Syllabus

Schedule

Assignments

Supplementary Information

This class will give students a solid grounding in American Literature from the landing of the first settlers up to the beginning of the Civil War. This is a large scope for a single-semester class. Thus, the readings are selective, and the demands on students are significant. Because early American literature is strangely foreign to us now at the dawn of the second millennium, we must consider the historical contexts in order to understand the perspectives of these writers. The differences in perspective from our own make these works genuinely fascinating, as they contribute to a deeper understanding of American cultures and reveal perplexing contradictions in a national identity that we have historically taken for granted.

We will begin with the writings of the very first European settlers in the New World who regarded their arrival here as an event devoid of historical precedent. The works of Christopher Columbus and Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca introduce us to conflicts in American identity that continue through the subsequent works by Puritan settlers, eighteenth-century philosophers, slaves, profiteers and idealists, and nineteenth-century romantics and popular writers. At the end of the semester, we arrive at our destination in the middle of the nineteenth century in a country poised on the brink of a devastating war. As we shall see, that war is the culmination of a series of conflicts that shaped U. S. history from the very beginning.

Over the semester, I expect students to achieve the following goals:

• Be able to read and understand texts from the peculiar historical and cultural contexts of Early America.

• Be able to discuss these texts in classroom discussions or smaller group discussions.

• Write convincing arguments about the meanings of these texts examinations and essays.

• Recall key facts about the works in question including but not limited to the date of publication, the author, the title and its general meaning.

• Produce papers about literature that are interesting, articulate and well organized.

• Revise drafts of such papers before turning them in as finished products.

• Proofread papers effectively.

• Format papers according to MLA format and to the conventions of college academic work.

• Discuss strengths and weaknesses of classmates' drafts as a means of helping them produce better final papers.

• Teach these ideas effectively to others.

To reach these goals, students will need to do the following:

1. Write an analysis of a brief passage from the assigned works. DUE OCTOBER 4TH.

2. Write an essay interpreting a longer text. DUE DECEMBER 11TH./p>

3. Complete a mid-term examination including identification, short-answer and longer essay questions. ON OCTOBER 16TH./p>

4. Complete a final examination covering the material from the entire semester and following a similar format. ON DECEMBER 18TH./p>

5. Attend class regularly and contribute to class discussion and group activities./p>

6. Bring a typed, completed draft to class on peer-editing days, and provide classmates with carefully considered comments on their own drafts on those days.

Your grade will depend primarily on your written work and the understanding of the material that you convey through that work. A command of standard written English and the ability to present an argument will also contribute to the determination of your grade. Any infractions against UMD's Scholastic Dishonesty provisions in the Student Conduct Code as stated in the UMD catalogue will receive serious attention and appropriate penalties.

Individuals who have any disability, either permanent or temporary, which might influence their capacity to perform in this class, are encouraged to inform me at the start of the semester. I can make special adaptations of teaching methods, assignments, materials, or testing as required to provide for equitable participation in the course. The Access Center is also available to assist students with disabilities. It is located in 138 Kirby Plaza and on the web at <http://www.d.umn.edu/access>.

Lauter, Paul, et. al.The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Vol. 1, Fourth Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.