Professor Karen Weyler
English 251-04: Major American Authors, Colonial through Romantic Eras

Spring 2005 MWF 12:00– 12:50 p.m. McIver Building 228

Office: McIver 109
Office hours: MW 11:00 – 12:00; F 11:30 – 12:00. Additional hours by appointment.
Telephone: 334-4689 Email: KAWeyler@uncg.edu

Required Text
Heath Anthology of American Literature, 4th ed., Vol. 1

Course Description
Our objective in English 251 is to introduce you to representative writings from the geographical area that would become known as the United States; we'll read literary texts drawn from the time of European exploration through 1865. In reading these texts, we will acquaint ourselves with the difficulties and consequences of European exploration, both intended and unintended, for the native and European populations. The period of English settlement was beset with difficulties, and the dominant status of English language, culture, and laws emerged slowly over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; this English culture was always a creolized culture, however, inflected by the diverse cultures that populated the New World. Even after the Revolution, the status of the United States remained contingent, fraught by divisive questions about religion, race, slavery, and citizenship. The literature of the Americas explores these issues in a rich and varied fashion, in both prose and poetry.

This is a discussion-oriented class: Students have a responsibility both to speak and to listen to their instructor and their classmates. Students will be expected to participate on a daily basis by engaging in small group and whole class discussions, being attentive to discussions, asking questions, and reading aloud passages from our text.

Student Learning Goals
In this course, students will consider important questions about the development of American literature. By the end of the semester, students will understand the historical and cultural contexts in which pre-1865 American literature has been produced by diverse groups of people. Students will also be able to speak and write knowledgably about the different genres used by early writers (such as sermons, captivity narratives, histories, and conversion narratives) as well as more familiar genres such as poetry and fiction. Finally, students will be able to explain how aesthetic values changed from the period of settlement to the nineteenth century.

Course Requirements and Evaluation
You must complete and turn in all assignments on the dates that they are due in order to pass this course. The final grade for this course will be based on the following:
First examination 15%
Second examination 15%
Third examination 20%
Essay 20%
Class discussion 10%
Quizzes and in-class writing 10%
Blackboard posts 10%

Office Hours and Conferences
You are welcome to visit my office at any point during the semester or to schedule an appointment outside of my usual office hours in order to discuss reading assignments, papers, etc.

UNCG Writing Center
You may choose to visit the University Writing Center (located in 101 McIver Building) for additional assistance with your writing. For more information, call 334-3125.

Departmental List-serv
In order to enhance communication to our majors, the English Department has established a listserv that we hope you will join. From the computer account through which you receive email, send the following message to listproc@uncg.edu: Subscribe English-l yourfirstname yourlastname (note that is a lower case L, not the numeral 1, following English).

Academic Integrity Policy
I expect every student to abide by the principles of the Academic Integrity Policy, which appears in the Student Handbook. Students will need to sign the Academic Integrity Pledge on all major work. In addition, you must always properly document any use of another's words, ideas, or research; unacknowledged use of someone else's thoughts is plagiarism. Please use MLA style documentation to document any sources used in written work. Work that is not properly documented will receive a zero; further penalties may be assessed according to the criteria established under the Academic Integrity Policy. If you have questions concerning documentation, please consult me.

Attendance Policy
As a matter of both courtesy and practicality, I expect students to attend class and arrive on time. Students will be allowed to make up missed work from excused absences only; arrangements must be made in advance of the absence. Grounds for excused absence include such events as illness or death in the family. If you are ill, you should certainly stay home; however, it is your obligation to contact me and to determine what you have missed. More than two unexcused absences will lower your final grade; each unexcused absence after two will lower your final grade by one-half of a letter grade. If you miss two or more consecutive classes without contacting me, you will be dropped from this course. Ten or more absences, regardless of excuse, will result in a failing grade.

What Can You Expect from Your Professor?
You can expect that I will treat you as an adult, encourage your participation in this class, listen carefully to what you have to say, and challenge your thinking. You can also expect me to evaluate your work fairly, offer constructive criticism and praise of your oral and written work, and evaluate your work in a timely fashion.

Course Calendar
Please complete each day's readings before coming to class. In case of inclement weather, you should be guided by the UNCG adverse weather policy. If classes are cancelled for any reason, please continue with the scheduled readings; I will notify you via email of any schedule adjustments.

