English 2130.01: Survey of American Literature
(Re)Defining America, (Re)Defining the American
Professor: Aaron L. Bremyer
Office: Pafford 310-A
Email address: abremyer@westga.edu
(personal email address: aaron.bremyer@gmail.com)
Web Address: http:www.westga.edu/~abremyer
http://www.westga.edu/english/show_bio.php?emp_id=27943
(Please note: My university email, MyUWG, CourseDen, and WebCT serve as the only
legitimate modes of university correspondence. I include my personal email address as a backup only.)
Office Hours: By appointment, or:
Monday: Noon – 2:00 p.m.; 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday: 4:45 – 6:15 p.m.
Thursday: 4:45 – 6:15 p.m.
My Writing Center Shift: 2:00 – 5:00 p.m., Monday in the Writing Center. You are welcome
to schedule an appointment to meet with me during this time.
Required Materials
* A computer with which you can reliable access the internet and print additional materials.
* A folder or binder of some kind in which to keep all of your work, all semester long.
* Also, please purchase a large “Blue Book,” and bring it with you to class every day. You will
record all of your quizzes in your Blue Book.
Required Texts (available at the UWG Bookstore)
* Norton Anthology of American Literature, shorter 7th Edition
Please note: The text above is available at the UWG Bookstore:
http://www.bookstore.westga.edu/buy_courselisting.asp
For an overview of the many writers we will be reading and discussing, please see our “Reading
Schedule” at the bottom of this document.
Overview of the Course
What follows is a broad overview of some of the themes, ideas, and contexts for the work we
will be doing in this course. It is, perhaps, a bit long, I admit. But this introduction to our survey
of American Literature will serve as the foundation for many of our discussions. In what is
below, I’ve divided our reading into two sections: Pre- and Post-1900. We will “flesh out” these
two larger sections in substantial detail throughout our course.
Section One: American Literature to 1900
Inventing America, Inventing the American
During our time together, we will investigate a host of texts (nonfiction, fiction, poetry, plays)
written prior to the Twentieth Century and attempt to trace the major literary, socio-political,
cultural, and historical developments over these many years. Much of the early work on our
reading list consistently engages with the very idea/myth of “America” and “American-ness,”
thereby highlighting the literary and literal processes of “Americanization.” These texts, then,
present and reflect upon the initial settlers confronting what they perceive to be a howling,
vacant wilderness pregnant with potential for the/their future. Though perceived as a dark land
full of wildness, violence, and savagery, America offered an opportunity—settlers, explorers,
and frontiersmen and women believed—to enact God’s will, to create, as John Winthrop said, a
“city on the hill” serving as an example to the rest of the world. This context allows for an
investigation of the origins and development of American literature.
Against the massive and potentially sublime backdrop of a “New World” and the frontier, the
intricately complicated relationship among the patriarchal and initially puritanical authority, the
romanticized and domestic women, and the indigenous Indians comes into sharp and often
horrible relief. Texts from our reading often bear out the complex conflict and negotiation
between Civic Law and Natural Law, which (when coupled with the notion that the
“blossoming” nation and its settlers have a manifest destiny and/or a providential mission to
bring “light” and “truth” to the “dark” and “false”) results in oppression, dispossession, and/or
extermination for many, including Native Americans, black slaves, and women. Often
presenting and/or creating a myth of America as a new, material Eden, a realizable utopia, some
of these works present the belief systems, ideas, and myths that serve as a foundation for the
initial settlers; other texts investigate the potentially corrupt and corrupting qualities of these
same myths by recognizing and addressing the terrible history as well as the ongoing and
potential reality of violence and oppression in America. In response to these myths of America
and American-ness, several writers address the fallacy of these defining paradigms and explicate
them as cultural constructions that serve a variety of social functions. Furthermore, several of
these writers respond to the collective “sins” of the nation, most notably (but not only) the neargenocide of the Indians and that most “peculiar” of institutions: slavery.
