american lit i syllabus

8/9/2019 American Lit I Syllabus

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American Literature I 1

Course Identication

EN 250 & EN 250-L

American Literature I

3 or 4 credit hours

8-8:50 MWF

Mohler 235

Instructor

Bruce Clary

Mohler 201242.0530 (Ext. 2530)

[email protected]

Ofce Hrs.: TBA

If you would like to meet with

me outside my limited ofce

hours, you can see what

times I have available and re-

quest an appointment online

at tungle.me/claryb.

Requirements Met

English major or minor

Language Intensive (if

enrolled for 4 hours)

7-12 teaching certication

in English.

Course LMS

mcph.acck.edu/ics

Required Texts

Paul Lauter et al., eds.

The Heath Anthology of

American Literature. Vols.

A and B. 6th ed. Houghton

Mifin: 2010.

Hannah Webster Foster. The

Coquette. 1797. Ed. Cathy

Davidson. Oxford UP,

1986.

LiteratureIAmerican

A Syllabus for EN 250 & EN250-L

McPherson College--Fall 2012

Course DesCription

The principal goal of this course is to advance and diversify stu-

dents knowledge of American literature, 1500-1865, its social

and cultural contexts, and its historical development. Classtime

will also be devoted to techniques of critical reading, apprecia-

tion of aesthetic achievements, and learning literary and critical

terminology.

Course outComesanD inDiCators

In commonplace entries, class discussions, quizzes and exams,

and essays, students will

1. Demonstrate knowledge of American history and Ameri-

can social structures in the period 1500-1865by describing

changes in social conditions, institutions, and basic concep-

tions of the individual.

2. Analyze the tensions inherent within American society

created by its emphasis on individualism (as revealed in

the literature)by (a) describing conicts between personal

freedom and social responsibility embodied in individual lit-erary works, the works of an individual author, and particular

historical moments or literary traditions; (b) drawing paral-

lels between situations experienced by authors or characters

in the literature with contemporary American situations; and

(c) identifying and discussing writers and/or characters whose

position(s) on self and society most nearly express/contradict

their personal view.

3. Demonstrate knowledge of the historical development of

American literature, 1500-1865, of the roles played in that

development by some of the major authors, and of worksrepresenting landmarks in the history of American litera-

tureby (a) referring knowledgeably to the historical develop-

ment of American literature as a context for understanding

individual writers and works; (b) making informed arguments

for the place of authors and their works in the development

of American literature; and (c) accurately dating, identifying,


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2 EN250 & EN250-L

describing, and/or dening i) authors and their works, and ii)

important developments in the history of American literature.

4. Demonstrate that they read carefully and criticallyby

(a) comprehending and recalling important textual and con-

textual details; (b) summarizing, paraphrasing, questioning,

interpreting and evaluating assigned readings; (c) explicating

passages and explaining their connection to larger artistic/

thematic concerns; and (d) correctly using critical and literaryterms to discuss and describe the assigned works.

5.Demonstrate that they write effectively and purposefully

by (a) responding to the readings, effectively summarizing,

paraphrasing, interpreting, and questioning the texts, and

(b) producing focused essays that clearly, economically, and

adequately develop a thesis that displays active, informed

engagement with one or more reading assignments.

Course struCture & requireD Work

The course is divided into three units: I. Pre-Eighteenth Century,

II. Eighteenth Century, and III. 1800-1865. The rst two units

conclude with a short essay and a unit seminar. The third unit

concludes with a formal researched essay, a seminar, and a nal

exam.

Commonplace book. You will maintain a literary commonplace

throughout the semester. Commonplacing holds a storied and

honorable place in the history of American letters. During the

time covered in this course (1500-1865), many literate Ameri-

cans kept commonplaces as records of their reading and of their

intellectual life. By adopting the practice of commonplacing,you are engaging with the assigned works in much the same way

that the works contemporary readers might have done.

Each day, you will select and copy no fewer than two quotations

from the assigned reading into your commonplace, adding some

reective comments about each passage. The passages appearing

there, and your accompanying comments, will become the basis

of much of our class discussion on the work(s) in question.

Detailed instructions for the commonplace assignment are on

the course LMS: mcph.acck.edu/ics.

Short essays. At the end of the rst two units of study, you will

write short essays of 750 words on a relevant topic of your

choice. For more detail about these short essays, see the course

LMS.

Researched essay. You will select an author, work, or topic

from the third unit of the course (1800-1865) as a subject for a

researched essay of 1,500-2,000 words. (Those enrolled for the

Christopher Columbus

Holy Scripture testies that Our

Lord made the earthly paradise

in which he placed the Tree of

Life. I believe that the earthly

Paradise lies here, which no

one can enter except by Godsleave. I believe that this land

which your Highnesses have

commanded me to discover

is very great. I do believe,

however, that, distant though it

is, these waters may ow from

there to this place which I have

reached.

