Course Overview

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. Covering 350 years of literature in a single semester requires that we study small portions of many different works, and this selection of works will necessarily fail to include some of the most important works of the time period. Nonetheless, the reading list will give you a clear sense of the variety of viewpoints and modes of expression that came into conflict over this time period and brought American literature into its present incarnation. To gain a clearer grasp of these conflicts, we will also have to discuss a great deal of history. Some of the works on this list simply will not make any sense at all without some historical foundations.

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.

Objectives

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

• To read and understand texts from the peculiar historical and cultural contexts of Early America.

• To discuss these texts in an analytical and engaging manner.

• To write convincing arguments about the meanings of these texts.

• To 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.

• To produce papers about literature that are interesting, well-organized and consistent with the standard conventions governing analytical writing.

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

• To proofread papers effectively.

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

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

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

1. Write an analysis of a brief passage from the assigned works. 3-5 typed pages. DUE SEPTEMBER 24TH.

2. Write an essay interpreting a longer text. DUE DECEMBER 5TH.

3. Complete a mid-term examination including identification, short-answer and longer essay questions. ON OCTOBER 3RD.

4. Complete a final examination covering the material from the entire semester and following a similar format. ON DECEMBER 15TH FROM 8 TO 9:55AM.

5. Attend class regularly and contribute to class discussion and group activities.

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 (working drafts are due in class one week before the final draft is due).

Grade Breakdown

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 the Kirby Student Center and on the web at <http://www.d.umn.edu/access>.

Required Texts

Baym, Nina, et. al. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. 1, Fourth Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.