavior may result in disciplinary action or
referral to the University’s Behavioral Intervention Team. This prohibition applies to all
instructional forums, including electronic, classroom, discussion groups, etc.
PAPER POLICIES:
Papers must be word processed. Margins should be one inch at the top, bottom, and sides. Font
size must be 12 point and lines must be double spaced (2.0). Documentation style should be
MLA. Papers must be turned in by the end of the day on the day that they are due. If you need
an extension for some reason, you must speak with me at least two days before the due date.
Paper grades will drop 1/3 letter grade for each day that they are late. I encourage you to use the
writing center: 552-2302.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:
Cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty are serious offenses. Plagiarism is
the undocumented use of another person’s ideas, whether the ideas come from a published source
(books, magazines, the internet, etc.) or from someone else’s paper. Be advised that I have
powerful software which detects plagiarism quickly and accurately. Those who plagiarize will
fail the class and will be referred to the Vice President for Student Affairs. Additional
punishments could include expulsion from the university.
ADA STATEMENT:
Any student who feels that he or she may require accommodations for any type of physical or
learning disability should consult with me in the first week of class. I’ll likely ask you to
complete the following process: 1) provide documentation of disability to PASS Office -- contact
Leticia Madrid, Director of the PASS Office, MB 1160, 552-2631 or email Madrid_l@utpb.edu
2) receive a letter from this office 3) provide me with a copy of this letter.
CORE CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES:
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Critical Thinking Skills: Students will draw well-reasoned logically supported
conclusions from information.
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Communication Skills: Students will demonstrate effective written, oral, and visual
communication skills.
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Social Responsibility: Students will demonstrate intercultural competence, civic
responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national and global
communities.
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Personal Responsibility: Students will be able to connect choices, actions and
consequences to ethical decision-making.
These Objectives and Learning Outcomes will be assessed using the university’s Critical
Thinking, Communication Skills, Social Responsibility and Personal Responsibility rubrics
GRADES:
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Two essays–40%. 5-7 pages, 20% of grade each. The second essay will be a Cultural
Analysis Essay.
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Three exams—30%. 10% of grade each.
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In-class writings–15%. I will regularly give unannounced in-class essay assignments in
order to gauge your understanding of assigned readings. I can only give make-up essays
to students engaged in UTPB approved off-campus activities.
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Class Presentation–10%. You and 2-3 other students will teach the class about
biographical, historical, and cultural contexts of the work under investigation for that day.
I will circulate a sign-up sheet and more instructions shortly.
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Class Participation–5%. Everyone is expected to be present and to make a positive
contribution to class. Good participation includes sharing insights, posing questions,
readiness to respond to my comments and those of your classmates, teamwork in group
discussions, attentive listening, and note taking.
If you have any questions about course policies or requirements, please feel free to ask me.
Class Schedule (Subject to Change)
1/15
1/17
Introduction and course overview.
Exploration and Conquest. Introduction 2-18; “The Iroquois Creation Story” 21-25;
Christopher Columbus Letters 34-8.
1/22
Bartolomé de las Casas, from The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies 3842
Struggle for Religious Freedom. William Bradford from Of Plymouth Plantation 121-24,
131-40.
No class meeting today, as I will be in Austin for Faculty Advisory Council meetings.
1/24
1/29
1/31
Anne Bradstreet “The Prologue” 207-9, “Queen Elizabeth” 209-13, “The Author to Her
Book” 225, “Burning of Our House” 232-233. [Jan. 30: last day to drop without creating
an academic record]
The Enlightenment: Men and Women. Introduction 365-76, Benjamin Franklin from The
Autobiography 455-57, 480-526.
2/5
2/7
Autobiography, 526-542.
Judith Sargent Murray, “On the Equality of the Sexes” 737-47.
2/12
2/14
Susanna Rowson, Charlotte: A Tale of Truth (handout).
Rowson, cont.
2/19
2/21
Rowson, cont.
Exam
2/26
The Freedom to Think, the Freedom to Create: Transcendentalism. Introduction 3-21,
Ralph Waldo Emerson “Self Reliance” 211-14, 269-86.
No class meeting today, as I will be in Austin for Faculty Advisory Council meetings.
2/28
3/5
3/7
Emerson “Circles” 286-94.
Margaret Fuller from “The Great Lawsuit” 740-43, 747 (last paragraph)-755, 763-70,
774-77.
3/12 and 3/14 Spring Break, no class
3/19
3/21
Henry David Thoreau “Resistance to Civil Government” 961-79.
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo from Recuerdos históricos ypersonales tocante a la alta
California (handout). Paper 1 due.
3/26
Dark Romanticism and Freedom of the Imagination. Nathaniel Hawthorne “The
3/28
Minister’s Black Veil” 369-73, 409-18.
