Here is the syllabus.
American Literature 1
The University of Akron
Fall 2008 • 3300:341-401 A
MTWThF 2:15-3:45 • Olin 119B
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 summer office hours are Monday through Friday, noon to two, and by appointment. I am the Undergraduate Advisor for English, so if you have questions about your progress towards the English major, I am the person to ask. You can 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
Nina Baym, general editor. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Seventh edition. Package 1: Volumes A & B. Norton, 2007. ISBN 0393929930.
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.
Dates
You need (at least) a set of dates to serve as reference points in your survey of literary history. You will be given a small list of dates to memorize.
Quizzes
We'll have at least one brief quiz for every class. These will vary in format. You may be asked questions about the day’s reading. You may be asked to name words by definition, to date events, or to define words. 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 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 work.
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. The midterm will focus on facts and include varieties of multiple choice and matching challenges. The final will be a take-home essay exam due on the last day of class.
Final Grade
This is the formula for the final grade: Quizzes 30%, Papers 35%, Midterm 15%, Final 10%, 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, June 22, 2009
(class no. 1)
Christopher Columbus, selected letters, pp. 31-35; Bartolomé de las Casas, selection from The Very Brief Relation, pp. 35-39; 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
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
(class no. 2)
Mary Rowlandson, biography and part of her Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration, pp. 235-67; William Byrd, biography and pages from his secret diary, pp. 378-84
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
(class no. 3)
Jonathan Edwards, biography and "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," pp. 384-86, 425-37; Benjamin Franklin, biography, "The Way to Wealth," and "Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One," pp. 449-63
Thursday, June 25, 2009
(class no. 4)
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, biography and passages from Letters from An American Farmer, pp. 595-616
Friday, June 26, 2009
(class no. 5)
Jane Colman Turell, Annis Boudinot Stockton, Sarah Wentworth Morton, Mercy Otis Warren, Ann Eliza Bleecker, and Margaretta Faugères, poems, 710-24
Monday, June 29, 2009
(class no. 6)
Olaudah Equiano, biography and some of his Interesting Narrative, pp. 674-93
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
(class no. 7)
Royall Tyler, biography and The Contrast, Acts 1 and 2, pp. 764-84
Paper #1 due.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
(class no. 8)
Royall Tyler, The Contrast, Acts 3, 4, and 5, pp. 784-805
Thursday, July 2, 2009
(class no. 9)
Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette, pp. 806-839
Friday, July 3, 2009
no class
Monday, July 6, 2009
(class no. 10)
Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette, pp. 839-873
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
(class no. 11)
Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette, pp. 873-end
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
(class no. 12)
Midterm exam.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
(class no. 13)
Washington Irving, biography and "Rip Van Winkle," pp. 951-65; Catharine Maria Sedgwick, short story TBA (handout)
Friday, July 10, 2009
(class no. 14)
Lydia Sigourney, biography and poems, pp. 1028-44; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, biography and selected poems, pp. 1495-1506
Monday, July 13, 2009
(class no. 15)
Edgar Allan Poe, biography and poems, pp. 1528-43; William Cullen Bryant, biography and poems, pp. 1044-51
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
(class no. 16)
William Apess, "An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man," pp. 1051-58; Caroline Stansbury Kirkland, biography and selections from "A New Home," pp. 1068-78
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
(class no. 17)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, biography and "Wakefield," pp. 1272-76, 1298-1304
Thursday, July 16, 2009
(class no. 18)
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Masque of the Red Death," pp. 1585-89
Friday, July 17, 2009
(class no. 19)
Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Experience," pp. 1195-1211
Monday, July 20, 2009
(class no. 20)
Henry David Thoreau, biography and "Slavery in Massachusetts," pp. 1853-57, 2046-56
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
(class no. 21)
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. Paper #2 due.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
(class no. 22)
Walt Whitman, biography and "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," 2190-95, 2263-67
Thursday, July 23, 2009
(class no. 23)
Herman Melville, biography and selected chapters from Moby-Dick, pp. 2304-08, 2320-37
Friday, July 24, 2009
(class no. 24)
Emily Dickinson (poems TBA).
Take-home final exam due.
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