Themes of self-reliance and independence, too, pulse within much of this literature. Although
clearly in differing ways, many, if not most, of the writers with whom we will engage in some
way address the necessity of self-reliance and the ability to develop, and/or to maintain one’s
independence. Clearly connected with American identity, self-reliance and independence are
often founded on or realized through education. Although what constitutes or defines
“education” is often quite different, that it is necessary for self-realization remains constant in
this literature.
Particularly in the last half of the nineteenth century, the growing industrialization and
urbanization of America, and its negative (and at times positive) effects, becomes an important
subject in this literature. Many artists engage with the long-standing problematic issues of
progress, growth, and expansion in America, which are further complicated by industry and
technology. Too, several women writers represented in our reading artistically render the world
from the perspective of women awakening to and protesting against a largely patriarchal
existence. Many of the texts written by women demonstrate the effects of, and at times offer
alternatives to, a society long dominated by an oppressive patriarchy and an overwhelmingly
masculine sense of ethics and values.
While we can not possibly address each of the myriad themes eddying in the powerful currents
of this literature in the course of our semester, we will endeavor to investigate a host of them that
are essential to and can be traced through these works and broadly connect authors with (some
of) the ideas they address. Here is a short list of some of those ideas that we’ll be discussing:
The defining of America and American identity and the role(s) of violence and power in this
process; the conflict between Natural and Civic Law; the nature of social constructions such as
race and gender; the importance of self-reliance and autonomy of the Self; the role and necessity
of education and self-knowledge; the effects of slavery; the nature and definition of freedom; and
the industrialization and urbanization of America.
Section Two: American Literature from 1900 to the Present
(Re)Defining America, (Re)Defining the American
In the explosive transformation from a rural, agrarian, and isolated God-fearing republic to an
industrialized and ever-more urban nation, “America” underwent great change as the twentieth
century was dawning, and this shift is reflected in its literature. New themes, modes of
presentation, representation, forms, subjects, regions, and audiences transform the nature of the
literature produced in the twentieth century. In our discussions of American Literature from
1900 to the present, we will investigate and trace the movement, play, and interplay among
realism, naturalism, regionalism, modernism, and postmodernism.
Looming massively over twentieth-century American literature, modernism casts a far-reaching
shadow. Many texts we will investigate respond to conditions that reflect the ominous and
terrible potentialities of large-scale, technologically advanced war as announced by the first
world war and to the erosion of faith in the ordering paradigms which had provided a meaningful
structure to life. The possibility of annihilation and the physical and psychological chaos of
modern existence engender a pervasive sense of meaninglessness and coalesce to present a bleak
picture of an external and internal wasteland, a fractured existence largely devoid of meaning.
The Great War was midwife to modernism, and it pointed to the apprehension of the breakdown
of civilization and connectedness, thereby generating a paralyzing sense of hopelessness and
powerlessness for many. The previously sustaining structures of existence—whether religious
(or mythic), political, social, or artistic—were abandoned by artists as fallacies or inert failures
demonstrative of not actual structure, order, and unity, but rather of the desire for these things.
Out of this milieu, writers respond in a variety of ways and take up the pervasive themes that,
when referred to collectively, constitute Modernity, or the modern condition. Some writers, for
example, investigate pervasive themes of isolation and loneliness experienced by characters who,
in part, can be characterized by their inability to articulate themselves in meaningful ways.
In our discussions, we will investigate how many of these artists expose the hypocrisy,
hollowness, and corruption (or corruptibility) of both public and private “institutions.” Some of
these texts deal with the struggles, the failures and/or, in some ways, the collapse of familial
relations. Additionally, other texts deal with the marginalization and oppression of any variation
of “the other” in American culture. Variations on the myth of America and the American dream
are shown to be corrupt (and corrupting) and potentially dangerous (as exemplified in Death of a
Salesman, for example). But this body of literature is not one of absolute pessimism, for much
of the literature we will discuss also attempts to negotiate the ragged terrain of modern existence
in order to develop a new, meaningful, sustainable supreme fiction—or at least a livable
fiction—in the fragmented, fractured world.