Hawthorne “The Birth-Mark” 418-29. [March 29: Last day to withdraw.]
4/2
4/4
Edgar Allan Poe “The Raven” 629-33, 637-40, “Ligeia” 644-53.
Poe “The Spectacles” (handout).
4/9
4/11
Exam
Free Enterprise? Women and the Profession of Authorship. Fanny Fern, 905-08, 912-15.
4/16
4/18
Fern, cont.
Slavery, Native American Displacement, and the Struggle for Freedom. Frederick
Douglass, from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 1170-74, 1182-85, 11961201, 1208-1227.
4/23
4/25
Harriet Jacobs, from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 920-42.
Free Verse. Walt Whitman “From Pent-up Aching Rivers” 1310-14, 1374-76, “A
Woman Waits for Me” 1376-77, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” 1383-87, “When I Heard the
Learned Astronomer” 1394.
4/30
5/2
Whitman, cont. Paper 2 due.
wrap up, exam review.
Final Exam: Tuesday, Tuesday May 7 12:30 - 2:30 p.m.
Assignment Sheet-Cultural Analysis Essay – Core Application for ENGL 2327
English 2327 – American Literature to 1865
Purpose: To produce a well-written and well-argued essay that examines the cultural contexts
and ethical implications of a literary work
Assignment:
For the Cultural Analysis Essay, you will analyze a literary text with regards to its cultural
context and ethical implications. This means that you will select a work of fiction, non-fiction or
poetry that is representative of a specific culture, with culture designated in terms of race,
ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or region. Part of your analysis will address how
the literary work represents this cultural community and also how the cultural community or
group characterizes itself (or has been characterized by the larger society) relative to the time it
was produced. Your essay should also engage questions about how the cultural group fits within
the larger society, whether at the national or global level. Finally, your essay will also analyze
the ethical concerns, dilemmas and decisions represented within or raised by the text (whether in
terms of the actions of a character, for example, or the ideas presented by the author or poet). In
this way, you will analyze the literary text for the ethical issues it presents and evaluate how the
text defines matters of ethical responsibility and action.
You should include in your analysis a detailed interpretation of a least three quotations (3-5
sentences) for short stories. For poetry, 3-5 quotes of longer sections (3-4 lines of a poem) ought
to be included. A 2-3 sentence explanation should follow all quotes.
Also: you must provide page numbers for all quotations, and you must have a work cited at the
end of your essay. Be sure to cite properly all material, whether it is a paraphrase or a direct
quote, from outside sources.
Grading Criteria:
The following criteria will be used in assessing your paper. Your essay will be judged on:
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the overall effectiveness of your analysis & the skill of your close reading
the analysis of cultural contexts and ethical implications associated with the literary work
the intellectual complexity of your essay
the depth, thoroughness, and efficiency of your interpretation
the level of skill of your writing (including clarity, cohesiveness, organization and eloquence)
the avoidance of summary and grammatical errors (especially run-ons and sentence
fragments)
Sample Embedded Questions – Core Application ENGL 2327
Short answer questions
Directions write a short answer of 5-6 sentences in response to the passages, prompts or
questions listed below:
Sample Critical Thinking Questions
1. How did American slave owners and whites in power justify keeping African-Americans
enslaved in the early 19th century? Discuss two ways they argued their case; these might
include political, economic, religious, scientific, or philosophical claims. Then, discuss
how either Frederick Douglass or Harriet Jacobs countered these claims in their
narratives.
2. When Thomas Jefferson wrote in The Declaration of Independence that “all men are
created equal,” he sparked a debate that rages until this day: who does “all men” truly
include? Choose one text we’ve studied this semester and discuss how the author argues
for an expansion of natural rights to previously marginalized groups. Analyze the kinds
of evidence which the text provides to support its critique of slavery, racism, or sexism.
What kind of tone does the text establish? What audiences does the author hope to
persuade? How does the author locate his or her arguments in a particular rhetorical
situation?
Sample Social Responsibility Question
3. What political movement did early feminists like Margaret Fuller and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton hope to partner with? What were the inherent advantages in joining forces with
this movement? What challenges did such an alliance pose for both feminists and for the
movement in question? Finally, what lessons can advocacy groups today learn from their
efforts? How do the successes and failures of these groups inform the way organizations
might engage with local, regional, national, and global communities in the 21st century?
Sample Personal Responsibility Question
4. What does Nathaniel Hawthorne say is the “unpardonable sin?” Describe it briefly, and
then explain how this theme is demonstrated in either “The Birth-Mark” or “Rappaccini’s
Daughter.” If these characters had heeded Hawthorne’s advice, how might they have
made more responsible and ethical choices?