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未命名 1
American
Literature I
Fall, 2010
Instructor: Wen-ling Su
Time:
Mon. 6:40-9:20 pm
Office:
LC 306 Classroom: ES 305
E-mail:
wling1@ms23.hinet.net
Course description:
This is the first part of a year course on American
literature, covering the Colonial, Revolutionary, Romantic, and Realist
periods. A wide range of texts will be explored to introduce key issues
and concepts in American literature, including the American national
identity, the Puritan vision, Transcendentalism, American Gothic,
Realism, as well as racial and gender conflicts. Class activities consist of lectures and
multi-media presentations.
Textbook:
The Norton Anthology of American Literature. (Shorter 7th
ed.)
(Photocopies of copyrighted
texts are not allowed.)
Grading Policy:
Participation & Presentation: 30%
Midterm: 35%
Final: 35%
Requirements:
1.
Attendance Policy: The
FIRST absence for whatever reason will not be held against you, but
each subsequent absence will result in a 5-point deduction of the class
average. Late arrivals will cost you a 3-point deduction each time. You
will get a zero if you miss a test. There will be
NO make-up tests.
2.
Group presentation:
3-4 people form a group. Each group needs to sign up for
TWO presentations: one before the mid-term exam and the
other afterwards. No need to produce PPT files or formal speeches. On the presentation day, the presentation group has to sit in
the front row and respond to the teacher's and the other students'
questions regarding the author and the literary works. All group
members are expected to be familiar with the basic biographical
information of the author, ready to give a brief summary and introduce
central themes and important figures of speech (similes, metaphors, and
so on).
Whoever fails to get a passing grade in the presentation
will be required to turn in a 3-page paper on topics assigned by the
teacher.
Tentative Schedule:
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Week
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Date
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Topic
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1
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9/13
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Beginnings to 1700 (1-16)
--Ann Bradstreet, “Before
the Birth of Her Children”
(107-8) ;“Here
Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House”
(109-110)
--Edward Taylor, “Upon
Wedlock, and Death of Children”
(140-41); “Huswifery”
(142)
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2
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9/20
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--John
Winthrop, from A Model of Christian Charity
(76-87)
American Literature,
1700-1820
(151-59)
--Jonathan
Edwards, “Sinners
in the Hands of an Angry God” (194-205)
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3
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9/27
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--Benjamin
Franklin, from The Autobiography (230-53,
276-92)
--Olaudah
Equiano, from Narrative of the Life (357-68)
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4
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10/4
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American Literature,
1820-1865
(431-48)
--Washington
Irving, “Rip
Van Winkle” (455-66)
--Ralph Waldo
Emerson, “Each
and All” (565-66); “Merlin”
(566-69)
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5
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10/11
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--Ralph Waldo
Emerson, from “Nature”
(492-95, 515-19)
--Henry David Thoreau, from Walden, or Life in the Woods
(886-96)
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6
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10/18
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--Henry David Thoreau, from Walden, or Life in the Woods
(896-912)
--Nathaniel
Hawthorne, “My
Kinsman, Major Molineux” (592-605)
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7
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10/25
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--Nathaniel
Hawthorne, “The
Birth-Mark” (634-43)
--Edgar Allan
Poe, “Ligeia”
(679-88)
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8
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11/1
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--Edgar Allan
Poe, “The
Raven” (675-78); “The
Fall of the House of Usher”
(689-701)
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9
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11/8
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Midterm
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10
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11/15
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--Walt Whitman,
“Crossing
Brooklyn Ferry” (1057-62); “Out
of the Cradle Endlessly
Rocking” (1062-66); “When
Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd”
(1071-77)
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11
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11/22
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--Herman
Melville, “Bartleby,
the Scrivener” (1093-118)
--Emily
Dickinson, All (1201-22)
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12
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11/29
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--Emily
Dickinson, All (1201-22)
American Literature,
1865-1914
(1255-69)
--Mark
Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chs
1-6
(1277-95)
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13
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12/6
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No class. (School
anniversary)
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14
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12/13
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--Mark
Twain, Huckleberry Finn, Chs
7-16 (1295-1343)
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15
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12/20
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--Mark
Twain, Huckleberry Finn, Chs
19-31 (1356-1418)
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16
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12/27
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--Henry
James, “Daisy
Miller: A Study” (1495-1532)
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17
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1/3
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--Henry
James, “The
Real Thing” (1532-50)
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18
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1/10
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Final exam.
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