Because many of these twentieth- and twenty-first-century artists believe that subjective
experience and moral questions can not be adequately addressed by science, the function of art
becomes, by different means, even more essential in the everyday, existential lives of modern
and post-modern humanity. Thus, many of these writers present their art in such a way that the
search for meaning, even when unsuccessful, becomes meaningful in and of itself. At times,
readers are presented with what might initially appear to be an incoherent, structure-less
narrative and are allowed to participate in the development of meaning, structure, and coherence.
Such a process mirrors what these writers believe to be the appropriate engagement with reality,
one that makes full use of the imagination. For these writers, then, art itself becomes a medium
capable of explaining or ordering modern reality.
Ultimately, many of the artists from 1900 to the present attempt to investigate the ongoing
struggle to define an “authentic” and/or “proper” cultural-identity or personal-identity while
simultaneously portraying the cultural forces outside the self that manipulate and construct
identity. I am hopeful that we will devise interesting questions and come to some compelling
conclusions during our time together as we survey these important works of American Literature.
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Course Guidelines for our English 2130, Survey of American Literature:
http://www.westga.edu/~engdept/fr/CourseGuid/2130.html
Some Course Requirements, Policies, and Expectations
Students must maintain a reading-quiz average of 65% or higher and miss no more than
four classes in order to pass the class. You will also write three short reading-response essays,
take a mid-term exam, and a final exam. Students in this class must complete the day’s reading
assignment in advance and come to class prepared to participate actively in discussion. If you
cannot keep up with the reading, you will fail the class.
Final Grade: To pass the course, students must turn in all assigned written work, have no more
than four absences, and earn a passing quiz grade. If you average less than 65% on quizzes, you
will not pass the course. Your final grade is comprised by the following: Reading Response
Essay 1 (10%), Reading Response Essay 2 (10%), Reading Response Essay 3 (15%); Quizzes
(25%); Midterm Exam (15%); Final Exam (15%); Class Participation (10%).
Attendance: You are allowed to miss four classes. Should you miss additional classes, you
should expect to fail the course. I am aware that illness and emergencies are a part of life, which
is why you are allowed to miss four classes. Be aware that no distinction exists between
excused and unexcused absences. This means that it is not necessary for you to provide me
with a doctor’s note if you are absent due to illness.
Plan to arrive on time and to be ready to go at the start of class. If you are late to class, you will
be marked “tardy,” which will negatively affect your participation grade.
Preparation and Discussion (Class Participation): Students should attend every class and
arrive on time, prepared, and ready to discuss all of the day’s reading and any material generated
for our course. Your participation grade is partly based upon your performance in discussions
(both class and group discussions). I expect you to demonstrate engagement and familiarity with
the material, to contribute actively to discussion topics, to show preparation for each class, and to
respect the arguments and ideas of your classmates. Be sure to bring the texts under discussion
to every class.
In addition to your attendance, preparation, and intellectual curiosity, you are also encouraged to
discuss your writing and thinking with me in my office.
CourseDen (Class Participation): We will be using CourseDen on a regular basis throughout
our time together. I will often post electronic handouts, updates, and other materials to
CourseDen, and we will use the email feature on CourseDen to facilitate ongoing discussions
outside of class time. You should check CourseDen on a regular basis and participate in any
discussions that take place there throughout the semester.
Process-Based Writing (Mountain of Notes) and In-Class Writing Assignments (Class
Participation): You will be writing outside of and during class on a regular basis in preparation
for discussion and for your formal Reading Response Essays. Some of this work you will keep;
some of it you will turn in to me. Keep all of this work in your folder/binder.
Reading Response Essays: Your fundamental goal for each three-page-minimum paper is to
produce a well-written, thesis-driven, coherent essay with a central argument that is both
interesting and significant. Your essays will be thesis-driven, argumentative papers, and your
grade will be determined by the complexity of your central argument, the structure of your
paragraphs, the logic of your organization, and the strength of your prose. I accept only hard
copies of your essays.