Then with the true God, the true

Dios,

came the beginning of our

misery.

Mayan poem.


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fourth hour of LI credit will write a 3,500-4,000 word essay and

give a 10-minute formal presentation on a day when the essays

subject is relevant is to the days topic on the course schedule.

[See the LI addendum.]) More information on the researched es-

say will be available before midterm.

Quizzes and exams. Some kinds of learning are easier to assess

with objective tools. We will have occasional quizzes to assess

your achievement of course objectives 1 and 3, in particular.Some quizzes may be announced, some unannounced. Some

may be administered online. A comprehensive nal exam con-

cludes the course.

stuDent evaluation

Commonplace book(30 percent of nal grade). You will sub-

mit your daily commonplace entries during class meetings. I will

evaluate each daily commonplace as follows:

4 Demonstrates especially provocative and thoughtful engage-ments with the assigned readings.

3 Demonstrates adequate, thoughtful engagements with the

assigned readings.

2 Suggests adequate, thoughtful engagements with the as-

signed readings.

1 Demonstrates less than adequate acquaintance and/or

thoughtful engagementwith the assigned readings.

The standard by which your nal commonplace grade will be

determined is 3.5 points per entry. In other words, it is my ex-

pectation that all your entries should meet the 3-point standard

but that only about half will attain the 4-point standard.

Late commonplace entries will be accepted for half credit at the

class session immediately following the missed deadline only.

Commonplace entries not submitted due to absence cannot be

made up. However, at the end of the semester when I calculate

nal grades, I will drop the three lowest commonplace scores

from the gradebook.

Again, detailed instructions for this assignment are on the

course LMS: mcph.acck.edu/ics.

Researched Essay(30 percent).The rubric for evaluating the

researched essay will be distributed around midterm along with

the assignment guidelines.

Short essays (25 percent). See the rubric in the syllabus adden-

dum. You will be able to revise and resubmit your short papers

for better grades.

Freedom is perhaps the

most resonant, deeply held

American value. In some

ways, it denes the good in

both personal and political

life. Yet freedom turns out to

mean being left alone by oth-ers, not having other peoples

values, ideas, or styles of life

forced upon one, being free

of arbitrary authority in work,

family, and political life. What

it is that one might do with

that freedom is much more

difcult for Americans to

dene. And if the entire social

world is made up of individu-

als, each endowed with theright to be free of others

demands, it becomes hard

to forge bonds of attachment

to, or cooperation with, other

people, since such bonds

would imply obligations that

necessarily impinge on ones

freedom.

Robert Bellah

Capt. John Smith

If a man worke but three dayes

in seaven [in New England],

he may get more than hee can

spend, unlesse he will be exces-

sive.


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4 EN250 & EN250-L

Quizzes and exams (15 percent of nal grade). All quiz

points will be totaled; in other words, a 10-point quiz gures

twice as heavily in your grade as a ve-point quiz. The nal

exam will have signicantly more points than any quiz, but it

carries no more weight in the calculation of your grade.

poliCies

Disability Services. If you have any condition or situation

that you feel prevents you from doing your best work in this

course, it is your responsibility to bring that condition or situ-

ation to my attention or the attention of the college adminis-

tration. Effort will be made to assist you in your learning. It

is important that I and/or the college be informed early in the

term so that appropriate arrangements can be made.

About late essays. You must submit your intial paper on

schedule to avoid penalty. A paper submitted after the dead-

line cannot receive a grade higher than a C.

Policy governing revision of papers. You may revise andresubmit your papers in order to improve your grade as long

as you adhere to the following requirements:

(1) Within one week of my returning the previous version,

you submit the revision along with all preceding drafts and

versions (including any rubric or comments that I returned

with them) in a manila le folder with your name on the tab.

(2) The revision is substantive. I will not use my time to

respond to a revision that includes only minor corrections or

changes.

(3) You include a 200-250 word cover memo explaining yourrevision process and the changes you made to improve the

paper.

Attendance. I do not distinguish excused from unexcused

absencesmaking such a distinction puts me in a role I do

not care to play. If you know ahead of time that you will be

absent from class, you can submit work ahead of time for full

credit. I do not accept for credit any work that is late due to

absence. (Remember, however, that in the case of common-

place entries, your three lowest scores will be dropped from

the gradebook at the end of the semester.)speCial injunCtion

You are responsible for seeing that this syllabus does not in-

terfere with your education. You can always do more work or

different work (within reason) than the syllabus requires. Con-

sult with me if you wish to explore the possibilities for better

adapting this course to your needs.