M Jan. 10 Course Introduction
W Jan. 12 Exploration and Settlement of the New World: "Colonial Period to 1700," 1-17; Handsome Lake 780-81; Whitman, "Prayer of Columbus" 2949-51
F Jan. 14 "New Spain" 105-07; Columbus, 107-08; Journal 108-16

M Jan. 17 No class meeting: Martin Luther King Holiday
W Jan. 19 English settlement: "Chesapeake" 222-24; "New England" 276-80
F Jan. 21 Smith, 242-44; Description 251-53

M Jan. 24 Bradford, 311-21; from Of Plymouth Plantation 313-34
W Jan. 26 Winthrop, 294-96; from A Model of Christian Charity 296-304
F Jan. 28 Williams, 335-36; skim Key 337-53; read "To the Town of Providence" 353-54

M Jan. 31 Bradstreet, 282-83; "The Prologue" 384-85; "The Author to Her Book" 390; "The Flesh and the Spirit" 391-93; "Before the Birth of One of her Children" 394; "To My Dear and Loving Husband" 394-95; "Upon the Burning of Our House" 397-98
W Feb. 2 Rowlandson, 425-27; Narrative 428-38
F Feb. 4 Rowlandson, Narrative 438-56

M Feb. 7 Mather, 495-97; from Wonders 497-502
W Feb. 9 First examination
F Feb. 11 The Great Awakening: "Eighteenth Century," 553-71; Edwards, 620-22; "Personal Narrative" 631-41; Sinners 641-52

M Feb. 14 The American Revolution: "The Age of Revolution," 777-79; Franklin, 782-84; Autobiography 805-67
W Feb. 16 Paine, 934-36; The Crisis 942-47
F Feb. 18 Jefferson, Autobiography 970-74; Abigail and John Adams, correspondence 957-61; John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, correspondence 965-68

M Feb. 21 Jefferson, 968-70; Notes 975-93
W Feb. 23 Freneau, 1175-76; "To Sir Toby" 1181-83; Wheatley, 1203-05; "On Being Brought" 1212; "On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield 1770" 1210-11; "To the Right Honorable" 1208-09; letter to Occom 1220-21
F Feb. 25 Crevecoeur, 898-99; Letters, 899-918

M Feb. 28 Native American Voices: Apess, 1397-98; An Indian's Looking Glass 1398-1403
W Mar. 2 Early Romanticism: Irving 2071-72; "Rip Van Winkle" 2081-92; "Legend" 2093-2112
F Mar. 4 The Culture of Reform: Emerson, 1512-15; "Self-Reliance" 1555-72

March 7 – 11: No class meetings: Spring Break

M Mar. 14 Fuller, 1626-28; from Woman in the Nineteenth Century 1631-53
W Mar. 16 Thoreau, 1669-72; "Resistance to Civil Government" 1672-86
F Mar. 18 "Race, Slavery, and the Invention of the 'South,'" 1774-75; David Walker, 1775-76; Appeal 1777-86; Douglass, 1814-16; Narrative 1817-43

M Mar. 21 Douglass, Narrative 1843-80
W Mar. 23 Stowe, 2475-78; from Uncle Tom's Cabin 2478-2490
F Mar. 25 No class meeting: Spring Holiday

M Mar. 28 Stowe, from Uncle Tom's Cabin 2490-2517
W Mar. 30 Second Examination
F Apr. 1 No class meeting

M Apr. 4 Romantic Poetry: Three Romantic poets respond to science: Poe, "Sonnet—To Science" 2457; Dickinson #185 "Faith is a Fine Invention" (handout); "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" 2934
W Apr. 6 Bryant, 2811-13; "Thanatopsis" 2813-15; "The Yellow Violet" 2815-26; Longfellow, 2822-23; "Chaucer" 2828; "The Warning" 2825; Osgood, 2829-31; "Little Children" 2840-41
F Apr. 8 Whitman, 2846-49; "Preface" 2849-63; "One's-Self I Sing" 2922

M Apr. 11 Whitman, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" 2941-48
W Apr. 13 Dickinson 2969-74; letters 3015-19; N.B.: Dickinson did not title her poems; I'm giving you first lines for ease of identification. "Success is counted sweetest" 2975-76; "These are the days when Birds come back" 2976; "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" 2979; "The Soul selects her own Society" 2981; "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church" 2984; "A Bird came down the Walk" 2984-85; "Much Madness is divinest Sense" 2987; "This is my letter to the World" 2987; "This was a Poet—It is That" 2988-89; "To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee" 3008
F Apr. 15 Dickinson, "After great pain, a formal feeling comes" 2985; "I heard a Fly Buzz—when I died—" 2989; "The Brain—is wider than the Sky—" 2994; "One need not be a Chamber—to be Haunted—" 2997; "Because I could not stop for Death—" 2998-99; "The Bustle in a House" 3003; "Volcanoes be in Sicily" 3007

M Apr. 18 Draft Workshop
W Apr. 20 Fiction of the American Renaissance: Poe, 2387-89; "The Tell-Tale Heart" 2420-23; "The Black Cat" 2423-29
F Apr. 22 Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher" 2400-13; Essay due in class

M Apr. 25 Hawthorne 2170-73; "Young Goodman Brown" 2186-95; "The Minister's Black Veil" 2195-2203
W Apr. 27 Hawthorne, "Rappaccini's Daughter" 2215-2234
F Apr. 29 Melville, 2550-54; "Benito Cereno" 2598-2655

M May 2 Melville, "Benito Cereno" discussion continued; wrap-up; course evaluations
T May 3 Third Examination (in class portion)
[Take-home portion of the Third Examination due by 9:00 a.m. on Friday, May 6]