sign in sign up
<<
Home , American literature

Dr. Charles Bradshaw Spring 2014 131M Humanities; 881-7327 English 260: 001, 002 Office Hours: M,W,F 8-10 M,W,F 11-1:50; 2-2:50 HU 312; 314 “The ”: Early American and its Contexts Course Objectives: In the most general terms, this course should help you • Understand regional, colloquial, cultural and national diversity in language and literature. • Know a wide range of literature from many periods and various genres and relate that knowledge to class discussion and writing. • Develop reading strategies to improve comprehension. • Sharpen your sensitivity to the aesthetic and humanistic aspirations of authors and influential political and philosophical thinkers. Specifically, this course should familiarize you with a range of American literature written before the Civil War. Within this historical framework, we will work toward understanding some of the aesthetic, social, political, philosophical and cultural influences in early America and how they shaped and were shaped by writing.

Required Text: Requirements: Grades: Baym, Nina et al. Norton Anthology of 5 Quizzes 250 A=900 American Literature Shorter 8th edition. 2 Papers 200 B=800 (ISBN: 9780393918861) Final Paper 250 C=700 Final Exam 300 D=600 Total 1000

Please make sure you have the proper REQUIRED TEXT for this class. Make sure the ISBN number matches up with the one provided on the syllabus. All of this reading is publicly accessible or available in other volumes. However, you will have a hard time reading the same selections that we are reading in the class. This is the most economical and easiest way to cover the various authors we will survey. *5 Quizzes should ensure that you are keeping up with the reading and being attentive in class. This class requires a great deal of time reading and interpreting what you read, so you’ll need to exert a lot of effort keeping up! *The 2 Papers are formal essays that focus on a specific issue or theme that comes from your reading of Moby Dick and Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I will provide you with two or three topics to choose from for each paper. *The Final Paper should be the culmination of your reading and thinking about the literature we cover during the semester. It needs to be informed by authoritative research that comes from scholarly sources found in one or more of the following databases: MLA Bibliography, JSTOR, or Project Muse. These can be accessed through the Paul Meek Library: http://library.utm.edu/search/y. Your response should also be scholarly in tone and subject matter with proper MLA formatting and documentation. I will give you a prompt for the paper after you turn in your shorter Paper #2. It will lay out specific requirements and suggestions for your writing. *The Final Exam will be at the time scheduled by the university. You must take the final at the scheduled time to pass the class. Please don’t ask for any exceptions. The final will be comprehensive and will require Scan-tron responses. Participation and Etiquette: There are no official participation points. I do, however, reserve the right to drop your grade at the end of the semester based on my perception of your engagement with the class and the materials we cover. Some of the signs I look for that indicate a lack of engagement: cell phones/electronics—wearing ear buds or headphones when in the classroom; texting; constantly checking the time on your phone; pretending to pay attention while your hands are busy texting under the desk; checking the internet/email during lecture and discussion; leaving your phone in a visible location during the class period; and talking on your phone in the classroom immediately before, during, or after class. preparation—not having the required texts; not participating in class discussion; not completing the reading; consistently turning in late work; and not thinking concretely, abstractly, and critically about the course material. attendance and participation—consistently coming late, leaving early, or not attending class; implying