Late essays: I will accept late Reading Response Essays, but always with a penalty. A paper
will be considered late if I do not receive it at the beginning of (or before) class. For each day
the paper is late, 1/3 of a letter grade will be deducted from the final grade. For instance, if the
paper is due on Tuesday and you turn it in on Wednesday, I will deduct 1/3 of a letter grade (i.e.,
a C+ becomes a C). If you submit the essay on Thursday, 2/3 of a grade is deducted (i.e., a C+
becomes a C-).
Quizzes: Over the course of our time together, I will administer eleven quizzes, generally at the
beginning of class. All of these quizzes are open-note (but not open-book). If you arrive late,
you will not be allowed to take the quiz. If you are absent on the day a quiz is given, you
will not be allowed to retake it. Under no circumstances will I give “make-up” quizzes.
However, I will drop your lowest quiz score at the end of the semester. Again, you must
receive a quiz score of at least 65% to pass the class.
Assistance: I can’t emphasize strongly enough that if you are having problems, you should come
and talk with me. I will be happy to meet with you outside of class to help you. Given the
amount of work required of you in this (and any other class you’re taking), it is all-too-easy to
get behind. If you let me know, I will do all I can to assist you.
Disruptive Behavior Policy: Students may be dismissed from any class meeting at which they
exhibit behavior that disrupts the learning environment of others. Such behavior includes – but is
not limited to – arriving late for class, sleeping, allowing cell phones to ring, speaking
disrespectfully to the instructor and/or to other students, checking email or surfing the web, and
using personal audio or visual devices. Each dismissal of this kind will count as an absence
and will be applied toward the attendance policy above. (Department Policy)
Etiquette: Before class begins, I will expect you to “silence” your cell phone. Do not put your
phone on “vibrate” mode. Put it away in a place where neither you nor I can see it. Do not take
it out again until you exit the classroom. Your cell phone has no place in an academic
environment, and—simply put—I will not tolerate disruptions due to cell phones.
Regarding email correspondence with me, please be relatively formal, as if you were writing a
short letter. Do not send text-style messages; please use sentences and standard English; address
me directly and sign your name. As this is English class, we should use every opportunity to
develop our writing skills. Email correspondence is one such opportunity.
Computers: Some of you may wish to have a laptop out during class. This is acceptable if you
are using your computer for class work, but it is unacceptable for any other reason (e.g., web
surfing, checking email, or Facebooking, etc.). If you choose to use a computer during class
time, you are required to email me your notes after every class in which your laptop is out.
Department Paperless Policy: As of Fall 2006, the English Department implemented a
“paperless” policy in its classrooms. Therefore, all materials (handouts, assignment sheets, notes,
etc.) will be made available online. Students may print these necessary course documents,
including the syllabus, on their home computers or at one of our computer labs on campus.
Late Work/Extension Policy: Your work is due at the beginning of the class for which it has
been assigned. This includes all writing and reading assignments, and general class preparation.
Unless you and I have discussed and agreed upon an extension prior to the date the assignment is
due, late work will be penalized.
Make-Up Work: You will not be allowed to “make up” any work for this course unless you and
I have discussed the situation prior to the assignment due date. Under no circumstances will any
student be allowed to “make up” a missed quiz. (See quiz policy above.)
Extra Credit: Generally speaking, I do not offer extra credit assignments.
Plagiarism & Excessive Collaboration Policy
Plagiarism & Academic Dishonesty: The Department of English and Philosophy defines
plagiarism as taking personal credit for the words and ideas of others as they are presented in
electronic, print, and verbal sources. The Department expects that students will accurately credit
sources in all assignments. An equally dishonest practice is fabricating sources or facts, which is
another form of misrepresenting the truth. Plagiarism (of any kind, to any degree) is grounds for
failing the course and/or being placed on Academic Probation by the University of West
Georgia.
