ENG
366 Topics in American Literature before 1900
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Spring 2005 MWF 12:40-1:40 Room: B234 |
Professor
Peter Powers Office: B208 Office
Hours: Call Gina Hale to schedule an
appointment Extension: X-7376 E-mail: ppowers@messiah.edu Website:
http://home.messiah.edu/~ppowers/ |
This course begins with the assumption that
slavery—both as an economic and political reality and as a cultural system—has
been foundational to the development of American cultural narratives. Indeed, slavery exists as the narrative of
non-freedom without which American ideologies of freedom and individuality
could not have been imagined and upon which they ultimately depended. We will look at the way in which narratives
of freedom and narratives of slavery have been inevitably bound together in the
cultural history of the United States.
Our primary focus will be on the literature of the United States prior
to the 20th century, but we will spend some time thinking about how the
narratives developed in the early American experience have continued to shape
the literary and political culture of the 20th and even 21st centuries. This course fulfills the pre-nineteenth
century American literature requirement for English majors. It does not fill a general education
requirement.
Reading:
Most of our reading will be in primary literary
texts written in the United States during the 18th and 19th
century. One assignment will ask that
you watch a film from the 20th or 21st centuries and
write a paper on it.
Ø
Quizzes: Your reading will be
assessed primarily through critical readings and class participation. However, we will also have periodic five
point quizzes to assess your efforts to grapple with the content of the
essays.
Writing:
Because
writing is a means of discovery and a pathway to understanding, it is the most
important activity in the class next to reading. Indeed, you should think of your writing as a mode of reading
that will help you begin understanding the literature at hand. When essays, critical readings, and in-class
assignments are considered together you will be doing some kind of writing
assignment every week.
Ø Critical
Readings: Seven of the first ten
weeks of class you will turn in a one page critical reading of an essay
assigned for that week. You will regularly be called on to read from your work
in order to promote discussion. These readings will not be graded primarily on
the thoroughness and intelligence with which you grapple with issues at hand in
the text rather than on traditional criteria of organic form in a persuasive
essay. Critical Readings will be worth
10 points apiece. Readings should
follow these guidelines.
·
A copy of the critical reading must be turned in on Monday of each
class week, and you should keep a copy for reference in class.
·
These readings should be no more than one page in length and
anywhere from 300-500 words in length.
You may single space and use small fonts as necessary to get the reading
on to one page.
·
As a guide for the kinds of questions I would like you to
investigate, review Gage chapter two, pages 22-23. . You will have to adapt Gage’s paradigm to the reading of
literature, but his suggestions remain useful.
·
In addition, every
critical reading should conclude with at least one question at issue (see Gage
chapter Three) intended for class discussion.
Ø
Short Essays:
You will write two short essays.
The first essay
is designed to help you develop your abilities as researchers and as writers
who use research. It will also help you
know how to begin engaging scholarly discourse about a particular project and
what the general conventions and language of a scholarly discourse community
include. You will find and read a
10-20-page article on Frederick Douglass via online databases that I will
discuss in class. Your essay will
provide an overview of the article and a discussion of your agreement or
disagreement with its central point.
This essay is worth 50 points.
Your essay should include the following:
·
A brief statement of the main thesis of the essay
you read, and a summary of the argument developed in the course of the article.
·
A critical response to the article that you have
read that describes one significant way in which you would agree and extend the
argument that you read, or one significant way in which you have reservations
about the argument and why. Your
extension or disagreement should reference specific passages from Douglass’s
narrative.
·
Some direct quotation and paraphrase in both
summary and response.
·
Correct source citation using MLA style.
·
Approximately 500 to 800 words (typically two to
three pages)
The second essay
is designed to develop your abilities as close readers, and to help you
understand the relationship of short sections to the larger context within
which a work is found. For the essay
you will choose a relatively short section (no more than one to two pages) of
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Through close reading you will demonstrate the significance of
the section to understanding the meaning of the work as a whole. This essay is worth 50 points. Each essay should include the following:
·
A clearly stated thesis that answers a focused
question at issue (See Gage).
·
A developed argument that reads your chosen passage
closely and explains its relationship to the meaning of the work as a whole
·
Some familiarity with the principles of persuasive
writing as described by Gage.
·
Approximately 900 to 1500 words (typically 3 to 5
pages).
Ø
Final Project:
For your final project you may do one of the following, and you must
tell me your choice on the last regular class day of the semester. Once chosen, you may not change your
project. Both options are worth 200
points
1) Write
a comprehensive final exam that will be a mixture of short answer and in-class
essay.
2) Write
a final essay on a topic of your choosing. The essay will be due by the end of
the final exam period. The essay should include the following:
·
A clearly stated thesis that answers a focused
question at issue.
·
Discussion of at least two texts from the course of
the semester. The essay need not be
comparison/contrast, but the thesis should be conceived so as to allow analysis
of more than one text. One film shown
during the semester can count as texts for discussion, though you may choose to
refer to them.
·
Mastery of the principles of persuasive writings as
described by Gage.