that this class is not as important as another class you are taking; or consistently letting work, family, roommates, car trouble, etc. prevent you from completing assignments and attending class. papers—not following MLA conventions when required; turning in papers without staples; indicating that you just finished the paper right before class; indicating that you took very little time on the paper; and half-hearted efforts in grammar and neatness. Academic Integrity: Cheating on exams or Quizzes is grounds for failure. For plagiarism, I refer you to pages 8-13 of The Student Handbook, http://www.utm.edu/studenthandbook/stuhandbook0809.pdf. In particular, plagiarism violates a number of rules in the Academic Integrity section. Any form of plagiarism justifies a failing grade for the assignment. If I deem the plagiarism to be a result of blatant disregard for the rules and conventions of documentation, or if I feel the plagiarism is purposeful in its intent to deceive, then I will fail you for the course and recommend expulsion from the university. NOTE 1: Any student eligible for and requesting academic accommodations due to a disability is requested to provide a letter of accommodation from the Student Academic Support Center within the first two weeks of class. NOTE 2: I do not accept papers via email. I also do not respond to student requests via email. Please see my office hours and phone number posted at the top of the syllabus. If you cannot meet with me during my office hours, please leave a message with the department secretary so we can arrange to meet some time more convenient for you. NOTE 3: Any student enrolled in this class must have completed English 111 and 112 (or its equivalent) with a grade of “C” or better. If you haven’t, please see me so that we can get you in the proper class. Schedule: 1.10 THE 18TH CENTURY: ENLIGHTENMENT, F Introductions; Syllabus REVOLUTION, AND CITIZENSHIP 3.10-14 1.13-17 M Edwards 209-220; Red Jacket 230-231 M Articles—The Great American Novel; Writing W Franklin 244-260, 297-308 America, dos and don’ts. Introduction to F Crevecouer 309-323 Moby Dick (103). W Moby Dick (203) 3.17-21 F Moby Dick (284); Paper #1 Assigned M 324-31, 339-44 W Jefferson from Notes of the State of Virginia (in class), 1.20-24 Wheatley 403, 405-06, 409-11 M MLK Holiday F Wheatley (continued), Madison 348-53; Quiz #4 W Moby Dick (449) F Moby Dick (504) : IMAGINATION AND FICTION 3.24-28 1.27-31 M Cooper 485-91, Irving 470-82, The Romantic Frontier M Moby Dick (625); Quiz #1 W Emerson 508-20, 566-81 W Introduction to Uncle Tom’s Cabin (103) F Thoreau 858-66 F Uncle Tom’s Cabin (191) 3.31-4.4 2.3-7 M 619-28, 645-56 M Uncle Tom’s Cabin (304) W Poe 702-14, 718-24 W Uncle Tom’s Cabin (350); Paper #1 Due; Paper #2 F Poe 724-37 Assigned F Uncle Tom’s Cabin (456) SLAVERY AND THE LITERATURE OF PROTEST 4.7-11 2.10-14 M Thoreau 843-58, Douglass 946-54, 959-79 M Uncle Tom’s Cabin (576) W Douglass (continued), Jacobs 818-39 W Uncle Tom’s Cabin: (629) Quiz #2 F Jacobs (continued); Quiz #5 F Class Forensics: Uncle Tom’s or Moby Dick? ROMANTIC VISION: AND PERSPECTIVE DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION: CONTESTED 4.14-18 VOICES M Whitman 1024-33, 1078, 1082-88 2.17-21 W Dickinson #s 39, 112, 236, 320, 339, 479, 591, 620, M Columbus 25-28, Cabeza de Vaca 29-35, 788, 1108, 1263, (and any others you may Creation Story 21-23 like!) W 69-72, Thomas Harriot (in class); Paper F Easter Holiday #2 Due; Final Paper Assigned F NO CLASS—I WILL BE AT A CONFERENCE 4.21-25 M Poetry Recitation (Dickinson #236, 479, 591, or 788; , PILGRIMS, AND NATIVE Whitman “Lilacs” Stanza 3, 6, 13; “Song” REPRESENTATION lines 1-8, 30-37, 99-109; “When I Heard the 2.24-28 Learn’d Astronomer”) M Bradford 73-76, 81-89; Winthrop 91-102 W Poetry Recitation W Bradstreet 111-112, 119-123; Taylor 144-149 F Final Paper Due; Last Day of Class; Review for Final. F Mary Rowlandson 127-143; Mather 151-55; Quiz #3 Final Exam: Section 1, Thursday, May 1st, 7:45-9:45, 3.3-9 Spring Break HU 312 Section 2, Tuesday, April 29th, 12:45-2:45, HU 314