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Course
Description
The
literature of this period is extremely varied. Scholars explore
texts as wide-ranging as, for example, Native American journals,
speeches, and letters; Spanish-language texts of central, south and
southern North America; captivity and slave narratives; and the
lyric, epic, and elegiac poetries of the Puritans and early North
American settlers, writers of the early Republic, and free and
enslaved African Americans. In this course, we will explore as
wide a variety of texts as possible so that you can have a sense of
the heterogeneity of early American culture and the tensions,
beliefs and events which shaped it. Because of time and other
constraints, however, our primary focus is on English language texts
of British North America from the mid-17th, 18th,
and early 19th centuries.
This is a
seminar; as such, it requires more effort on your part than you may
be accustomed to. Our time together will be balanced between
lecture, discussion, and student presentations. You are expected to
contribute to discussion both in class and via our course Blackboard
site, and I will encourage you to seek a wider audience
(professional conference and/or publication) for your final essays.
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Objectives
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You will gain an understanding of the complex and
varied world of (primarily, but not exclusively) British North
America from the mid-17th to early 19th
centuries.
-
You will gain an understanding of the history of this
period, and the ways in which these texts responded to, shaped and
were shaped by historical events.
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You will become familiar with the central scholarly
texts and arguments in this field.
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You will write a sophisticated graduate-level
research essay suitable for publication or other means of
dissemination.
Required
Texts
Brown, Charles
Brockden. Wieland and Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist. Ed. Jay
Fliegelman. Penguin. ISBN 0140390790
Colonial
American Travel Narratives.
Ed. Wendy Martin. Penguin. ISBN 014039088X
de Crevecoeur,
J. Hector St. John. Letters from an American Farmer and Sketches of
Eighteenth-Century
America. Penguin. ISBN
0-14-039006-5 (pbk)
The Norton
Anthology of American Literature,
Seventh Edition, Vol. A. ISBN
978-0-393-92739-9
Equiano, Olaudah.
The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano. Ed. Vincent
Carretta. Penguin. ISBN 0142437166
Rowson,
Susanna. Charlotte Temple. New York: Oxford UP 1986 0-19-504238-7 (pbk).
Class
Readings Packet, noted in the Schedule below as “CP”
Recommended
Texts
(not required)
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook
for Writers of Research Papers, Sixth Edition (New York: MLA, 2003).
0-87352-986-3
Bradstreet,
Anne. The Works of Anne Bradstreet. Cambridge: Belknap Press.
ISBN 0-674-95999-X
Davidson,
Cathy N. Revolution and the Word: The Rise of the Novel in America.
(Expanded Edition). Oxford UP, 2004. ISBN 0-19-514823-1 (pbk).
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Requirements
& Grading
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Two essays: one five to seven page essay, due October 22 (15%); one
twelve to fifteen page essay, due the week of December 10. (Essay, 30%;
annotated bibliography, 15%)
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One book review: three to five page review (brief summary and analysis)
of a scholarly book on a topic directly related to our field of study.
You will present your book review to the class for discussion. The date
of your presentation depends on which book you choose. (15%)
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Class participation, based on your preparedness and contributions to
class discussion. (10%)
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Blackboard postings. Due weekly. (15%)
Late papers submitted without my prior approval will drop one
full grade for every day that elapses from the due date to the time of
submission (including weekends). Failure to complete any of these
assignments will result in a failing grade for the class. There are
no exceptions to this policy.
Save both the graded copy of everything you write this
semester as well as a backup copy. Don’t
rely on your hard drive to preserve your work; always, always print hard
copies of your writing and save them until grades are posted at the close
of the semester.
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Plagiarism
By this point in your academic
career you must be familiar with the rules regarding plagiarism, so I
will not discuss them here. There are no excuses for stealing another's
work and presenting it as your own -- ignorance of the rules of citation
and documentation is the most frequently cited excuse, but it is the
least plausible for graduate students. If you are uncertain of the
rules regarding citation and documentation, consult the MLA Handbook for
Writers of Research Papers (6th edition) and/or ask me for help. See
the BSC 2006-2007 Catalog for college policies regarding plagiarism. My
own policy regarding plagiarism is simple: if I catch you plagiarizing,
you will fail the course.
Format
All work written out of class
must be typed, double-spaced, in 12 pt. font, with 1" margins (left,
right, top and bottom). Number all pages. Please include your name,
my name, the class number, and the assignment name (as opposed to its
title) in
the top left-hand corner
of each essay's first page.
Include a "works cited" page when appropriate. Always
follow MLA format.