If you plagiarize or commit academic misconduct (which includes “cheating” of any kind), you
should expect—at minimum—to fail the assignment. Depending on the severity of the offense, I
reserve the right to fail you for the entire course.
The University policies for handling Academic Dishonesty are found in the following
documents:
The Faculty Handbook, sections 207 and 208.0401
http://www.westga.edu/~vpaa/handrev/
Student Uncatalog: "Rights and Responsibilities"; Appendix J.
http://www.westga.edu/handbook/
Excessive Collaboration: Students should demonstrate the ability to produce independent writing
(writing without undue assistance of peers, writing tutors, or professionals in the field) that
shows an acceptable level of competence. Although classroom activities and out-of-class
assignments may highlight collaborative learning and collaborative research, excessive
collaboration (collaboration that results in the loss of a student's voice/style and original claims
to course-related work) is considered another form of academic dishonesty and therefore will not
be permitted.
Recycled Work: You may not turn in a paper for this course that was written in whole or in part
for another course. Doing so without speaking with me prior to submitting that work is
academic misconduct and is potentially grounds for failing the assignment and/or the course. If
you have done relevant work in another class or for another professor and wish to rely in any
way on that work, you must discuss it with me first.
Please note: The occurrence of plagiarism and academic misconduct at the university-level has
greatly increased over the years due, in part, to access to materials readily available on the
internet. Do not endanger your academic career by engaging in plagiarism; if you are concerned
about whether or not you are plagiarizing, or if you are on the verge of plagiarizing, please stop
and come speak with me. I will help you and alleviate any need to engage in academic
misconduct. Plagiarism is never necessary, nor is it ever acceptable.
Disability Pledge: I pledge to do my best to work with the University to provide all students
with equal access to my classes and materials, regardless of special needs, temporary or
permanent disability, and/or special needs related to pregnancy, etc.
If you have any special learning needs, particularly (but not limited to) needs defined under the
Americans with Disabilities Act, and require specific accommodations, please do not hesitate to
make these known to me, either yourself or through Disability Services in 272 Parker Hall.
Students with documented special needs may expect accommodation in relation to classroom
accessibility, modification of testing, special test administration, etc. This is not only my
personal commitment, it is your right, and it is the law.
For more information, please contact Disability Services at the State University of West Georgia.
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IMPORTANT DATES:
August 22 – 28: Drop/Add
September 15: Labor Day (no classes)
September 21-22: Tim O’Brien’s Campus Visit (specific times/events forthcoming)
October 14: Withdrawal Deadline (with a grade of “W”)
November 21-25: Thanksgiving Holiday (no classes)
December 3-9: Final Instruction/Fall Examinations
December 12: Grades Due (8:30 a.m.)
FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE:
Tuesday/Thursday Class Periods
8-9:15 classes ................................. Tuesday, Dec. 6, 8-10 am
9:30-10:45 classes ...........................Thursday, Dec. 8, 8-10 am
11-12:15 classes .........................Tuesday, Dec. 6, 11 am-1 pm
12:30-1:45 classes ......................Thursday, Dec. 8, 11 am-1 pm
2-3:15 classes ...................................Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2-4 pm
3:30-4:45 classes ..............................Thursday, Dec. 8, 2-4 pm
READINGS, ACTIVITIES, AND ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE:
Tuesday, 23 August: Introductions; go over the syllabus; in-class writing, etc.
Thursday, 25 August: Read “Beginnings to 1700” (1-16) and “Stories of the Beginning of the
World” (17-23).
Tuesday, August 30: Read John Smith’s excerpts “The General History” and “A Description of
New England” (43-57); Christopher Columbus, “Letters” (24-28); Thomas Harriot, “A Brief and
True Report…” (36-42); Pontiac, “Speech at Detroit” (207-09); Thomas Jefferson, “Chief
Logan’s Speech” (212-13); Tecumseh, “Speech to the Osages” (216-18).
Thursday, 1 September: William Bradford, from “Of Plymouth Plantation” (57-75); Phillis
Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” (420) and “To His Excellency General
Washington” (427).
