American Literature II—English 3369 (rev
for fall 2012)
Dr. Jonathan Alexander
jalexand@bcc.edu Please use my
BCC e-mail address
Phone: 609-894-9311 x1123
Online Syllabus: http://staff.bcc.edu/faculty_websites/jalexand/3369syl--2day.htm
A. TEXT:
Custom Text ISBN# 0-390-150231
B. COURSE OVERVIEW: American Literature I is a survey course which reviews the development of
American thought and ideals as seen in American literature from the
colonial/Puritan period through the period of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
The course will assign primary emphasis to the major literary trends found in
early
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES ~ At the end of LIT 209, you should be able to:
Attendance: If the student is to profit from any course, he or
she must attend class on a consistent basis.
Students
must attend all classes for the full duration of each session. Should you need to miss a class for observance of
religious holidays, jury duty, military duty, bereavement, or illness, you
must notify the instructor by e-mail prior to or within 24 hours after the
class. Without such communication, students forfeit the right to make up
missed work and will receive a zero for missed assignments. If such
communication is made, students will be permitted to make up missed work at the
beginning of the following class meeting. It is, therefore, the student’s
responsibility to read the syllabus and be prepared for current as well as
missed assignments.
Entering
class late or leaving class early
(without prior notification) is considered disrespectful and will not be
tolerated.
Academic Etiquette: Students will respect themselves, their peers and
their instructors by considering the following:
Cell
phones must be kept on silent. No
calls are to be made or received during class. If you are expecting an
important call during the class meeting time, notify me prior to class and quietly
excuse yourself if the call is received. No other use of phones in class will
be tolerated.
Although
a break is scheduled into each class, students who wish to use the restrooms
may do so by quietly excusing themselves. If a student believes he or she will
require an absence of more than a few minutes, it is his responsibility to
notify me accordingly.
Communication:
If
you leave a message on my office voice-mail (x1123), please remember to
speak clearly and provide your name, course information, and phone number if
you request a return call.
If
you contact me via e-mail, it is expected that you use the BCC “Mymail” account provided to you by the College. Messages
sent through any other email account may not be received or responded to.
Students
who send me e-mail and do not receive a reply of any kind within 48
hours should assume it was never received. Such e-mails should be resent. If
you send an email, it is your responsibility to check your own email to
determine if my reply has been received. If your message doesn’t present itself
as urgent, I may reply quickly and briefly and ask to get back to you before
long.
Students
who send e-mails containing attachments may save these documents as one of the following types: DOC, DOCX,
TXT, or RTF. Please do not send any ODT, WPS or MAC “Pages” files. You may also
choose to copy and paste the text of your assignment into the e-mail message
itself, and always send a copy back to yourself
(or another email account) as a receipt to verify if the transmission fails
to reach me.
Class Assignments:
All
work written and submitted should utilize standard rules of grammar, sentence
organization, paragraph organization, and diction.
All
formal papers are to be typed, titled, double spaced, carefully proofread,
and must include a cover page. Papers will not be accepted unless they
are stapled prior to arriving to class. Asking me to borrow a stapler will
not ingratiate you.
All
assignments are due on the date specified on the syllabus. Assignments which
are not submitted during the class session they are due will be penalized. If
you happen to be absent for a particular class session and you wait to submit a
paper until the next class meeting, it will lose 15% for each day it is late.
NOTE: A “day” is a calendar day, not a class meeting. A paper which is received
by email within two hours of the end of the assigned class session will be
considered submitted on time (without a penalty for lateness). A paper which
is received after two hours, but before 10pm on the assigned day, will incur a
late penalty of 5%. All other papers received after 10pm on the assigned day
will incur a 15% penalty per calendar day.
If
a student communicates an absence and presents reasonable justification, this
absence will not be counted against the student’s course grade; however, such
an absence does not allow for more time to complete assignments. Since
students are provided with all assignments and deadlines on the first day of
the semester, excuses such as “crashed computers,” “lost data,” “misplaced
flash drives,” or “empty printer ink cartridges” will not be accepted. There is
no excuse for not saving all documents twice (hard drive and floppy/flash).