Email
policy
I am happy to respond to questions and
ideas via email, and I will do my best to return your message the next
business day. You may submit written assignments to me via email, under
the following non-negotiable conditions: your document must be sent as an
attachment, not as part of the email message, in Microsoft Word; it must
be correctly formatted; it must be submitted on the date due, neither
earlier nor later. You may not submit assignments as the contents an
email message; you may not submit assignments in programs other than
Microsoft Word. These will be returned to you unread and marked late as
appropriate. My email address is abrunjes@bridgew.edu.
You
may also submit assignments--saved in Microsoft Word--to me via the
Digital Drop Box (accessed through “Student Tools”) on the course
Blackboard site.
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Accessibility
Statement
In accordance with BSC policy, I am available to discuss appropriate
accommodations that you may require as a student with a disability.
Requests for accommodations should be made during the drop/add period so
that proper arrangements can be made. Students should register
with the Disability Resources/ADA Compliance Office in the Maxwell
Library
Academic
Achievement
Center
(x1214) for
disability verification and determination of reasonable academic
accommodations.
Schedule
of Assignments
Note on
secondary readings: All secondary
readings may be found in your Class Packet (CP).
The books from which they are excerpted are available on two-hour
reserve in the library. You
may use these readings as a resource in your five or ten page essays.
So much of early American literature remains out of print or in
difficult-to-access archives. As
a result, early Americanists have become big fans of the internet.
There is a tremendous
amount of primary and secondary source material available on the
internet, and my on-line syllabus has useful links for many
of our meetings.
Remember that electronic sources must be documented with the same
rigor as print sources.
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Week
1
Monday
September 10 Introduction.
Week
2
9/17
Literature of Promotion, Exploration and Conquest
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“Introduction: Beginnings to 1700” in Norton, 1.
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Columbus, all readings in Norton.
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Bartolome de las Casas, all readings in Norton.
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Thomas Harriot, all readings in Norton
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John Smith, all readings in Norton.
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Native American Readings: Iroquois Creation Story and
Pima Stories from the Beginning of the World (Norton).
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Roger Williams, A Key into the Language of America
(Norton 174)
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Week
3
9/24 The
Puritan Sermon
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Thomas Hooker, “Meditation,” “Wandering Thoughts”
(CP).
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John Cotton, “Swine and Goats” (CP).
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Increase Mather, “Predestination and Human
Exertions,” and “Sleeping at Sermons,” (CP).
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Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry
God," Norton 425.
Colonial
Historical Narrative and the Literature of Settlement
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William Bradford, all readings in Norton.
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Thomas Morton, all readings in Norton.
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John Winthrop, all readings in Norton.
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Cotton Mather, all readings in Norton.
- William Byrd II, The
Secret History of the Line, Penguin 77.
Secondary reading: Silverman, Kenneth. The Life and Times of
Cotton Mather. Chapter 9: “Of 15, Dead, 9,” pp. 261-275.
(CP)
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Week
4
- Essay 1 Prospectus Due
10/1 Colonial
Historical Narrative continued
Varieties of Colonial Religious Experience
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Samuel Sewall, from The Diary of Samuel Sewall
(Norton 288).
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Roger Williams, from The Bloody Tenet of
Persecution (Norton 184) and “A Letter to the Town of
Providence” (Norton 186).
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Jonathan Edwards, Personal Narrative (Norton
386).
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John Woolman, all readings in Norton.
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Week
5
10/8 No
Class; Columbus Day
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Week
6
10/15 Puritan
Poetry
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Anne Bradstreet, all poems in Norton.
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Edward Taylor, all poems in Norton.
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Week
7:
Essay 1 Due
10/22 Puritan
Poetry continued
Captivity
Narrative
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Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Captivity and
Restoration (Norton 236).
Secondary reading: Ulrich, Laurel
Thatcher. Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in
Northern New England, 1650-1750. (CP)
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Week
8
10/29 Native
American Voices: Samson Occom
(CP);
Slave
Narrative/Responses to Slavery
- Samuel
Sewall, The Selling of Joseph (Norton 303).
- John Woolman,
from Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes (CP).
- Olaudah
Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.
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Week
9:
Essay 2 Prospectus Due
11/5 Slave
Narrative (continued)
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Olaudah Equiano, from The Interesting Narrative of
the Life of Olaudah Equiano.
Enlightenment
and its Discontents
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Thomas Jefferson, from Notes on the State of
Virginia, all chapters in Norton. “Letter to Nathaniel Burwell,
Esq.” (CP).