·
Approximately 2100 to 3000 words (typically 7 to 10
pages)
·
Research is not required, but I consider it helpful
and encourage you to read as much as possible about your chosen topic to write
the best essay possible.
Participation:
Participation includes the following: regular attendance, attentive concern for
others’ ideas or questions; consistent respect for others as expressed through
demeanor, engagement of ideas whether you agree with them or oppose them, and
the genuine effort to help others improve their writing and thinking; oral
expression of your own ideas; preparation for class through careful and
critical reading of assigned material; prompt completion of assignments. Participation in class is worth 100 points.
Necessary Study Skills:
Necessary Study Skills: I am guided by
the principles that a college education is a full-time occupation and that a
typical spring semester load is 13 credits.
With this in mind, you should be able to complete the course
successfully if you devote approximately 10 hours a week to the reading and
writing requirements. Consistent
reading is imperative since understanding early readings in the course is
necessary for understanding later readings in the course and for successfully
completing your final essay or exam.
Further, planning and working ahead will save you from desperate,
anxiety-driven despair toward the end of the semester.
Format:
As specified above, critical readings should be single-spaced
and limited to one page. The short
essays and final essay should be double-spaced. Please make sure that everything you hand in to me specifies your
name, the assignment, the date, and the class.
Please include page numbers and staple pages when necessary.
All essays
should follow the MLA guidelines for writers of research papers. All essays should include a Works Cited page
and provide page citations as appropriate.
Copies of the MLA style manual are in the library in the reference
section and are available on line. Let
me caution you to be especially wary of plagiarism. Remember that plagiarism is the use of another person's words or
ideas without giving proper credit to that person. Plagiarized essays will be failed. If you do not understand what plagiarism is or may be, please see
me immediately.
Late papers:
Late critical readings will
not receive credit. A late short essay
will be penalized 10 points for each day late, lateness being construed as
anytime after the papers are collected on the day they are due in class. A late
final essay will be penalized 30 points for each day late. I do offer extensions for documented medical
problems and family crises. In
exceptional circumstances I offer extensions for otherwise overwhelming
curricular requirements (that is, if you have three major papers due on the
same day I am amenable to adjustments in your schedule). However, in all cases, to receive an
extension you must contact me at the first possible moment that you realize
something will be late. For non-medical
excuses, this must be at least a day before due date. I do not offer extensions because of student involvement in
extracurricular activities.
Grading:
At the end of the semester your grade will be based on a percentage of points earned I use the following scale to determine grades:
A ≥ 95; A- 91-94; B+ 88-90; B 85-87; B- 81-84; C+ 78-80; C 74-77; C- 71-73; D+ 68-70; D 64-67; D- 61-63; F ≤ 60
Charles Chesnutt:
The Conjure Woman
Frederick Douglas:
Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave.
Harriet Jacobs:
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Mark Twain:
Huckleberry Finn
Miscellaneous handouts, online essays and web pages
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1/31—2/4 |
Focus:
Intro to class; Slavery in the New Republic Assignments: Benjamin
Franklin, Declaration of Independence, Olaudah Equiano (online); Viewing of
Africans in America, TBA |
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2/7-11 |
Focus:
Toward the Civil War Assignments:
Emerson, Thoreau, Timrod (online); Christianity and slavery (online);
viewing of Africans in America, TBA Critical Reading Due |
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2/14-18 |
Focus:
Toward the Civil War Assignments:
Fugitive Slave Law and Emancipation Proclamation (online); Frederick
Douglas (entire text including secondary sources); Viewing of Africans in
America, TBA Critical Reading Due |
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2/21-25 |
Focus:
Toward the Civil War—Frederick Douglas Assignments:
Frederick Douglass; Viewing of Africans in America, TBA Essay one due on Monday 2/21 |
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2/28-3/4 |
Focus:
Toward the Civil War Assignments:
Harriet Jacobs Critical Reading Due |
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3/7-11 |
Spring Break |
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3/14-18 |
Toward the Civil War Assignments:
Harriet Beecher Stowe (entire text including secondary sources) Critical Reading Due |
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3/21-23 |
Toward the Civil War—Harriet Beecher Stowe Essay Two due on Monday 3/21 |
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3/25, 3/28 |
Easter Recess |
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3/30-4/1 |
Focus:
Slavery, Reconstruction, and the modernization of the U.S. Assignments:
Mark Twain (Entire text including secondary sources) Critical Reading Due |
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4/4-8 |
Focus: Slavery, Reconstruction, and modernization
of the U.S.—Mark Twain |
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4/11-15 |
Focus:
Slavery, Reconstruction, and the modernization of the U.S. Assignments:
Charles Chesnutt: The Conjure
Woman Watch Brother from Another Planet in preparation
for next week’s class Critical Reading Due |
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4/18-22 |
Focus:
Slavery in modern America Assignment:
Brother from Another Planet (film TBA outside of class) Watch Amistad in preparation for next week’s
class Critical Reading Due |
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4/25-29 |
Focus:
Slavery in modern America Assignment: Amistad (film TBA outside of class) |
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5/2 |
Focus:
Wrap up review for final exam Assignment: |
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Final Exam |