The course presents a broad overview of American literature from the early explorers’ narratives to those written during the 20^th century. Major historical, cultural, intellectual, and political events which occasioned these writings will be discussed. Students will utilize various critical approaches and reading strategies as they examine important authors and themes of the period. Attention will be given to writers in the Puritan period and the early Republic, as well as the writers who contributed to American Renaissance, the rise of Realism and Naturalism and the writers who exhibited the ‘Lost Generation’. As they read, students are encouraged to discuss their thoughts with the teacher and with other classmates.

Course Objectives

After completing the course, the students should be able to:

1. Identify characteristics of distinctive literary periods in American literature
2. Place literary works in historical context.
3. Analyse plot, characters, tone, style and theme in specific works.
4. Identify major American authors and their works.
5. Participate in exciting discussions of American authors and themes.
6. Apply various reading strategies to text in order to summarize, synthesize, analyse, interpret, and evaluate the literature.
7. Write a paper on a topic in American literature using MLA style and a variety of sources. The paper should show original thought, research, and an ability to assimilate and synthesize the ideas of others on the topic.

Evaluation:

Final exam: 40%
Midterm: 20%

Paper: 15%
Presentation: 15%

Summary papers and participation:10%

Total: 100%

-The grades in letters for the in-class and out-class assignments are equivalent to the following numbers:

A     : 10

A-    : 9.5

B+    : 9

B     : 8.5

B-    :8

C+   : 7.5

C     :7

C-  : 6.5

D+: 6

D: 5.5

D-: 5

Below that is a failing grade (F)

Final Assessment   Criteria:

A = 95-100     B = 83-86     C = 72-75

A- = 91-94      B- = 80-82    C- = 68-71

B+ = 86-90     C+ = 76-79    D = 60-68

Course Structure

 The course is comprised of ten main units or umbrellas designed to be taught during a 15 week semester. These units each address a different genre of American literature. These ten units are:

Week 1: Exploration and Settlement.

-         Introduction to course and class policy.

-         Introduction

-         Christopher Columbus:

 from Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage

      from Letter to Ferninand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage (July 7, 1503)

-         De Vaca:

The Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca,

Dedication

The Malhado Way of Life

Our Life among the Avavares and Arbadaos

Customs of That Region

The First Confrontation

The Falling-Out with Our Countrymen

Week 2: Making a New World.

-         Introduction

-         Timeline

-         John Smith:

 From A Description of New England

-         William Bradford:

 Of Plymouth Plantation

  Book І, Chapter IX

  Book І, Chapter X

        Book ІІ, Chapter XI

Week 3: The Puritan World View.

-         Anne Bradstreet:

 To My Dear and Loving Husband

 Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House

The Author to Her Book

-  Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Week 4: American Renaissance/ Enlightenment: Franklin, Jefferson,
-         Benjamin Franklin, From The Autobiography (Part 1 and 2)

-         Thomas Jefferson,  From The Declaration of Independence

Week 5: Early 19^th Century

-         Introduction

-         Timeline

-         Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle

-         Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher
- Annabel Lee

Week 7: Transcendentalism: Preachers in the Garden.

-         Ralph Emerson, The American Scholar     
                                Self-Reliance
-         Henry Thoreau, Walden,  (Chapter 1 &2)

Week 8: Narratives of Interpretation: Hawthorne and Melville.

-         Nathanial Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown,
-         Herman Melville, Bartleby, the Scrivener

Week 9: The Founders of Modern American Poetry: Whitman and Dickinson.

-         Walt Whitman, Here the Frailest Leaves of Me, p. 1033, When I Heard the Learned Astronomer, p. 1044, Once I Passed Through a Populous City, p.1032, Reconciliation, 1048, There was a Child Went Forth p.1055, A Noiseless Patient Spider, p. 1056.

-         Emily Dickinson, poems: 67, 185, 214, 303, 435, 465, 712, 1732 pp. 1194, 1195, 1198, 1200, 1202, 1206, 1209.

Week 10:  Realism and Naturalism (1865-1915)

-         Kate Chopin, Desiree’s Baby
-         Jack London, To Build a Fire
-         Stephen Crane, An Episode of War,

Week 11&12: Modernism and Postmodernism

-         T.S Eliot, The Waste Land
-         Sylvia Plath,
 Daddy
Child
Lady Lazarus
-         Alice Walker, Everyday Use 

 Last Week: Review: Things Settled and Unsettled.