John Winthrop

God Almightie in his most holy

and wise providence hath soe

disposed of the Condicion of

mankind, as in all times somemust be rich some poore, some

highe and eminent in power and

dignitie; others meane and in

subjeccion.

Benjamin Franklin

What maintains one Vice,

would bring up two Children.


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Schedule of Initial Readings & Assignments

W Aug 22 Introduction to course

Unit I: Pre-18th Century

F Aug 24 Beginnings to 1700 (1-11)

Native American Narrative (19-22)

Lakota, Wohpe and the Gift of the Pipe (52-54)

Seneca, The Origin of Stories (55-57)Ojibway, Mans Dependence on Animals

(62-65)

Tlinglit, Raven and Marriage (68-72)

M Aug. 27 Ritual Poetry, Song, and Ceremony (80-82)

Selected Native American Oral Poetry (104-23)

W Aug 29 America in the World/The World in America

(124-30)

New Spain (131-37)

Christopher Columbus (137-49)

Yuchi, Creation of the Whites (73)

Lenape, The Arrival of the Whites (74-77)

Handsome Lake, How America Was

Discovered (825-27)

F Aug 31 Caveza de Vaca,Relation (157-70)

M Sept 3 NO CLASS: Labor Day

W Sept 5 Chesapeake, (253-55)

Wingeld, Discourse of Virginia (265-73)

John Smith (273-87)

Frethorne, Letters (288-91)

F Sept 7 Beginnings to 1700 (11-15)

New England (314-18)Winthrop, Christian Charity

& Journal (332-48)

M Sept 10 Preface to the Bay Psalm Book (447-51)

Tillam, Uppon rst sight (569-70)

Bradstreet, poems (418-21, 426-37)

W Sept 12 Taylor, poems (492-520)

F Sept 14 1st Short Essay Due

Unit I Seminar

Unit II: Eighteenth Century

M Sept 17 Eighteenth Century (589-605)Voices of Revolution and Nationalism (835-37)

W Sept 19 NO CLASS: Assessment/Faculty Development

F Sept 21 Crvecouer,Letters from an American Farmer

(954-89)

M Sept 24 Franklin, The Way to Wealth (837-46)

Autobiography (909-19)

W Sept 26 Jefferson,Notes on the State of Virginia

Frederick Douglass

Americans! your republican

politics, not less that your re-

publican religion, are agrantly

inconsistent. You boast of

your love of liberty, your supe-

rior civilization, and your pure

Christianity, while the wholepolitical power of the nation is

solemnly pledged to support

and perpetuate the enslavement

of three millions of our country-

men. You hurl your anathemas

at the crowned headed tyrants

of Russia and Austria, and pride

yourselves on your Democratic

institutions, while you your-

selves consent to be the mere

tools and bodyguards of the

tyrants of Virginia and Carolina.


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6 EN250 & EN250-L

(1022-42)

F Sept 28 Jefferson, Letters to Madison (1042-46)

Federalist and Anti-Federalist Contentions

(1059-73)

Jefferson, correspondence with John Adams

(1018-22)

M Oct 1 Tyler, The Contrast, Acts I-II (1350-71)

W Oct 3 Tyler, The Contrast, Acts III-V (1371-93)

F Oct 5 Ashbridge, Some Account (701-13)

M Oct 8 Foster, The Coquette (3-54)

W Oct 10 Foster, The Coquette (55-108)

F Oct 12 NO CLASS: Fall Break

M Oct 15 Foster, The Coquette (108-69)

W Oct 17 Eighteenth-Century Anglo-American Poetry

(743-46)

Murray, On the Equality of the Sexes (1245-47,

1253-59)

Turell, poems (788-90)Fletcher, poems (handout)

Stockton, poems (795-99)

Anonymous poems by women (821-23)

Wheatley, poems (1297-1314)

F Oct 19 2nd Short Paper Due

Unit II Seminar

Unit III: 1800-1865

M Oct 22 Early Nineteenth Century 1800-1865

(1443-1473)Intro to researched essay

W Oct 24 Race, Slavery, and the Invention of the South

(1981-82)

Walker, Appeal (1982-93)

Garrison, editorial (1994-97)

Grimk, Appeal (2018-27)

Fitzhugh, Southern Thought(2142-52)

F Oct 26 Douglass, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of

July? (2035-37, 2102-20)

Stowe, Uncle Toms Cabin (2573-2614)

M Oct 29 The Development of Narrative (2272-75)

Irving, Rip Van Winkle (2299-300, 2309-321)

W Oct. 31 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2321-40)

F Nov 2 Hawthorne, Ministers Black Veil(2398-401,

2431-39) & The Birthmark (2439-50)

M Nov 5 Hawthorne, Rappaccinis Daughter (2451-70)

Harriett Beecher Stowe

When President Lincoln met

her, he allegedly said, So this

is the little lady who wrote the

book that made this war.