Make use of the College’s computer labs before the assignment is due.
Plagiarism will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Be
aware that plagiarism includes (but is not limited to) copying someone else’s
words without crediting the source; paraphrasing someone else’s words without
crediting the source; using someone else’s ideas without crediting the source
(even if rephrased in your own words); using facts not universally known which
are obtained from a source without crediting the source; asking someone else to
write your paper, either in whole or in part; or obtaining a paper or portion
thereof by any means and submitting it as an original document. The penalty
for plagiarism is failure of the assignment and potentially failure of the
course (at the instructor’s discretion), and it may result in suspension or
expulsion from the College (at the discretion of the Student Affairs
Committee).
E. ASSIGNMENTS: Visit the grading rubric (http://staff.bcc.edu/faculty_websites/jalexand/rubric.htm) to see how writing is evaluated.
MAKE-UP EXAM POLICY: Because all assignment deadlines and scheduled exam
dates are provided at the beginning of the semester, little latitude is given
to those students who are not considerate of themselves or respectful of course
expectations. The schedule of assignments and activities is a contract and,
therefore, not open to negotiation. In the event that you must be absent the day
an assignment is due (though it is strongly discouraged if preventable),
utilize a form of electronic submission to turn in journal entries or other
assignments the day they are due.
|
Grades will be based on the following equivalents: |
|
|
Points Earned |
Final Grade |
|
92-100 |
A |
|
89-91 |
A- (note the lower average needed) |
|
87-88 |
B+ |
|
83-86 |
B |
|
81-82 |
B- |
|
79-80 |
C+ (note the higher average needed) |
|
75-78 |
C |
|
70-74 |
D |
|
0-69 |
F |
Date: Tuesday, Aug 28
Course Introduction
Assignment and Presentation Procedures
Anne Bradstreet, “The
Author to Her Book”
►Journal Assignment: “The Author to Her Book” What seems to bother the
speaker more: the fact that her work was taken without her approval, or the
fact that she thinks it is raw, unrevised, and flawed? How do you explain that
the author’s claims that the work’s “visage was so irksome”? How are physical
features used as metaphors to suggest things like unevenness, “blemish,” and
unseemliness? How does the speaker’s meager or humble style prove a
disadvantage? How do you interpret the author’s claim of being “poor”?
Anne Bradstreet, “A
Letter to her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment”
►Journal Assignment: How does the speaker illustrate the fact that,
despite their physical separation, she feels connected to him in spirit? How
does the speaker utilize various metaphoric elements to create images of her
feelings of loss and separation (consider body, earth, weather, time, seasons)?
What reference is made to the speaker’s children, and how does this influence
their parents’ separation?
____________________________
Date: Thursday, Aug 30
Anne Bradstreet,
from “Meditations, Divine and Moral”
►Journal
Assignment: Select three of the meditations and explain how each fits into some
aspect of your life (academically, spiritually, or socially).
____________________________
Date: Tuesday, September 4 (no class; e-mail responses
by Monday, 9-3)
Cotton Mather, from The Wonders of the Invisible World
►Journal Assignment: Identify three claims brought against Bridget Bishop
which might have been explained through other (more rational) means. In what
moments of Mather’s own proposal does he suggest that circumstances or
suspicion alone might not be enough to prove fault?
Jonathan Edwards, Sinners
in the Hands of an Angry God
►Journal Assignment: How does Edwards argue the fact that, even
though the Israelites were indeed condemned, they were not yet fallen to
destruction? How does he use this allusion to appeal to the people hearing this
sermon?
VIDEO: SALEM WITCH TRIALS
____________________________
Date:
Thursday, September 6
►Journal Assignment: Write and deliver a sermon in the vein of Edwards but applying a proverb by Benjamin Franklin (see end of syllabus).
