GHUM 200-18
American Literature 1820-65
Tentative Course Schedule
Fall 2010
Below are the dates and readings for roughly the first half of the semester. You will
receive a reading list for the second half later in the semester. This schedule is
tentative: this schedule is subject to change with prior notification.
All reading assignments are from The American Tradition in Literature, Vol.1 12th ed.
unless otherwise noted. You will be expected to have the assigned reading completed
by the date listed.
Week 1
Aug. 30
Sept. 1
Sept. 3
Syllabus Overview, Introductions
In Class Writing
“The Romantic Temper and the House Divided”, 505-12
Washington Irving, 517-19
“Rip Van Winkle”, 522-33
Week 2
Sept. 6
Sept 8
Sept. 10
William Cullen Bryant, 779-81
“Thanatopisis”, 781-83
“The Death of Lincoln”, 794
Transcendentalism, 1277-78
Crosscurrents: Transcendentalism, Women and Social Ideals, 1398-1409
Elizabeth Peabody, 1399
“Labor, Wages, Leisure”, 1399-1400
Charles Dickens, 1400-01
“From American Notes….”, 1401-03
Elizabeth Cady Staunton, 1403
“Declaration of Sentiments”, 1403-05
Sojourner Truth, 1405
“Ar’n’t I A Woman”, 1405-06
Fanny Fern, 1406-07
“Aunt Hetty on Matrimony”, 1407-08
“The Working Girls of New York”, 1408-09
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1279-81
Nature: Introduction, 1282-83
Chapter I. “Nature”, 1283-84
Chapter II. “Commodity”, 1284-85
Chapter III.“Beauty”, 1285-89
Week 3
Sept. 13
Sept. 15
Sept. 17
Nature con’t.
Chapter IV. “Language”, 1289-93
Chapter V. “ Discipline”, 1293-97
Chapter VI. “Idealism”, 1297-1303
Chapter VII. “Spirit”, 1303-05
Chapter VIII, “Prospects”, 1305-09
Discussion of Emerson’s Nature (possible quiz)
“The American Scholar”, 1309-22
“Self-Reliance” 1334-1350
Week 4
Sept. 20
Sept. 22
Sept. 24
“Self-Reliance” con’t
Margaret Fuller, 1384-86
“Woman In the Nineteenth Century, 1386-97
Reaction Paper #1 Due
Henry David Thoreau, 1410-12
Walden:
“Economy”, 1412-53
Week 5
Sept. 27
Sept. 29
Oct. 1
Walden, “Conclusion”, 1570-77
“Civil Disobedience”, 1577-92
“Civil Disobedience” con’t.
Crosscurrents: The Romanticism and the American Indian, 553-54
Sir Walter Scott, 1210
From “The Novel and the Romance”, 554
William Gillmore Simms, 559
“The American Romance,” 559-60
Week 6
Oct. 4
Oct. 6
Oct. 8
Romanticism at Mid Century, 840-41
Edgar Allen Poe, 842-44
“The Raven”, 852-855
“Ligeia”, 861-72
“The Cask of Amontillado”, 900-05
“The Philosophy of Composition” 905-13
Week 7
Oct. 11
Oct. 13
“The Philosophy of Composition” con’t.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, 913-15
“Young Goodman Brown”, 928-36
Oct. 15
“The Minister’s Black Veil, 937-45
“The Birthmark”, 952-62
Week 8
Oct. 18
Oct. 20
“Puritanism”, 86-88
“Crosscurrents: Puritanism, Indians and Witchcraft”, 165-71
John Winthrop, 167
“The Trial of Margaret Jones”, 167-68
Cotton Mather, 168
“Indian Powaws and Witchcraft”, 168-69
Mary Towne Easty, 169
“ The Petition of Mary Easty”, 169-170
Samuel Sewall, 170
“A Witchcraft Judge’s Confession of Guilt”, 170-71
The Scarlet Letter, Ch. I-V, 1019-1040
Mid-term grades due: Oct. 21
Oct. 22
The Scarlet Letter, Ch VI-X, 1040-1067
Week 9
Oct. 25
Oct. 27
Oct. 29
The Scarlet Letter, Ch. XI-XV, 1067-1090
The Scarlet Letter, Ch. XVI-XX, 1090-1113
The Scarlet Letter, Ch. XXI-XXIV, 1113-1132
Week 10
Nov.1
Nov. 3
Nov. 5
Herman Melville, 1132-34
“Hawthorne and His Mosses”, 1134-41
Reaction Paper #2 Due
“Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street”,
1141-65
“Billy Budd, Sailor”, 1224-76
Week 11
…….more to come…………..