University of Mobile
Spring 2011
College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Humanities
FACULTY: Katherine Abernathy, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English
Adams Nursing Building #7
katherine@mail.umobile.edu
442-2467
OFFICE HOURS: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. MTTF and 9:30 – 11 TT
EN 230 American Literature Survey
3 Semester Hours
PREREQUISITE:
EN101 and EN102 and three additional semester hours in English above the freshman
level
COURSE DESCRIPTION: A survey of the major American writers from Colonial times to the present.
OBJECTIVES:
The student will demonstrate knowledge of:
1.
reading, contemplating, analyzing, and conversing about major writers and literary works
from colonial times to the present
2.
the political, historical, philosophical, ethical and spiritual values and implications with
assigned works;
3.
American literature including poetry, short stories, as well as political and religious writings;
4.
major secondary works on at least one of the major authors covered;
5.
regional authors such as Faulkner, Welty, Wright, O’Connor, and others with attention to
dialects as expressions of cultural diversity in America, which will be assessed through essays and
quizzes;
ACTIVITIES:
The student will
1.
2.
3.
read comprehensively and analytically all assigned reading;
successfully complete all assignments including essays, reports, and examinations;
participate in class discussions by defending personal viewpoints.
TEXTBOOKS: American Literature Vol. 2. Ed. William Cain. New York: Penguin Academics.
Also works linked to the class webpage on MyUM.
REQUIRED ACTIVITIES
10 Discussion Forum Posts and 10 Responses to Classmate Posts
2 Exams (on campus)
1 Annotated Bibliography
1 Researched Essay
EVALUATION: 90-100=A; 80-89=B; 70-79=C; 60-69=D; 0-59=F
ATTENDANCE POLICY: “Attendance” is considered prompt responses to the readings and replies to your
classmates posts. Posts and responses should appear during the week of the assigned reading. Excessive late
posts and responses will be counted against your grade as absences would.
ADA STATEMENT: It is the policy of the University of Mobile to provide reasonable accommodations for
persons with disabilities as defined in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990. Eligibility for services requires prior documentation of the disability. The
Academic Adviser and Certification Officer coordinates support services for students with disabilities and
is an accommodation resource for faculty and administration.
Reading and Assignment Schedule
WEEK 1:
Get familiar with the MyUM website; print out this syllabus for next week.
Unit on Early Writings and Romanticism
Main readings (stories, etc.) for this unit are found in the links at the bottom of the web page for
this class.
WEEK 2:
Colonial Readings (Mayflower Compact, Delclaration of Independence, works by
Columbus, de las Casas, and Jonathan Edwards.
View the powerpoint on these works and any related links, and post a response to
the reading based on the assignment. Assignments will be given weekly with
powerpoints.
WEEK 3:
WEEK 4:
Melville's “Bartleby the Scrivener”; powerpoint; post and response.
Hawthorne and Poe linked selections; powerpoint; post and response.
Unit on Realism and Naturalism
Main readings (stories, poems, etc.) are found in your book from now on, but do watch for extra
links related to the works that I will assign.
WEEK 5:
WEEK 6:
WEEK 7:
WEEK 8:
Read William Howell's “Editha”; powerpoint; post and response.
Kate Chopin's “The Storm”; powerpoint; post and response
James's “The Pupil”; powerpoint; post and response
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE
London's “To Build a Fire”; powerpoint; post and response
Unit on Modern Poetry
WEEK 9:
WEEK 10:
Frost, Dickinson, Stevens and H.D. Selections to be announced; powerpoint; post
and response.
RESEARCHED ANALYTICAL ESSAY DUE
Eliot's “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and Pound's “In a Station of the Metro”;
powerpoint; post and response.
Unit on Southern Literature
WEEK 11:
WEEK 12:
Faulkner's “That Evening Sun”; powerpoint; post and response.
O'Connor's “Revelation”; powerpoint; post and response.
Each week you will need to read the assignment, read/watch the powerpoint that I post as well as
any critical material or other articles that are posted related to the reading. Then post a
reflection on the reading that is substantive and scholarly. I will provide a prompt to help you get
started on your post each week. Then you need to post a reply to someone else's post. Please be
polite, but seriously consider ways to develop or even oppose another student's post.
2 EXAMS
Also, we will schedule two exams during the semester. These exams will be given on campus, but
we will plan them to work with your schedules. The first will be given around Week 8 or 9 on the
first two units. The second will be at the end of the semester. We will schedule the exact date
after we discuss your personal available times.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE DURING WEEK 7
You will write an annotated bibliography including 5 sources on one of the readings. An
annotated bibliography is a list of sources from the UM licensed academic databases, with a short
summary of each of the sources. As we get closer to the due date, I will direct you on how to do
this.
RESEARCHED ESSAY DUE DURING WEEK 9
Finally, you will write a 600-word essay using two scholarly sources (like the ones in your
annotated bibliography). The analytical essay should be on one of the works we are reading. I
will provide a guide for this essay as we get closer to time.