____________________________
Date: Tuesday, September 11 (no class; e-mail responses
by Monday, 9-10)
Thomas Morton, from The
First Book Containing the Original of the Natives, Their Manners, and Customs
►Journal Assignment: Describe the author’s attitudes toward the natives.
What details of his narrative illustrate how he seems to feel about their ways
of life? Explain what he means by “such is their humanity.” Explain what he
means by claiming that the natives “are no niggards of their victuals.” How
does this phrase fit into the description of their relationship with others in
their company?
St. Jean de
Crevecoeur, from Letters
from an American Farmer
►Journal Assignment:
What is the speaker’s attitude toward the natives? How does he illustrate his
opinion of the difference between where the colonists came from and the new
land they have inhabited?
Thomas Paine, from The
Age of Reason
►Journal Assignment: What three details do you believe are Paine’s
greatest arguments for why the current state of religion is in need of serious
re-consideration.
____________________________
Date: Thursday, September 13
Oloudah Equiano, from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Oloudah Equiano
►Journal Assignment: What three details from Equiano’s
narrative give you the most vivid sense of life as a West African slave?
Phillis Wheatley, “To the University of Cambridge, in New
England”
►Journal Assignment: How does the poet use her difficult past as an
emblem for survival and triumph, and how does this become a warning of sorts to
the young students of the new land?
Philip Freneau, “The Indian Burying Ground”
►Journal Assignment: What elements of description would you say are the
most complementary or reverent of the Indians?
Tecumseh, “Speech
to the Osages” (The White Men Are Not Friends to the Indians)
►Journal Assignment: How does the author relate the philosophy that
if “you” don’t help “me” fight our enemy, when “I” am destroyed, that same
enemy will then direct its attention to destroying “you”?
____________________________
Date: Tuesday, September 18 (no class; e-mail responses
by Monday, 9-17)
Edward Taylor, “A Fig for Thee Oh! Death”
►Journal
Assignment: Read John Donne’s “Death, be not Proud” and identify three passages from Taylor’s
poem which echo Donne’s sonnet. What are the most striking differences between
Donne and Taylor? Where does Taylor express boldness, even cockiness? From
where does Taylor’s brashness seem to originate?
Henry David Thoreau,
from A
Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
►Journal Assignment: What theory of art and poetry does this passage
portray? How does nature influence one’s appreciation of art? What does it mean
to be “transcendental”?
____________________________
Date: Thursday, September 20
William Cullen
Bryant, “Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood”
►Journal Assignment: How does the poet describe the national landscape as
a symbiotic (shared) relationship among all its inhabitants?
Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Apology”
►Journal Assignment: What makes the title of this poem ironic? Why does
the speaker focus on his solitude rather than any connection to other humans?
How does the speaker see himself as a messenger? How do you interpret the
speaker’s “[folded] arms”? Where does the speaker seem to make his most
compelling connection with his natural surroundings?
Margaret Fuller,
from Woman
in the 19th Century
►Journal Assignment:
If you were to sum up Fuller’s attitude about marriage using three passages
from this excerpt, what would they be and how do they exemplify her opinions?
How does Fuller claim that women of luxury are responsible for the fate of
women of less fortunate means?
____________________________
Date: Tuesday, September 25 (no class; e-mail responses
by Monday, 9-24)
Herman Melville, Bartleby,
the Scrivener
►Journal Assignment:
Analyze Bartleby’s behaviors and explain how they may allow us to understand
better the lawyer’s true self. How do you explain the narrator’s difficulty in
terminating Bartleby? Why does he hire (and tolerate) the type of people in the
office?
____________________________
Date: Thursday, September 27
MIDTERM EXAM
Edgar Allen Poe, The
Raven
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The
Birthmark
____________________________
Date: Tuesday, October 2, (no class; e-mail responses by
Monday, 10-1)
Edgar Allen Poe, The
Raven
►Journal Assignment: What are your impressions of the narrator? What
changes occur in the narrator’s attitude towards the bird? What brings about
this change? What does the raven come to represent for the narrator? How does
the narrator’s emotional state change during the poem? How are these changes
related to the changes in his attitude toward the raven?
