AJ15000 American Literature: Beginnings to 1865

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2018
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
doc. Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jana Chamonikolasová, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 16:00–17:40 B2.23
Prerequisites (in Czech)
( AJ09999 Qualifying Examination || AJ01002 Practical English II ) && AJ04003 Intro. to Literary Studies II
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 75 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/75, only registered: 0/75, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/75
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
A survey of American literature from the colonial period through the Civil War. The course prepares students to identify key authors, developments and movements in early American literature and culture and to explain their significance and interrelationships. It also lays the basis for further study of American literature and culture, both in the subsequent courses in the American literature sequence and in other courses and thesis work.
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to identify key authors, developments and movements in early American literature and culture and to explain their significance and interrelationships. They will be better able to analyze particular literary works in their cultural context, and will be prepared for further study of American literature and culture, both in the subsequent courses of the American literature sequence and in other courses and thesis work.
Syllabus
  • Assigned readings have in most cases been excerpted and arranged specifically for the course, and therefore should be accessed at the web address for course materials: tiny.cc/Americanliteratureto1865 (direct link is below, under "Teacher's information").
  • This list is subject to change; assignments are NOT FINAL until 1 week before the date for which they're listed.
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 1
  • 25 September: BACKGROUND AND CONCEPTS FOR STUDYING EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 2
  • 2 October: ENVISIONING THE “NEW-FOUND-LAND”
  • Read:
  • William Cullen Bryant, The Prairies
  • Michael Drayton, Ode to the Virginian Voyage
  • John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity, excerpts posted
  • Anne Bradstreet, Prologue and Verses upon the Burning of our House
  • Selections from Puritan writings, excerpts posted
  • Paul Boyer, American History: A Very Short Introduction, Preface and Chapters 1-4
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 3
  • 9 October: THE AMERICAN FOUNDING
  • Read:
  • Crevecouer, Letters from an American Farmer, excerpts posted
  • Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Benjamin Vaughan; Plan for Attaining Moral Perfection; Poor Richard's Almanac, excerpts posted
  • Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, #19
  • Thomas Paine, Common Sense, excerpts posted
  • The Declaration of Independence
  • George Washington, Circular Letter to the States
  • Tench Coxe, A View of the United States, excerpts posted
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 4
  • 16 October: NEOCLASSICISM AND CHANGING STYLES
  • Read:
  • Freneau and Brackenridge, The Rising Glory of America
  • Bolingbroke, Ideal of the the Patriot King, excerpts posted
  • Selected writings on the US presidency, excerpts posted
  • Parson Weems, Life of Washington, excerpts posted
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 5
  • 23 October: INVERSIONS AND SATIRES
  • Read:
  • Royall Tyler, The Contrast, posted summary and Act I scene 2; Act II scene 2; Act III scenes 1-2
  • Washington Irving, Knickerbocker's History of New York, excerpts posted, and Rip Van Winkle
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 6
  • 30 October: RACE AND SLAVERY
  • Read:
  • Selected writings on race, as posted
  • Introductions to and selected poems of Phillis Wheatley, as posted
  • Selected “slave song” lyrics and commentary, as posted
  • Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life, excerpts posted
  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Haiawatha, excerpts posted
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 7
  • 6 November: THE HAUNTED PAST
  • Read:
  • The Book of Mormon, excerpts posted
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown
  • Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven and The Fall of the House of Usher
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 8
  • READING WEEK: NO CLASS MEETING ON 13 NOVEMBER
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 9
  • 20 November: TRANSCENDENTALISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE
  • Read:
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, excerpts posted
  • Theodore Parker, Of Justice and the Conscience, excerpts posted
  • Henry David Thoreau, Walden, excerpts posted
  • Louisa May Alcott, Transcendental Wild Oats
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 10
  • 27 November: REVISIONISM AND PROTEST
  • Read:
  • William Apess, Lectures and Addresses, excerpts posted
  • James Whitfield, America
  • Frederick Douglass, Fourth of July Address
  • Selections from feminist and abolitionist writings, excerpts posted
  • Harriett Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, exerpts + related writings posted
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 11
  • 4 December: The 1850s
  • Read:
  • Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, excerpts posted
  • Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, excerpts posted
  • Emily Dickinson, posted poems
  • ---------------------------------------------------------------
  • WEEK 12
  • 11 December: to be announced
Literature
    required literature
  • GRAY, Richard J. A brief history of American literature. 1st pub. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, x, 410. ISBN 9781405192309. info
  • ELLIOTT, Emory. The Cambridge introduction to early American literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, viii, 198. ISBN 0-521-52041-X. info
    recommended literature
  • A handbook of American literature : for students of English. Edited by Zbigniew Lewicki. Warsaw: U.S. Embassy, vi, 256. info
  • Democracy, revolution, and monarchism in early American literature. Edited by Paul Downes. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002, xii, 239 p. ISBN 0521813395. info
Teaching methods
Readings and lectures / discussions.
Assessment methods
100% final exam, date to be arranged. The "re-sit" will be an essay assignment.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information about innovation of course.
This course has been innovated under the project "Faculty of Arts as Centre of Excellence in Education: Complex Innovation of Study Programmes and Fields at FF MU with Regard to the Requirements of the Knowledge Economy“ – Reg. No. CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0228, which is cofinanced by the European Social Fond and the national budget of the Czech Republic.

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Teacher's information
http://tiny.cc/Americanliteratureto1865
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 1999, Autumn 2000, Autumn 2001, Autumn 2002, Autumn 2003, Autumn 2004, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2018, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2018/AJ15000