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At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Analyze and critique assigned texts.
2. Identify and interpret major themes in texts and their connections to the historical and cultural
contexts of the era.
3. Analyze the development of a variety of genres and the conditions from which they emerged.
4. Define, evaluate, and apply different modes of argumentation and interpretations, such as
biographical, historical, and psychological approaches to literary analysis.
5. Perform literary and historical research in order to support an interpretation of the literature.
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I. Pre-Colonial Literature to 1620--New World vs. Old World
A. Indigenous literature
1. Native American oral literature
2. Pre-Columbian indigenous creation myths and oral stories
B. Letters and diaries of early colonial explorers
C. Conquest and Colonial literatures
II. Colonial Literature to American Revolution, 1620 to 1820
A. Great Awakenings
B. The Enlightenment
C. The American Revolution
III. Post-American Revolution, 1820 to 1865
A. Romanticism
1. Transcendentalism
2. Gothic literature
3. Romances (e.g. The Blithedale Romance)
B. Protest literature
1. Slave Narratives
2. Abolitionist pamphlets
3. Women's Movement
C. Melodrama
1. Minstrelsy
2. Hippodramas
3. Civil War
D. Civil War
IV. Literary Analysis and Writing
V. Literary Research
VI. Schools of Literary Criticism
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1. Weekly reading assignments
2. Participation in class discussions
3. Individual or group presentations or projects
4. Low-stakes writing assignments, such as reading response journals, summaries, or personal response papers
5. Short critical response papers (500 - 1,000 words each)
6. Library research assignment(s), such as an annotated bibliography, research sessions with a librarian, or library research scavenger hunt
7. Essays including library research with MLA documentation (1,000 - 2,500 words each)
8. Essay exams, objective exams, and/or quizzes
9. Optional field trips (ungraded)
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Anthologies:
The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 10th ed. Volumes A and B. Levine, Robert and Gustafson, Sandra. W. W. Norton & Company. 2022
The Heath Anthology of American Literature: Beginnings to 1800, Volume A. 7th ed. Lauter, Paul. Cengage Publishing. 2014 (classic)
The Heath Anthology of American Literature: Early Nineteenth Century 1800 - 1865. Vol. B. 7th ed. Lauter, Paul. Cengage Publishing. 2013 (classic)
Genesis: Memory of Fire, Volume 1. Reprint edition. Galeano, Eduardo. Nation Books. 2010 (classic)
Relevant literature:
A Son of the Forest. Apess, William. Self published. 1829 (classic)
The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta: The Celebrated California Bandit. Bird, Yellow. W.R. Cook and Company. 1854 (classic)
The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America. Bradstreet, Anne. Gale, Sabin Americana. 2012 (classic)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Douglass, Frederick. Union Square & Co. 2022 (classic)
Nature and Selected Essays. Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Penguin Classics. 2003 (classic)
The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Vintage. 2014 (classic)
Moby Dick. Melville, Herman. Oxford Classics. 2022.
Twelve Years a Slave. Northup, Solomon. 37 Ink. 2013 (classic)
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. Poe, Edgar Allan. Worth Press. 2009 (classic)
Walden and Civil Disobedience. Thoreau, Henry David. Penguin Classics. 1983 (classic)
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773). Wheatley, Phyllis. CreateSpace Independent Publishing. 2016 (classic)
Leaves of Grass: The Original 1855 Edition. Whitman, Walt. Dover. 2007 (classic)
Open Educational Materials and Electronic Resources:
Dala Digital American Literature Anthology. O'Connor, Michael. digitalamlit.millikinenglish.org/. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.
The Open Anthology of Earlier American Literature. DeRosa, Robin, Goode, Abby, et al. human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Literature_and_Literacy/The_Open_Anthology_of_Earlier_American_Literature_(DeRosa_Goode_et_al.). CC BY-SA 4.0
Popol Vuh: Sacred Book of the Quiché Maya People. Translated by Allen J. Christenson. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2003.
www.mesoweb.com/publications/Christenson/PopolVuh.pdf.