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The
Birthmark
►Journal Assignment: Explain how the relationship between Nature and a
scientist is portrayed in the first paragraph. What
is Georgiana’s perception of her birthmark at the beginning of the story, does
this perception change, and why? How does the birthmark function as a metaphor
in this story? What does its removal signify?
____________________________
Date: Thursday, October 4
Walt Whitman, from “Song of Myself” Stanzas 1-17
►Journal
Assignment: For the numbered stanza you are assigned, explicate the poem and
prepare a brief summary (interpreting any metaphors, identifying themes, and
proposing the passage’s morals or lessons).
____________________________
Date: Tuesday, October 9 (no class)
____________________________
Date: Thursday, October 11
RESEARCH ESSAY DUE
Emily Dickinson, #67, 258, 280, 328, 435, 478, 569, 636, 701, 712, 823,
1129, 1263, 1540, 1732
►Journal Assignment: For the poem you are assigned, explicate the poem
and prepare a brief summary (interpreting any metaphors, identifying themes,
and proposing the passage’s morals or lessons).
____________________________
The Apology
Ralph Waldo Emerson
THINK me not unkind and rude
That I walk alone in grove and glen;
I go to the god of the wood
Tax not my sloth that I
Fold my arms beside the brook;
Each cloud that floated in the sky
Chide me not, laborious band,
For the idle flowers I brought;
Every aster in my hand
Goes home loaded with a thought.
There was never mystery
But ‘tis figured in the flowers;
But birds tell it in the bowers.
One harvest from thy field
Homeward brought the oxen strong;
A second crop thine acres yield,
Emily
Dickinson
67
Success
is counted sweetest
By
those who ne’er succeed.
To
comprehend a nectar
Requires
sorest need.
Not
one of all the purple Host
Who
took the Flag today
Can
tell the definition
So
clear of Victory
As
he defeated—dying—
On
whose forbidden ear
The
distant strains of triumph
Burst
agonized and clear!
258
There’s
a certain Slant of light,
Winter
Afternoons—
That
oppresses, like the Heft
Of
Cathedral Tunes—
Heavenly
Hurt, it gives us—
We
can find no scar,
But
internal difference,
Where
the Meanings, are—
None
may teach it—Any—
‘Tis the Seal Despair—
An
imperial affliction
Sent
us of the Air—
When
it comes, the Landscape listens—
Shadows—hold
their breath—
When
it goes, ‘tis like the Distance
On
the look of Death—
280
I
felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading—treading—till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through—
And
when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum—
Kept beating—beating—till I thought
My mind was going numb—
And
then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space—began to toll,
As
all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race
Wrecked, solitary, here—
And
then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down—
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing—then—
328
A
Bird came down the Walk—
He
did not know I saw—
He
bit an angle-worm in halves
And
ate the fellow, raw,
And
then he drank a Dew
From
a convenient Grass,
And
then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To
let a Beetle pass—
He
glanced with rapid eyes
That
hurried all around—
They
looked like frightened Beads, I thought—
He
stirred his velvet head
Like
one in danger, Cautious,
I
offered him a Crumb,
And
he unrolled his feathers
And
rowed him softer home—
Than
Oars divide the Ocean,
Too
silver for a seam—
Or
Butterflies, off Banks of Noon,
Leap,
plashless as they swim.
