Here is the syllabus for the evening section of American Literature 1. (Note that the words are here.)
American Literature 1
Spring 2007 • 3300:341:801
MW 5:10-6:25pm • Olin Hall 105
Dr. 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 Monday and Wednesday, 1:30 to 3:30. Syllabi and other course materials are archived on my website, jonmiller.org.
Course Description
This is an undergraduate-level survey of American literature and literary history to 1865.
Textbooks
Please note we are studying these editions. Yes, you must buy (or borrow) these editions. No, you cannot get by with other versions of the primary texts. Yes, I know The Spy is available online for free. No, this is not the same thing as the chosen textbook.
Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Volume A and Volume B. ("Package 1.") New York: W.W. Norton, 2002. ISBN 0393977935.
Cooper, James Fenimore. The Spy: A Tale of Neutral Ground. Ed. Wayne Franklin. New York: Penguin, 1997. ISBN 0140436286.
Vocabulary
To read, comprehend, and write persuasively about older literature, you must better know the language of older literature. 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 plot and theme 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. You cannot make up quizzes that you miss because of absence or tardiness.
Edition
All students will prepare an edition of out-of-print primary material in four stages. Each stage must be submitted in electronic format. If you choose to submit your files by email, you and only you are responsible for making sure that I receive the files on time. Here are the stages. First, you will create and submit an accurate electronic text. Second, you will write and submit a summary of facts about the text. Third, you will write a 750-word paper that interprets your text in the context of our vocabulary and other works on our reading schedule. Fourth, you will combine all of this material into one finished product.
Authors of the best editions will have the opportunity to publish them on the website.
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. This 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, or leaving early, but I will not bring this to class. And I will not be able to provide an accurate, up-to-the-minute total of time missed on demand. 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.
Two Exams
There will be a midterm and a final exam.
Final Grade
Grades are computed as follows: Quizzes 30%, Edition 35% (Text 5%, Facts 10%, Interpretation 20%), Exams 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.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
(class no. 1)
Syllabus, introductory lecture
Monday, January 22, 2007
(class no. 2)
Thomas Harriot, biography and part of "A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia" (80-86); Samuel de Champlain, biography and passages from his various Voyages (86-103); John Smith, biography and passages from his General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (103-14)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
(class no. 3)
William Bradford, biography (156-57); excerpts from Of Plymouth Plantation, Book II (174-83); Thomas Morton, biography and parts of New English Canaan (196-205)
Monday, January 29, 2007
(class no. 4)
Anne Bradstreet, biography (238-39); "Contemplations" (253-60); Adriaen van der Donck, biography and part of A Description of New Netherland (285-92)
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
(class no. 5)
Mary Rowlandson, biography and part of her Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration (308-18)
Monday, February 5, 2007
(class no. 6)
Edward Taylor, biography and selected poems (341-49); Samuel Sewall, biography (371-72); "The Selling of Joseph" (387-90); Sarah Kemble Knight, biography and pages from her diary (436-47)
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
(class no. 7)
William Byrd, biography and pages from his secret diary (447-53)
Monday, February 12, 2007
(class no. 8)
Jonathan Edwards, biography (464-466); "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (498-509); Benjamin Franklin, biography, "The Way to Wealth," and "Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One" (515-28)
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
(class no. 9)
James Grainger, biography and two pages of his georgic (627-30); Samson Occom, biography and "A Short Narrative of My Life" (647-53)
Monday, February 19, 2007
(class no. 10)
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, biography and passage with title "What Is an American" (657-67); Annis Boudinot Stockton, biography and selected belles lettres (699-704)
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
(class no. 11)
Olaudah Equiano, biography and some of his Interesting Narrative (747-50)
Monday, February 26, 2007
(class no. 12)
Philip Freneau, biography and selected poems (791-808); Phillis Wheatley, biography and selected poems (808-20)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
(class no. 13)
Midterm exam
Monday, March 5, 2007
(class no. 14)
Washington Irving, biography and "Rip Van Winkle" (978-92); Wayne Franklin, "Introduction," "Suggestions for Further Reading," and "A Note on the Text," in James Fenimore Cooper, The Spy (New York: Penguin Books, 1997), pages xii-xxxiv; James Fenimore Cooper, The Spy (New York: Penguin Books, 1997), pages 1-42
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
(class no. 15)
James Fenimore Cooper, The Spy (ed. Wayne Franklin; New York: Penguin Books, 1997), pages 43-110
Monday, March 12, 2007
(class no. 16)
James Fenimore Cooper, The Spy (ed. Wayne Franklin; New York: Penguin Books, 1997), pages 111-187; James Fenimore Cooper, The Spy (ed. Wayne Franklin; New York: Penguin Books, 1997), pages 188-268
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
(class no. 17)
James Fenimore Cooper, The Spy (ed. Wayne Franklin; New York: Penguin Books, 1997), pages 269-340
Monday, March 19, 2007
Spring break
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Spring break
Monday, March 26, 2007
(class no. 18)
James Fenimore Cooper, The Spy (ed. Wayne Franklin; New York: Penguin Books, 1997), pages 341-407; William Cullen Bryant, biography and selected poems (1071-75)
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
(class no. 19)
Catharine Maria Sedgwick, biography and "Cacoethes Scribendi" (1039-50)
Monday, April 2, 2007
(class no. 20)
Edgar Allan Poe, biography and early poems (1507-15); N.P. Willis and Lydia Sigourney, selected poems (handout)
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
(class no. 21)
The New-York Mirror (handout)
Monday, April 9, 2007
(class no. 22)
The New-York Mirror (handout); Nathaniel Hawthorne, biography (1247-50); "The Birth-Mark" (1289-99)
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
(class no. 23)
Caroline Kirkland, biography and excerpts from A New Home (1085-93)
Monday, April 16, 2007
(class no. 24)
Ralph Waldo Emerson, biography (1103-06); "The Poet" (1177-91); Edgar Allan Poe, "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1572-75)
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
(class no. 25)
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Purloined Letter" (1575-88)
Monday, April 23, 2007
(class no. 26)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, biography and selected poems (1476-81); Bayard Taylor, biography and "Eldorado" (2487-98)
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
(class no. 27)
Herman Melville, biography (2287-92); a little bit of Moby-Dick (2304-12)
Monday, April 30, 2007
(class no. 28)
Fanny Fern, biography (1746-47); "A Law More Nice Than Just" (1750-51); "Blackwell's Island" (1752-57); Walt Whitman, biography (2127-31); and "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" (2189-93)
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
(class no. 29)
Emily Dickinson (poems TBA)
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Final exam, 6:00 to 7:55pm
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