17³Ô¹Ï

Student Learning Outcomes -

• A successful student will be able to read literary texts of various genres and literary movements and subsequently actively and critically assess those works within 16th to 19th century contexts for denotative and connotative meaning, structure and development, and connections between literal and figurative detail.
• Students can select an appropriate literary-critical vocabulary and concept (from a variety of possible approaches) and apply the vocabulary/concept to the interpretation of an assigned piece of historical fiction.

Description -

The first in a two-course sequence that surveys the history of American literature from its beginnings to the present. Introduces students to works of American literature from its beginnings through the Civil War, focusing on the evolution of literary traditions, genres, cultural voices, and ecological landscapes within historical, philosophical, social, political, and aesthetic contexts. Special emphasis on the contributions of diverse cultures in forging a distinctively American literature, landscape, and identity. Specific to this honors course: A higher level of sophisticated scholarship through extensive research and literature review, critical essays, and opportunities for scholarly presentation, student-generated discussions, and self-directed projects. Rigorous application and analysis of theoretical paradigms as applied across these contexts in analysis of canonical literary texts.

Course Objectives -

1. demonstrate knowledge of major writers, key texts, documents, and debates of American literature from 1492-1865 by analyzing the development of a distinctive national political and aesthetic culture as reflected in the major writers and texts of this period.
2. identify major literary genres, and trace the emergence and development of literary forms during this period.
3. apply relevant critical and theoretical frameworks to evaluate the literature within historical, multicultural, and philosophical contexts.
4. orally demonstrate and demonstrate in college-level writing extended, sophisticated analytical understanding of the literary texts via a range of theoretical paradigms.
5. demonstrate appropriate formatting and documentation.

Special Facilities and/or Equipment -

1. When taught on campus, no special facility or equipment needed.
2. When taught via 17³Ô¹Ï Global Access, ongoing access to computer with email and basic software capabilities.

 

Course Content (Body of knowledge) -

1. Major writers and canonical texts
1. Pre-contact Native American literatures
2. Early colonial narratives from explorers, such as Columbus, Cabeza De Vaca, Captain John Smith
3. Puritan texts (e.g., William Bradford, George Winthrop, Anne Bradstreet)
4. Revolutionary War era literature by writers, such as Tom Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Phyllis Wheatley
5. African American literature by authors, such as Olaudah Equiano, Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Harriett Jacobs
6. Transcendentalism (writers, such as Emerson, Thoreau, Fuller)
7. Gothic literature (writers, such as Hawthorne, Poe)
8. American Folk literature (e.g., Irving, Boone)
2. Literary genres and forms
1. Native American oral literatures, such as myths, songs, and legends
2. Puritan forms (e.g., religious histories, diaries, letters, poems, spiritual meditations)
3. Revolutionary War political documents
4. Slave narratives and speeches
5. Autobiography
6. Nature writing
7. Frontier fiction, tall tales
8. Poetic forms
9. Short fiction
10. Essays
3. Relevant critical and theoretical frameworks
1. Historical perspectives, including dominant ethical, philosophical, political, religious, social, and aesthetic perspectives in the literature of this period
1. Identify the role of literary representations in creating (and subverting) significant American political ideologies, including slavery and abolition, Manifest Destiny, the concept of inalienable rights
2. Gender studies
3. Queer theories; sexuality studies
4. Psychological theories (Freudian or Jungian)
5. Marxian or other socioeconomic frameworks
6. Theories of race and ethnicity
7. Postcolonial and neocolonial studies
4. Oral and written analytical understanding of the literary texts
1. Class discussion regarding analytical reading of literary texts
2. Composition of literary analysis essays on literary texts
3. Research to supplement understanding of the literary texts
5. Formatting and documentation
1. Modern Language Association (MLA)
2. American Psychological Association (APA)

Methods of Evaluation -

1. Examinations as determined by instructor
2. Composition of at least two formal literary analysis essays of at least 1500 words each; these essays must be theory-based and research-based in nature
3. Informal assignments as determined by instructor
4. Class discussion
5. Formal presentations (at instructor's discretion)

Representative Text(s) -

Disciplines -

Method of Instruction -

1. Lecture presentations on the history and interpretation of the assigned texts
2. In-class discussion of the assigned texts, including instructor-guided interpretation and analysis
3. Group presentations on inquiry projects focusing on key tools and skill sets in literary interpretation

Lab Content -

Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing and Outside of Class Assignments -

1. Reading from representative literary texts as assigned by instructor
2. Quizzes on reading comprehension of assigned literary texts
3. Analytical and reader response journal assignments on readings
4. Composition of extended, theory-based, research-based literary analysis