435
Much
Madness is divinest Sense—
To
a discerning Eye—
Much
Sense—the starkest Madness—
‘Tis the Majority
In
this, as All, prevail—
Assent—and
you are sane—
Demur—you’re
straightway dangerous—
And
handled with a Chain—
478
I
had no time to Hate—
Because
The
Grave would hinder Me—
And
Life was not so
Ample
I
Could
finish—Enmity—
Nor
had I time to Love—
But
since
Some
Industry must be—
The
little Toil of Love—
I
thought
Be
large enough for Me—
569
I
reckon—when I count it all—
First—Poets—Then
the Sun—
Then
Summer—Then the Heaven of God—
And
then—the List is done—
But,
looking back—the First so seems
To
Comprehend the Whole—
The
Others look a needless Show—
So
I write—Poets—All—
Their
Summer—lasts a Solid Year—
They
can afford a Sun
The
East—would deem extravagant—
And
if the Further Heaven—
Be
Beautiful as they prepare
For
Those who worship Them—
It
is too difficult a Grace—
To
justify the Dream—
636
The
Way I read a Letter’s—this—
‘Tis first—I lock the Door—
And
push it with my fingers—next—
For
transport it be sure—
And
then I go the furthest off
To
counteract a knock—
Then
draw my little Letter forth
And
slowly pick the lock—
Then—glancing
narrow, at the Wall—
And
narrow at the floor
For
firm Conviction of a Mouse
Not
exorcised before—
Peruse
how infinite I am
To
no one that You—know—
And
sigh for lack of Heaven—but not
The
Heaven God bestow—
701
A
Thought went up my mind today—
That
I have had before—
But
did not finish—some way back—
I
could not fix the Year—
Nor
where it went—nor why it came
The
second time to me—
Nor
definitely, what it was—
Have
I the Art to say—
But
somewhere—in my Soul—I know—
I’ve
met the Thing before—
It
just reminded me—’twas all—
And
came my way no more—
712
Because
I could not stop for Death—
He
kindly stopped for me—
The
Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And
Immortality.
We
slowly drove—He knew no haste
And
I had put away
My
labor and my leisure too,
For
His Civility—
We
passed the School, where Children strove
At
Recess—in the Ring—
We
passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—
We
passed the Setting Sun—
Or
rather—He passed Us—
The
Dews drew quivering and chill—
For
only Gossamer, my Gown—
My
Tippet—only Tulle—
We
paused before a House that seemed
A
Swelling of the Ground—
The
Roof was scarcely visible—
The
Cornice—in the Ground—
Since
then—’tis Centuries—and yet
Feels
shorter than the Day
I
first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were
toward Eternity—
823
Not
that We did, shall be the test
When
Act and Will are done
But
what Our Lord infers We would
Had
We diviner been—
1129
Tell
all the Truth but tell it slant—
Success
in Circuit lies
Too
bright for our infirm Delight
The
Truth’s superb surprise
As
Lightning to the Children eased
With
explanation kind
The
Truth must dazzle gradually
Or
every man be blind—
1263
There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry—
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll—
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human soul
1540
As imperceptibly as Grief
The Summer lapsed away—
Too imperceptible at last
To seem like Perfidy—
A Quietness distilled
As Twilight long begun,
Or Nature spending with herself
Sequestered Afternoon—
The Dusk drew earlier in—
The Morning foreign shone—
A courteous, yet harrowing Grace,
As Guest, that would be gone—
And thus, without a Wing
Or service of a Keel
Our Summer made her light escape
Into
the Beautiful.
1732
My life closed twice before its close—
It yet remains to see
If Immortality unveil
A third event to me
So huge, so hopeless to conceive
As these that twice befell.
Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell.
Delivery of a
Puritan Sermon
The Puritans believed that the real power of a sermon was to be found in its words, rather than its delivery. Since the words were thought to be divinely inspired (in this case, inspired by Ben Franklin) it was believed that the words alone carried enough power to affect the congregation. As the preacher was simply a flawed agent of God’s work, his presentation of the sermon was expected to be as unadorned as possible, so that the delivery of the sermon would not distract listeners from the words. Preachers usually spoke their sermons in a deliberate monotone. (Consider this effect as you read Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”)
Traditional
Structure of a Puritan Sermon
Most Puritan sermons were modeled after this structure. Examine “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” for the five main sections of the sermon – epigraph, doctrine, reasons, application, and epilogue.
