Here's the syllabus for Politics in American Literature. A week before classes began, I learned that Lillie Devereux Blake's Fettered for Life has gone out of print, which is most regretful. As a consequence, there is hole in the center of the reading list that we will fill with various short readings.
Politics in American Literature
Fall 2006 • 3300:489:003
Tues., Thurs. 12:15 to 1:30, Shrank Hall South 108
Dr. Jon Miller, University of Akron
Jon Miller
(Ph.D., U. of Iowa, 2000)
Find me at 330-972-5717 (office and voice mail), mjon at uakron.edu (email), or 363 Olin Hall (office). My office hours are Tuesday and Thursday, 3:30 to 5:00. Syllabi and other course materials are archived on my website, jonmiller.org.
Course Description
This is a senior- and graduate-level seminar in American literature and literary history to 1900.
Textbooks
Washington Irving, History, Tales, and Sketches. New York: Library of America, 1983. ISBN 0940450143.
Auqustus Baldwin Longstreet, Georgia Scenes Completed. Ed. David Rachels. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1998. ISBN 0820320196.
William Wells Brown, Clotel; or, the President's Daughter. Ed. Robert S. Levine. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000. ISBN 0312152655.
T. S. Arthur, Ten Nights in a Bar-Room. Ed. Jon Miller. Acton, Massachusetts: Copley Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1583900160.
Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age. New York: Penguin Classics, 2001. ISBN 014043920X.
Horatio Alger, From Canal Boy to President: or, The Boyhood and Manhood of James A. Garfield. Philadelphia: Polyglot Press, 2005. ISBN 1411500016.
Vocabulary
To read, comprehend, and write persuasively about older literature, you must better know the language as it was. I will provide a list of words and definitions, with a few key literary terms, for you to study. This vocabulary provides a context that will help you, especially on a first reading, to better understand and anticipate the developments in early American literature which first made these works compelling.
Quizzes
We'll have at least one brief quiz for every class. These will vary in format. The lowest 20% of quiz scores will be dropped (i.e., if we have 40 quizzes, the best 32 will make your grade). You cannot make up quizzes that you miss because of absence or tardiness.
Edition, Critical Introduction, and Research Paper
All students will prepare an edition of out-of-print primary material in four stages. First, you will create an accurate electronic text. Second, you will write a headnote and footnotes for the text. Third, you will write a short research paper (1000-3000 words) that presents a close reading of your text. Fourth, you will complete the edition by condensing your headnote and paper into an introduction. High-quality editions will have an opportunity for publication on the web.
On plagiarism
Plagiarism is a moral and ethical offense, and, more narrowly, a violation of the scholarly and professional ethics to which you, the student, are bound. Students who falsely represent scholarly work as their own, at any stage of an assignment’s possible course of submission and re-submission, will receive, as the minimum punishment, a grade of zero for that assignment. Students can also expect to have the case reported to University authorities beyond this classroom, which may result in further and more severe consequences. Please note too, that ignorance of this academic law is no excuse for its violation. All students have a responsibility to study and clearly understand the full range of scurrilous behaviors which constitute plagiarism.
Attendance policy
(1) Missing 20% of class warrants failure. (2) All reasons to miss class – personal or academic – are equally good. There are no “excused” absences. (3) I do not require an explanation for an absence. If you miss class, I will assume that you missed class for a good reason. I respect your privacy and do not need to know why. On the other hand, I will be concerned. So if you care to tell me, I will listen. (4) Any lateness to class will be marked as half an absence. (5) Any early departure from class will be marked as half an absence. (6) Habitual tardiness or early departure warrants a failing participation grade. (7) I will keep a careful record of the number of times you are absent, late, and checking out early, but I will not bring this to class or be available to provide an accurate, up-to-the-minute total of time missed. You are responsible for keeping your own record. (8) Your attendance record cannot be improved by additional writing assignments or other kinds of “extra credit.”
Attendance and participation
All students are expected to respect the worth and contribution of everyone in the classroom. Your attendance grade is the percentage of classes that you attend. Your participation grade reflects your day-to-day contribution to the class. Your attendance and participation grade is the product of these grades.
Final Grade
Grades are computed as follows: Quizzes 30%, Critical edition 35% (Text 5%, Headnote & footnotes 10%, Final version 20%), Research paper 25%, Attendance & Participation, 10%. All assignments receive a numeric grade. Grades will be awarded as follows: 92.5, A; 90, A-; 87.5, B+; 82.5, B; 80, B-; 77.5, C+; 72.5, C; 70.0, C-; 67.5, D+; 62.5, D; 60, D-; below 60, F.
Reading Schedule
Please note: when class is cancelled (for any reason), so are the readings for that class. We stay on schedule.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
(class no. 1)
Syllabus, introductory lecture
Thursday, August 31, 2006
(class no. 2)
Hannah More, “Parley the Porter” (handout)
Washington Irving, Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle Gent., Letter II (November 20, 1802), 7-9.
Washington Irving, Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle Gent., Letter III (December 1, 1802), 10-13.
Washington Irving, Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle Gent., Letter IX (April 23, 1803), 39-43.