Walt Whitman

He called his poetry

barbaric yawp.


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W Nov 7 Poe, Ligeia & The Fall of the House of

Usher (2484-2510)

F Nov 9 Poe, The Philosophy of Composition and

poems (2546-71)

M Nov 12 Emerson, Self-Reliance (1704-06, 1746-62)

W Nov 14 Thoreau, Resistance to Civil Government

(1859-76)

F Nov 16 Thoreau, from Walden (1877-1911)

THANKSGIVING BREAK

M Nov 26 Melville,Billy Budd(2647-51, 2753-82)

W Nov 28 Melville,Billy Budd(2782-811)

F Nov 30 Emergence of American Poetic Voices (2934-36)

Emerson, The Poet (1763-79)

Whitman, Song of Myself (3010-54)

M Dec 3 Whitman, Song of Myself (cont.)

W Dec 5 Whitman, selected poems TBA

F Dec 7 Dickinson, selected poems TBAM Dec 10 Dickinson, selected poems TBA

W Dec 12 Dickinson, selected poems TBA

F Dec 14 Unit III Seminar

and semester wrap-up

T Dec 18 8 a.m. Final Exam

Emily Dickinson

Im Nobody! Who are you?

Are youNobodytoo?Then theres a pair of us!

Dont tell! theyd banish us

you know!


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8 EN250 & EN250-L

4th-hour Language Intensive (LI) Addendum

Components of Language Intensive Credit

To receive the LI designation at McPherson College, a course must provide the following com-

ponents:

Informal writing assignments

Formal writing assignments

Informal speaking experiences

Formal oral presentation(s)

In EN250-L, these components are provided as follows:

commonplace entries

two short essays and one longer, researched essay relevant to American literature

1800-1865

required participation in class discussions (You will document your participation by

submitting weekly email summaries of your contributions to class discussions.)

a 7-10 minute presentation based on your researched essay

LI Requirements

Informal writing requirement. EN250-L students meet this LI requirement through the com-

monplace book assignment required of all EN250 students.

Formal writing requirement. All EN250 students are required to write two short essays of 750

words and a longer researched essay. Students enrolled for three hours write a researched essay

of 1,500-2,000 words; EN250-L students will write a paper of 3,500-4,000 words.

Informal speaking requirement: Full participation in class discussions is expected of every

student in the class. However, it is requiredof those enrolled for the 4th credit hour. You should

contribute daily to class discussion. Understand that I am not asking EN250-L students to domi-

nate class discussions. One or two good-quality comments, observations, or questions are enoughto meet this requirement.

Documenting class discussion: You are responsible for seeing that I record your participation and

credit it toward your 4th-hour grade. Each weekend, between the end of our Friday class meeting

and the beginning of our Monday class session, you must send me an email (claryb@ mcpher-

son.edu) documenting your participation in the previous weeks class discussions. (I will try

to send you a reminder email each Friday.) Your email to me should mention instances of your

participation, describing them with enough specicity for me to recall your contribution and to

comment upon it. Write in complete sentences in a clear, lucid prose style and honor the conven-

tions of formal writing in your email.

I will score your class participation on the same 4-point scale that I use for your daily common-place entries. (See p. 3 of this syllabus.)

Formal oral presentation: Each LI student must make a presentation based on the researched

essay on an author or work from the American literary canon, 1800-1865. Obviously, the re-

search and the process for the developing the essay also serve as the preparation for the presenta-

tion. The presentation can take many different forms, but it may not be 1) a biographical summa-

ry of the authors life, or 2) a mere summary of a work or works by the author. The presentation


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should be well-planned, delivered in a professional manner, and timed to take no fewer

than 7 minutes and no more than 10 minutes.

We will select subjects for your research project and a date for your presentation at the

very earliest opportunity. While I would prefer you work on an author who is included in

the course reading schedule, I will not insist on it.

At least one week before you are scheduled to present, you should schedule a meeting withme to report on the reading and research you have done and to come to mutual agreement

on the content and inal form of your presentation. Well review the rubric I will use for

evaluating your presentation at that meeting. If you want to rehearse your presentation

before delivering it to the class, I will be quite willing to sit in and offer suggestions for im-

provement; however, I do not require you to do this.

Final Grades

Given the different requirements for students enrolled in EN250-L, the nal grade for four hours

of credit will be calculated as follows:

Commonplace book ............................... 25%Short essays ............................................ 15%

Researched essay ................................... 25%

Class participation .................................. 10%

Formal presentation ............................... 15%

Quizzes and exams ................................. 10%

american lit i syllabus

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