I. Epigraph (The epigraph in Edwards’ time
would have been a Biblical quotation, no more than a few verses in length. This
passage was selected by the preacher and was intended to address a specific
problem or concern in the community. For this assignment, you will borrow not
the words of the Bible but those of Ben Franklin, and you will speak to your
“congregation” as if they seem flawed to you in the way that the selected
instructs.)
a. Grammatical Reading
- Restatement or paraphrase of the epigraph in easily accessible terms
b. Logical Meaning
- Explanation of the epigraph’s Biblical context and its meaning within that context
c. Figurative Meaning
- Précis of the epigraph’s theological and real-world implications
[For our purpose, the
“Logical” and “Figurative” Meanings (a and b) can be incorporated into one
statement or passage.]
II. Doctrine
a. Breaking Down the Topic
- Division of the sermon’s message into clear subsets
b. Demonstration of Scriptural Evidence
- Reference of relevant scriptural passages that support the meaning that the preacher has drawn from the epigraph
[For our purpose, the
“scriptural passages” can instead be life-like experiences familiar to the
audience.]
III. Reasons
a. Establishing the Validity of the Doctrine
- Coherent explanation of why the doctrine is rational and true
b. Why Listeners Should Be Convinced
- An extension of the above. Involves an explanation of why the listeners, specifically, should believe in the truth of the doctrine.
[No changes.]
IV. Application
a. Personal Life
- Statement of how the doctrine applies to one’s own personal, spiritual, and family lives (elaborating on 2b above)
b. Community and World
- Statement of how the doctrine applies to the immediate community, as well as the greater world
V. Epilogue
a. Emphasis of Arguments
- Persuasive and bolder restatement of the main points of the argument
b. Call to Action
- Stimulation of the congregation to meaningful action and continued awareness of this issue
c. Emotional Appeal
- Final attempt to convince congregation of the unassailable truth of the message/doctrine
Options for sermons
(from Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s
Almanac)
1. A little neglect may breed mischief, ...for want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost.
2. A penny saved is a penny earned.
3. All cats are gray in the dark.
4. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.
5. At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.
6. Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a big ship.
7. But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
8. Creditors have better memories than debtors.
9. Diligence is the Mother of good luck.
10. Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
11. Energy and persistence conquer all things.
12. Fish and visitors smell in three days.
13. Genius without education is like silver in the mine.
14. God helps them that help themselves.
15. Haste makes waste.
16. Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.
17. He that blows the coals in quarrels that he has nothing to do with, has no right to complain if the sparks fly in his face.
18. Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade.
19. If Jack’s in love, he’s no judge of Jill’s beauty.
20. If you would keep your secret from an enemy, tell it not to a friend.
21. Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half-shut afterwards.
22. Most fools think they are only ignorant.
23. Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do to-day.
24. One good husband is worth two good wives; for the scarcer things are, the more they`re valued.
25. Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
26. They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
27. Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.
28. Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.
29. To find out a girl’s faults, praise her to her girl friends.
30. Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.
How to Analyze a Novel or Play
1. In a sentence or two sum up the appearance and important characteristics of
each major character.
2. Which characters change as the story proceeds? Do they change for the
better or the worse?
3. Which characters are distinct
individuals (round) and which types (flat)?
4. Does every character have a function in the story? What are the
functions of the minor characters? Any foils? Are these minor
characters interesting in themselves?
5. How are the principal characters
presented? By the author’s description and comment? By
representation of the thoughts and actions of the characters themselves?
By observations and comments of the other characters?
6. Are the characters at once
realistically consistent and sufficiently motivated for whatever change occurs
in them?
7. Toward which characters does the
author show sympathy? Toward which antipathy?
II. Plot
1. In 250-300 words, give a synopsis of the story. Is there a well unified beginning, middle,
and end?
2. If there is more than one action in
the story, show which is the main and which the subordinate plots (subplots);
is anything irrelevant to the main plot?
3. What is the nature of the
conflicts? Are there complications to the main problem? Identify
the protagonist and antagonist.