Tuesday, 6 September: John Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity” (75-87); Mary
Rowlandson, “Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration” (117-34); Anne Bradstreet, “To My
Dear and Loving Husband” (108) and “In Memory of My Dear Grandchild” (109).
Thursday, 8 September: “American Literature: 1700-1820” (151-55); Benjamin Franklin,
“Remarks Concerning the Savages…” (226-230) and The Autobiography: Part Two (276-92).
Tuesday, 13 September: “American Literature: 1700-1820” (155-160); De Crevecoeur, “Letter
III: What is an American?” (309-20); Thomas Paine, from Common Sense (324-32);
Thursday, 15 September: “American Literature: 1820-1865” (431-40); Additional Phillis
Wheatley poems (419-29); Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” (453-66).
Tuesday, 20 September: “American Literature: 1820-1865” (440-49); Emerson, “SelfReliance” (532-50).
Thursday, 22 September: Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown” (605-15) and “The
Birthmark” (631-43); Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat” (702-11).
Tuesday, 27 September: Thoreau, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” (886-96); Selected
Walt Whitman Poems (TBA); READING RESPONSE ESSAY ONE DUE TODAY.
Thursday, 29 September: Thomas Jefferson, from Notes on the State of Virginia (749-52);
Angelina Grimke, “Appeal to Christian Women” (758-61); Sojourner Truth, “Speech” (762-63);
Suggested Reading: Begin Frederick Douglass, Narrative.
Tuesday, 4 October: Frederick Douglass, Narrative (920-56); Selected Emily Dickinson Poems
(TBA).
Thursday, 6 October: Frederick Douglass, Narrative (956-88); Emily Dickinson Poems (TBA)
and Paul Laurence Dunbar Poems (TBA).
Tuesday, 11 October: MIDTERM EXAMINATION.
Thursday, 13 October: Herman Melville, Benito Cereno (1118-42 middle).
Tuesday, 18 October: Herman Melville, Benito Cereno (1142-74).
Thursday, 20 October: Du Bois, “Of Our Spiritual Strivings” (1729-34); Charles Chesnutt,
“The Wife of His Youth” (1640-48); Mark Twain, “The Notorious Jumping Frog” (1273-77);
Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (1476-83); “American Literature: 18651914” (1255-66).
Tuesday, 25 October: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1684-95); Kate
Chopin, “Desiree’s Baby” (1615-19).
Thursday, 27 October: Stephen Crane, “The Open Boat” (1779-95); “Realism and Naturalism”
(1745-47).
Tuesday, 1 November: “American Literature: 1914-1945” (1881-95); Sherwood Anderson,
from Winesburg, Ohio (1978-86); T. S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men” (2057-60) and “Prufrock”
(2039-43).
Thursday, 3 November: Selected Poems from the Following Artists (TBA): Langston Hughes,
Amy Lowell, Robert Frost, Countee Cullen, Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, Sterling Brown,
William Carlos Williams, H. D., Claude McKay.
Tuesday, 8 November: F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Winter Dreams” (2186-2200); William Faulkner,
“A Rose for Emily” (2216-24).
Thursday, 10 November: “American Literature since 1945” (2305-14); Eudora Welty,
“Petrified Man” (2325-34); Flannery O’Connor, “Good Country People” (2569-83).
Tuesday, 15 November: Ralph Ellison, from Invisible Man (2430-40); Allen Ginsberg, “Howl”
(2592-2600).
Thursday, 17 November: Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (2462-92); READING
RESPONSE ESSAY TWO DUE.
Week of November 21st: No Class; Thanksgiving Recess.
Tuesday, 29 November: Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (2492-2526).
Thursday, 1 December: Raymond Carver, “Cathedral” (2733-44).
READING RESPONSE ESSAY THREE IS DUE ON OR BEFORE MONDAY, 5 DECEMBER
2011, BY 5:00 PM.
Final Exam: Thursday, 8 December, 11 am-1 pm.