Summer Session 1  2013

English 343-001:

(M, T, W. Tr. F 9:45-11:15)

Survey of American Literature to 1860

Text: Nina Baym et al., The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 8^th ed.  (Shorter Edition. Vol. 1).

 Course Description and Requirements: This is a chronological survey of American literature, broadly conceived, from the period of English settlement through the poetry of Dickinson and Whitman. Students are expected to familiarize themselves not only with the texts but also with the development of the varieties of American literature over time.

 There will be two-in-class examinations (May 24 and June 7), and a final examination. Attendance and class participation are expected. After your third unexcused absence, I will start deducting from your final grade.

 Plagiarism: The Honor Code is in effect in this class and all others at the University. I am committed to treating Honor Code violations seriously and urge all students to become familiar with its terms (http://instrument.unc.edu). If you have questions, it is your responsibility to ask me about the code’s application. All exams and other written work must be submitted with a statement that you have complied with the requirements of the Honor Code.

 Readings/Schedule:

May 14 Introduction. Definitions and terms. Period of Contact and Exploration.  Contact, Colonization in the Chesapeake.

May 15 Colonization: New England. New England Puritanism, 72-102.

May 16 New England Puritanism: Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor, 110=125, 143-149.

May 17 New England Puritanism: Second and Third Generations. Native Americans and Witches, 126-142, 149-156.

May 20 The Eighteenth Century: Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening, 177-220.

May 21 Benjamin Franklin and National Character, 248-307.

May 22 Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur and Olaudah Equiano, 308-322, 354-386.

May 23 Catch up and Review

May 24 EXAM in class

May 27 NO CLASS: MEMORIAL DAY

May 28 Early Romanticism: Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and William Cullen Bryant, 467-497.

May 29 Edgar Allan Poe, 683-742.

May 30 Ralph Waldo Emerson and Transcendentalism, 505-583.

May 31 Emerson continued

Jun 3 Henry David Thoreau, 858-934.

Jun 4 Nathaniel Hawthorne, 603-655.

June 5 Herman Melville, 1099-1183.

June 6 Melville continued

June 7 EXAM in class

June 10 Other Versions of the American Self: Frederick Douglass, Margaret Fuller, and William Apess, 934-1002, 749-760, 498-504.

June 11 Walt Whitman, 1005-1099.

June 12 Emily Dickinson, 1189-1218.

June 13 Dickinson continued

June 14 Review