4. Is our curiosity aroused? How?
Are there significant dilemmas, ironies
or foreshadowing?
5. Is the conclusion of the story
satisfactory?
III. Setting
1. What is the historic time, place, and social background of the story?
How much time does the action
cover? How does the author treat time gaps?
2. Which are the most interesting, striking,
or important scenes? Refer to them specifically, describe them briefly,
and give your reasons for selecting them.
3. For a novel, how is the setting
presented? With photographic detail? Impressionistically through a
few suggestive details? Indirectly through thoughts and actions?
IV. Theme
1. What is the moral significance of the story? Does it have universal
significance through its theme, plot, and characters? Does it stimulate
thoughts about any important problems of life? Does it supply answers by
implication or direct statement?
2. Does the story clearly reveal any
overall view of the universe on the part of the author? Is this view
sentimental, romantic, cynical, etc.? Does the author content himself
with showing evil and leave the conclusions up to the reader, or does he use
devices to help form the reader’s conclusions?
V. Style
1. How would you describe the author’s style? Simple and clear-cut,
complex and involved? Smooth and grateful, abrupt and harsh? Richly
suggestive and implying much, lean and direct?
2. Does the author’s style have
individuality? Could a story of his be recognized by the style alone?
3. Is there any humor in the
story? Is it quiet or broad? Is the dialogue appropriate to the speakers?
4. How frequent are dramatic
situations? How are they reached, by anticipation or surprise? How
treated, by suggestion or in detail? How rendered, by dialogue or
by description?
5. Are there any different rates of
movement in the narrative? Where and why?
6. For a novel, from what point of view is it written? In the point of
view consistent? Could it have been changed for the better?
7. Copy some of the striking passages
that you consider full of meaning or particularly remarkable for their
freshness of statement.
VI. Historical background
1. When was the story written? What relation and/or significance does
this date have to preceding, contemporary, and /or succeeding events—literary
publications and important political, economic, or social occurrences?
2. What place does the story hold in
the author’s total work?
3. Are any circumstances of special
interest associated with the composition of the story? Do these
circumstances in any way aid in the better understanding of the story itself?
VII. Classification of
the Story
1. On what levels can the story profitably be read? (Plot, characters,
emotional effect, theme.) Is this a story of character with the primary
interest in events? Of setting, primary interest in environment? Of
idea, primary interest in thesis or ethical significance?
2. In what general literary tradition was the story written? Realistic,
attempting to see life photographically with emphasis on the difficulties,
absurdities, animosities and ironies? Romantic, attempting to see life
idealistically with emphasis on the might-be or ought-to-be and avoiding the
unpleasant? Naturalistic, fantastic?
The First American Literature: Native Americans
ENLIGHTENMENT (1607-1800) (2 phases:
Pilgrims/religion & Patriots/politics)
The Age of Faith (1607-1750)
I. Historical Context
A. Puritans and
Pilgrims
1. separated from the Anglican church of England
2. religion dominated their lives and writings
B. Work ethic - belief in hard work and simple, no-frills living
II. Genre/Style
A. sermons, diaries, personal narratives, slave narratives
B. instructive
C. plain style
III. Major writers
A. Anne Bradstreet
(1612-1672)
1. first published American poet
B. Edward Taylor
(1645-1729)
1. Minister; considered the finest Puritan poet
C. Jonathan Edwards
(1703-1758)
1. Minister
2. View of God as punitive and distant; view of man as basically evil
D. John Smith
(1580-1631)
1. General History of Virginia
2. Pocahontas legend
3. Adventurer; writer; difficult to get along with
The Age of Reason (1750-1800)
