Here is the syllabus for my Fall 2007 section of American Literature 1.
American Literature 1
Fall 2007 • 3300:341:001
MWF 11:00-11:50 • Arts & Sciences Building 137
Dr. Jon Miller, University of Akron
Jon Miller, Associate Professor of English
(Ph.D., U. of Iowa, 2000)
Find me at 330-972-5717 (office and voice mail), mjon at uakron dot edu (email), or 363 Olin Hall (office). My office hours are Monday and Wednesday, 12:00 to 1:30. Find this syllabus and other course-related materials on my website, jonmiller.org.
Course Description
This is an undergraduate-level survey of American literature and literary history to 1865.
Textbooks
Catharine Maria Sedgwick, The Linwoods: or, "Sixty Years Since" in America. 1835; University Press of New England, 2002. ISBN 1584651539.
Nina Baym, general editor. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Seventh edition. Package 1: Volumes A & B. Norton, 2007. ISBN 0393929930.
Please note that we will use the seventh edition and not the sixth edition. The seventh edition is brand new. There will be no used copies, and the unofficial off-campus bookstores may not have it in stock.
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.
Two papers
You will write two three-page (750 word) works of literary criticism.
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 and curious. If you care to explain, 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%, Papers 35%, 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.
Monday, August 27, 2007 (1)
Syllabus, introductory lecture
Wednesday, August 29, 2007 (2)
Thomas Harriot, biography and part of "A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia," plus John Smith, biography and passages from his General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles, pp. 48-72
Friday, August 31, 2007 (3)
Mary Rowlandson, biography and part of her Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration, pp. 235-67
Monday, September 3, 2007 (4)
William Byrd, biography and pages from his secret diary, pp. 378-84
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 (5)
Jonathan Edwards, biography and "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," pp. 384-86, 425-37
Friday, September 7, 2007 (6)
Benjamin Franklin, biography, "The Way to Wealth," and "Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One," pp. 449-63
Monday, September 10, 2007 (7)
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, biography and passages from Letters from An American Farmer, pp. 595-616
Wednesday, September 12, 2007 (8)
Jane Colman Turell, Annis Boudinot Stockton, Sarah Wentworth Morton, Mercy Otis Warren, Ann Eliza Bleecker, and Margaretta Faugères, poems, 710-24
Friday, September 14, 2007 (9)
Olaudah Equiano, biography and some of his Interesting Narrative, pp. 674-93
Monday, September 17, 2007 (10)
Royall Tyler, biography and The Contrast, Acts 1 and 2, pp. 764ff
Wednesday, September 19, 2007 (11)
Royall Tyler, The Contrast, Act 3
Friday, September 21, 2007 (12)
Royall Tyler, The Contrast, Act 5
Monday, September 24, 2007 (13)
Royall Tyler, The Contrast, Act 5
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 (14)
Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette, pp. 806-831
Friday, September 28, 2007 (15)
Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette, pp. 832-857
Monday, October 1, 2007 (16)
Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette, pp. 858-883
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 (17)
Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette, pp. 883-end
Friday, October 5, 2007 (18)
midterm exam
Monday, October 8, 2007 (19)
Washington Irving, biography and "Rip Van Winkle," pp. 951-65
Wednesday, October 10, 2007 (20)
Catharine Maria Sedgwick, The Linwoods, pp. 5-83
Friday, October 12, 2007 (21)
Catharine Maria Sedgwick, The Linwoods, pp. 84-144
Monday, October 15, 2007 (22)
Catharine Maria Sedgwick, The Linwoods, pp. 145-201
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 (23)
Catharine Maria Sedgwick, The Linwoods, pp. 202-58
Friday, October 19, 2007 (24)
Catharine Maria Sedgwick, The Linwoods, pp. 259-314
Monday, October 22, 2007 (25)
Catharine Maria Sedgwick, The Linwoods, pp. 315-60
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 (26)
Lydia Sigourney, biography and poems, pp. 1028-44
Friday, October 26, 2007 (27)
Edgar Allan Poe, biography and poems, pp. 1528-43
Monday, October 29, 2007 (28)
selections from The New-York Mirror (handout)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007 (29)
paper # 1 due; more selections from The New-York Mirror (handout)
Friday, November 2, 2007 (30)
William Cullen Bryant, biography and poems, pp. 1044-51
Monday, November 5, 2007 (31)
William Apess, "An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man," pp. 1051-58
Wednesday, November 7, 2007 (32)
Caroline Stansbury Kirkland, biography and selections from "A New Home," pp. 1068-78
Friday, November 9, 2007 (33)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, biography and "Wakefield," pp. 1272-76, 1298-1304
Monday, November 12, 2007 (34)
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Masque of the Red Death," pp. 1585-89
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 (35)
Richard Henry Dana Jr., selection from Two Years Before the Mast, pp. 2179-82
Friday, November 16, 2007 (36)
Ralph Waldo Emerson, biography and "Self-Reliance," pp. 1106-10, 1163-80
Monday, November 19, 2007 (37)
Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Experience," pp. 1195-1211
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 (38)
Edgar Allen Poe, "The Black Cat" plus "The Philosophy of Composition" plus the selection from "The Poetic Principle," pp. 1593-99, 1617-27
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thanksgiving recess. No class.
Monday, November 26, 2007 (39)
Henry David Thoreau, biography and "Slavery in Massachusetts," pp. 1853-57, 2046-56
Wednesday, November 28, 2007 (40)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, biography and selected poems, pp. 1495-1506
Friday, November 30, 2007 (41)
Frederick Douglass, biography and "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?," pp. 2060-64, 2140-43, plus Sojourner Truth, "Speech to the Woman's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, 1851," pp. 1695-96
Monday, December 3, 2007 (42)
paper #2 due
Walt Whitman, biography and "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," 2190-95, 2263-67
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 (43)
Herman Melville, biography and selected chapters from Moby-Dick, pp. 2304-08, 2320-37
Friday, December 7, 2007 (44)
Emily Dickinson (poems TBA). Last day of classes.
Friday, Dec. 14, noon-1:55pm
Final Exam
=end of document
This document was originally posted to jonmiller.org. Copyright 2007 by Jon Miller. Some rights reserved. See jonmiller.org for more information.
=end of document