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The Federalist
(Norton 665)
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John Adams and Abigail Adams, Letters (Norton
616)
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Judith Sargent Murray, On the Equality of the
Sexes (Norton 726)
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Thomas Paine, Common Sense (all sections in
Norton); The Crisis, No. 1 (Norton 637).
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Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography, Part I.
Secondary Reading: Ferguson, Robert
A. “What Is Enlightenment? Some American Answers.” The Cambridge
History of American Literature, Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
1994.
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Week
10:
Essay 2 Prospectus Due
11/12 No
Class; we meet on 11/14
11/14 Monday
Schedule
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Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography, Parts II
- IV.
-
Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, Letters from an
American Farmer: Letters I, II, III, IX, X, XII.
Secondary
reading: Elliott, Emory. Revolutionary Writers: Literature and
Authority in the New Republic, 1725-1810, “Introduction.” (CP)
Poetry of the
Early National Period
-
George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, “On the Prospect
of Planting Arts and Learning in America,” (CP).
-
Philip Freneau, all poems in Norton.
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Timothy Dwight, from Greenfield Hill Part II:
“The Flourishing Village” (CP)
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Phillis Wheatley, all poems in Norton. Letter “To
Rev. Samson Occom,” (CP)
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Joel Barlow, "The Hasty Pudding" (CP).
Week 11
11/19 Drama of
the Early Republic
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Royall Tyler, The Contrast (Norton 765).
Fiction of the
Early Republic
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Susanna Rowson, Charlotte Temple, Chs. I- XVI.
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Week
12
11/26 Fiction
of the Early Republic (continued)
-
Charlotte Temple,
Chs. XVII-XXV.
-
Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette (Norton
807).
Secondary reading: Davidson, Cathy
N. Revolution and the Word: The Rise of the Novel in America,
“Reading The Coquette.” (CP)
Week
13
12/3 Fiction
of the Early Republic (continued)
-
Charles Brockden Brown, Wieland.
Secondary
reading: Watts , Steven. The Romance of Real Life: Charles
Brockden Brown and the Origins of American Culture, Chapter 1, “The
Novel and the Market in the Early Republic.” (CP)
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Week
14 - Essay 2
Due
12/10
-
Wieland.
-
Final exam review; class evaluations.
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Final Exam:
Monday, December 17
Supplemental
E-Sources
Literature
of Promotion, Exploration and Conquest
Colonization
and Print in the Americas
Columbus
and the Age of Discovery
http://www.vahistorical.org/cole/debry.htm
Colonization
and Print in the Americas.
The de Bry Engravings: http://www.csulb.edu/projects/ais/woodcuts/wood.coll.set.1.html
Colonial
Historical Narrative and the Literature of Settlement.
Plimoth
Plantation
Religion
and the Founding of the American Republic.
Fire and Ice:
Puritan and Reformed Writings.
Religion
and the Founding of the American Republic (this is really worth a
visit – an exhibit put together by the Library of Congress.
I suggest you take a look at the link on religious persecution in
the American colonies, which can be found in Part II of “America
as a Religious
Refuge”).
JonathanEdwards.com
(e-texts and tons of information on Jonathan Edwards).
Complete
e-text of John Woolman’s Journal from the
University
of
Virginia.
Captivity Narrative / Slave Narrative
Image
of Rowlandson’s Narrative.
Outstanding (but
mostly 19th century) web resources on American
slavery from the C.W. Post Library.
Sound
files and narratives of American slaves from the WPA collection
(also outside our time frame but fascinating).
PBS Africans in
America (good background information and some useful links).
Enlightenment and its Discontents
Good
links, bibliography and general information via Paul
P. Reuben’s site.
Etext
of the Autobiography and useful web resources (but do me a favor and
ignore the “SparkNotes” link).
E-text
and handy links for Crevecoeur from American Literature on the Web.
Poetry
of the Early National Period
Full text of
Wheatley’s Poems
on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
Charles
Brockden Brown
Handy
links and e-texts.
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Reading
Journals and Blackboard Postings
Each week, you are
required to (1) post one response to one of that week’s assigned texts.
Write a minimum of five sentences and (2) respond to one entry posted
by one of your classmates. You can post to more than one entry if you
like, but you must respond to at least one a week.
Posts will be
graded for thoughtfulness and clarity. Responses are not graded.
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Shorter
Essay (5-7 pages)
For the first
essay, you will craft a thesis concerning one of the authors from the
course syllabus. I do not assign topics.
The assignment consists of two parts: a 100-200
word typed prospectus or proposal, and a 5-7 page critical analysis of a
topic of your choosing.