I. Historical context
A. American Revolution; growth of patriotism
B. Development of American character/democracy
C. Use of reason as opposed to faith alone
II. Genre/Style
A. political pamphlets, essays, travel writing, speeches, documents
B. instructive in values; highly ornate writing style
III. Major writers
A. Abigail Adams
(wife of John Adams)
1. In letters, Abigail Adams campaigned for women’s rights
2. Provided a glimpse of the Revolutionary period
B. Ben Franklin
1. Autobiography & Poor Richard’s Almanack
2. Symbol of success gained by hard work and common sense
C. Thomas Jefferson
1. Declaration of Independence
2. Considered the finest writer of the era
D. Thomas Paine
1. Pamphleteer
2. "The American Crisis" helped propel us into war
3. Remains a model of effective propaganda
ROMANTICISM (1800-1855)
I. Historical context
A. Expansion of book publishing, magazines, newspapers
B. Industrial Revolution
C. Abolitionist movement, emphasis on independence and individual rights
II. Genre/Style
A. Short stories, novels, poetry,
B. Imagination over reason; intuition over fact
C. Focused on the fantastic of human experience
D. Writing that can be interpreted 2 ways: surface and in depth
E. Focus on inner feelings
F. Gothic literature (sub-genre of Romanticism)
1. Use of the supernatural
2. Characters with both evil and good characteristics
3. Dark landscapes; depressed characters
III. Major writers
A. Washington Irving
(1789-1851)
1. first famous American writer; called "father of American Lit"
2. wrote short stories, travel books, satires
3. Legend of Sleepy Hollow: terrified generations of children
B. Nathaniel
Hawthorne (1804-1864)
1. wrote about sin and guilt
2. consequences of pride, selfishness, etc.
C. Edgar Allen
Poe (1809-1849)
1. lousy childhood; substance abuse problems; reviled in his day
2. created the modern short story and detective story
3. Attacked 2 long-standing conventions: a poem must be long and must teach a lesson
D. Herman Melville
(1819-1891)
1. ranked as one of America’s top novelists, but recognized by few in his own time
2. Moby Dick considered
America’s greatest prose epic
The Transcendentalists (1840-1855): stressed individualism, intuition,
nature, self-reliance
1. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): his writings helped establish the philosophy of individualism, an idea deeply embedded in American culture
2. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): resisted materialism; chose simplicity, individualism
New Poetic Forms
1. Walt Whitman (1819-1892): rejected conventional themes, forms, subjects (used long lines to capture the rhythm of natural speech, free verse, everyday vocabulary)
2. Emily Dickinson (1830-1886): her poetry broke with convention: didn’t look right; didn’t rhyme; too bold; too radical (concrete imagery, forceful language, unique style)
wrote 1775 poems, published only 7 in her life
LIT 209 Day One Exercise NAME_______________________________________ Score _______ /20
Match the author with his or her work:
|
____1. Jonathan Edwards |
A. The Declaration of |
|
____2. Louisa May Alcott |
B. Moby Dick |
|
____3. Henry David Thoreau |
C. “The Author to Her Book” |
|
____4. Benjamin Franklin |
D. “Self-Reliance” |
|
____5. Francis Scott Key |
E. “The Pit and the Pendulum” |
|
____6. Abraham Lincoln |
F. Uncle Tom’s Cabin |
|
____7. Cotton Mather |
G. “The Star-Spangled Banner” |
|
____8. Thomas Paine |
H. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” |
|
____9. Anne Bradstreet |
I. The Deerslayer |
|
____10. Herman Melville |
J. Walden |
|
____11. Henry |
K. “The |
|
____12. James Fenimore Cooper |
L. “Wonders of the Invisible World” |
|
____13. Thomas Jefferson |
M. Little Women |
|
____14. Harriet Beecher Stowe |
N. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
|
____15. |
O. Poor Richard’s Almanack |
|
____16. Alexander Hamilton |
P. The Scarlet Letter |
|
____17. Ralph Waldo Emerson |
Q. “Common Sense” |
|
____18. Samuel Clemens |
R. “The Federalist Papers” |
|
____19. Edgar Allen Poe |
S. “Rip Van Winkle” |
|
____20. Nathaniel Hawthorne |
T. “The Song of Hiawatha” |