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
(class no. 3)
critical edition choices offered
Washington Irving, William Irving, and James Paulding, Salmagundi, from No. III, Feburary 13, 1807: the first Mustapha letter, 77-82.
Washington Irving, William Irving, and James Paulding, Salmagundi, from No. VII, April 4, 1807: Mustapha on the government, 143-50.
Washington Irving, William Irving, and James Paulding, Salmagundi, from No. VIII, April 18, 1807: Will Wizard on style, 162-70.
Washington Irving, William Irving, and James Paulding, Salmagundi, from No. IX, April 25, 1807: Mustapha on parties, 177-83.
Thursday, September 7, 2006
(class no. 4)
critical edition selections due
Washington Irving, William Irving, and James Paulding, Salmagundi, from No. X, May 16, 1807: Langstaff's election blues and his letter from Demy Semiquaver, 189-95.
Washington Irving, William Irving, and James Paulding, Salmagundi, from No. XI, June 2, 1807: Mustapha on an election, 202-09.
Washington Irving, William Irving, and James Paulding, Salmagundi, from No. XIV, September 19, 1807: Mustapha on how to talk politics, 254-61.
Washington Irving, William Irving, and James Paulding, Salmagundi, from No. XV, October 1, 1807: Langstaff on greatness, 278-85.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
(class no. 5)
critical edition primary texts distributed
Washington Irving, William Irving, and James Paulding, Salmagundi, from No. XVI, October 15, 1807: Mustapha on political dinners, 291-98.
Washington Irving, William Irving, and James Paulding, Salmagundi, from No. XVIII, November 24, 1807: Mustapha on women talking, 320-26.
Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, Rip Van Winkle, 767-85.
Hugh Henry Brackenridge, “Provincial Honors to an Exciseman” (handout)
Thursday, September 14, 2006
(class no. 6)
Augustus Longstreet, Georgia Scenes, pp. 3-42
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
(class no. 7)
Augustus Longstreet, Georgia Scenes, pp. 42-87
Thursday, September 21, 2006
(class no. 8)
critical edition text due
Augustus Longstreet, Georgia Scenes, pp. 87-123
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
(class no. 9)
Augustus Longstreet, Georgia Scenes, pp. 123-48, and "Darby Anvil," pp. 162-79
Thursday, September 28, 2006
(class no. 10)
William Wells Brown, Clotel; or, The President's Daughter, pp. 45-89
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
(class no. 11)
William Wells Brown, Clotel; or, The President's Daughter, pp. 89-134
Thursday, October 5, 2006
(class no. 12)
William Wells Brown, Clotel; or, The President's Daughter, pp. 135-79
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
(class no. 13)
William Wells Brown, Clotel; or, The President's Daughter, pp. 180-227
Thursday, October 12, 2006
(class no. 14)
critical edition headnote and footnotes due
Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?," Clotel, 253-58
Lydia Maria Child, "The Quadroons," Clotel, pp. 274-84
Harriet Jacobs, "What Slaves Are Taught to Think of the North," Clotel, pp. 414-17
Walt Whitman, "Prohibition of Colored Persons," Clotel, pp. 417-19
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
(class no. 15)
Lydia Maria Child, from An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans, Clotel, pp. 447-51
Angelina Grimké, from Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, Clotel, pp. 451-56
Frederick Douglass, "The Rights of Women," Clotel, pp. 456-58
Sojourner Truth, "I Am a Woman's Rights," Clotel, pp. 458-60
Thursday, October 19, 2006
(class no. 16)
Frances E.W. Harper, "The Colored People of America," Clotel, pp. 469-71
Civil War-era feminist reading TBA (handout)
Civil War-era feminist reading TBA (handout)
Civil War-era feminist reading TBA (handout)
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
(class no. 17)
T.S. Arthur, Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, pp. 4-47
Thursday, October 26, 2006
(class no. 18)
research paper on critical edition text due
T.S. Arthur, Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, pp. 48-107
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
(class no. 19)
T.S. Arthur, Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, pp. 108-52
Thursday, November 2, 2006
(class no. 20)
T.S. Arthur, Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, pp. 153-85
American Temperance Union, "Female Influence for the Maine Law," Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, 188-92
American Temperance Union, "Temperance and Politics," Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, pp. 193-97.
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
(class no. 21)
Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age, pp. 5-92
Thursday, November 9, 2006
(class no. 22)
Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age, pp. 93-189
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
(class no. 23)
Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age, pp. 190-284
Thursday, November 16, 2006
(class no. 24)
finished critical edition due
Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age, pp. 285-355
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
(class no. 25)
Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age, pp. 355-449
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Thanksgiving Recess: no class
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
(class no. 26)
Horatio Alger, Jr. From Canal Boy to President, pp. 1-102
one or two of our critical editions (handouts)
Thursday, November 30, 2006
(class no. 27)
Horatio Alger, Jr. From Canal Boy to President, pp. 103-210
one or two of our critical editions (handouts)
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
(class no. 28)
a few critical editions (handouts)
Thursday, December 7, 2006
(class no. 29)
a few critical editions (handouts)
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