The prospectus is a brief proposal, usually one to
two paragraphs long, that covers the following items:
- The overall subject of your paper.
-
Its proposed thesis or overall argument, including what you expect
to find through your investigations into the topic.
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The primary work to be covered.
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Optional: Outside sources that you may consult (a preliminary
bibliography).
This essay is not primarily a research paper,
although you are welcome to use outside sources. Rather, its purpose is to
demonstrate your ability to choose a significant, appropriately limited
topic in American literature; to investigate and support a thesis of your
own devising; to analyze with skill and insight the evidence from specific
literary works; and to present the whole in a clearly organized,
compelling fashion. Remember, this is a short paper -- be modest in your
aims. Your paper is a briefly argued insight into, ideally,
something new about a text.
Essays will be graded according to their
fulfillment of the following criteria:
- Clear and engaging thesis.
- Thoughtful, clear analysis.
- Thoughtful and convincing use of supporting
primary and secondary sources.
- Surface, or mechanical, competence: use
of standard grammar and syntax; consistent , appropriate tone;
appropriate diction and style; proper application of MLA format.
- The facility and effectiveness with which you
employ a specific theoretical approach.
If you have difficulty choosing a topic, contact
me and I will be happy to assist you. I encourage you to post your
ideas on our course Blackboard site for feedback from me and your
peers.
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Longer
Essay (12-15)
As with the first
essay, the longer essay has two parts: a prospectus and a critical
analysis.
For the longer
essay, you may do a variety of things: compare two (or at the most, three)
authors on a well-defined subject; look at reception (or performance) of a
text as a social or cultural commentary; place an author in a larger
context--social, historical, literary, for example; or do a longer version
of a short paper--narrow topic, defined critical method (Marxist,
feminist, new historicist, psychoanalytical, etc.), close reading. For the
long paper, research is required. That means a minimum of six sources
beyond the base text. To save time, you may use your presentation research
as a springboard to the research for this paper.
The final essay
will also include an annotated bibliography. Once you have
chosen an author, text, or topic, prepare a comprehensive bibliography
(seek a minimum of ten sources), with special attention to material since
1970. You may have to use a variety of bibliographic aids: MLA, history
bibliographies, literary reference books (e.g., Dictionary of Literary
Biography) and other sources, both in print and on-line. Include a brief
annotation or statement of the content and importance of each source. Put
all entries into MLA style for Works Cited. It is not necessary to
quote or paraphrase ten secondary sources directly, but you must consult
at least ten secondary sources, and all of these are included in the
annotated bibliography.
You will be graded
on the same criteria as the first essay. (See above).
As with the first
essay, I am happy to assist you in developing a thesis. I encourage
you to post your ideas on our course Blackboard site for feedback from me
and your peers.
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Book
Review and Presentation
You will choose
one book-length study from the list provided and write a review that
provides a brief summary and thoughtful analysis. Your analysis may
consider such diverse topics as style, evidence, argument, relationship
to other studies you have read, etc. You will distribute copies of your
review to the class, read it aloud, and field questions and discussion.
Some of these
books are very long – George Marsden’s biography of Jonathan Edwards,
for example, is about 500 pages. I do not expect you to summarize and
analyze the entire text. In the case of these longer studies, you and I
will discuss which section of the book you should read and focus on for
your review and presentation.
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Resources:
Indices
and bibliographies (available on-line via
the Maxwell Library homepage)
The MLA Bibliography
Academic Full Text
JStor
Bound
Volumes
American Literary Scholarship: An
Annual. Ed. Gary
Scharnhorst.
Durham
and
London
:
Duke University Presses.
Periodicals
(not an exhaustive list, but pretty close)
American Literature
African American Review
American Literary Realism
American Literary History
ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of
short Articles, Notes, and Reviews
American Quarterly
Arizona Quarterly
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ATA/American Transcendental Quarterly
College English
College Language Association Journal
CLIO
College Literature
Cambridge Quarterly
Critical Review
Critical Inquiry
Criticism: A Quarterly for
Literature and the Arts
Early American Literature
ELN/English Language Notes
English Studies
ESQ: A Journal of the
American Renaissance
Explicator (use this sparingly; it’s geared toward a less
sophisticated audience)
Journal of American Culture
Journal of American Studies
Legacy: A Journal of
Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers
N & Q (Notes and Queries)
Modern Language Studies
Nineteenth-Century Literature
Nineteenth-Century Studies
New England Quarterly
PMLA: Publications of the
Modern Language Association
Studies in American Fiction
SEL: Studies in English
Literature, 1500-1900
Studies in Short Fiction
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