Major American Authors

Introduction

In this course, we will explore some of the important authors, works, themes, and movements in American literature from its beginnings to the present day. While we do not have the time in a single semester to do justice to all of America's significant writers and works, we will seek to understand and appreciate the rich American literary imagination, which has drawn on a multitude of experiences and perspectives--male, female, European, African, Asian, Northern, Southern, Western--and flowered in a variety of forms--poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama, Romantic, realist, naturalist, modernist, and more. By talking and writing about this literature, we will broaden our American cultural literacy, deepen our appreciation of language and literature, and explore the complex nature of our country and ourselves.

Supplies

  • Baym, Nina, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter Fourth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1995.
  • Three-ring binder, 5 dividers, notebook paper
  • 3 IBM-formatted diskettes and computer paper
  • An e-mail account
  • A curious, open, and active mind

Rewards

When you invest a large portion of your time and energy in a class for 15 weeks, you should expect something more than a grade in return. If you work hard in this course, you likely will earn a good grade, but you also will receive several other, more lasting and important benefits, including a broad knowledge of America's literary and cultural heritage, a heightened appreciation of language and life, and crucial skills in reading, writing, speaking, interpreting, researching, and collaborating. In short, this course will give you ample opportunities to prepare for a productive, fulfilling future.

You also will produce tangible evidence of your progress by writing several essays and journals, building a World Wide Web site, and taking a final exam, all of which you will collect in an American literature portfolio. Please keep this portfolio neat and organized and bring it with you to conferences with me. While your grade in this course depends on the work that goes into this portfolio, I hope that its value to you will outlast this semester and that you will continue to consult it and add to it when you read and write in the years to come. You may even want to show it to friends, parents, prospective employers, and--someday--grandchildren to demonstrate all that you have learned about literature and life.

To create your portfolio, you will need a three-ring binder, five dividers, and notebook paper. Please observe the following criteria, which I will use when evaluating your portfolio near the end of the semester:

  • The portfolio contains five sections--resources, notes and in-class essays, journals, Web site, and final exam--and is organized so that anyone using it can find information quickly and easily. (5 points)
  • Materials in the portfolio are neat and easy to manage. (5 points)

Divide the portfolio into the sections listed below. Your grade in the course will depend on the points you earn on your portfolio, as well as the items listed below. The scale is as follows: 90-100, A; 80-89, B; 70-79, C; 60-69, D; below 60, F.

Resources

This section should contain this syllabus, a list of your group mates and their phone numbers, and a bibliography of reference materials you can use in studying American literature.

Notes and Essays (30 points)

Place 50 or so sheets of blank notebook paper in this section and use this paper to take notes on characters, themes, historical background, unfamiliar words, and other features while you read the assignments and while we discuss the works in class. Use the Web sites that your classmates and I have built to interpret the works and to study the authors' lives, techniques, and major themes. Every week, I will ask you to apply your knowledge and skills to write at least one brief essay. Because I often will allow you to refer to your portfolios to write this essay, you will want to take careful notes on your reading. Sometimes I will post the question on the World Wide Web and ask you to respond on an online discussion forum. At other times, I will give you the question in class and ask you to respond on a sheet of paper. Each of these essays, which may cover anything we have covered in the course up to that point, will be worth 1 to 5 points. To earn credit for these essays, you must respond to questions on the discussion forum before class begins and be present when I assign an in-class essay.

Journals (20 points)

You also will write four one-page journals outside class on various works we are studying. Please type your responses and include them in this section of your portfolio. These journals are worth 5 points each, distributed as follows: insightful interpretation of specific details in the work (3 points), clarity of writing (1 point), readability (1 point).

World Wide Web Site (20 points)

During the first full week of the semester, you will sign up to build a World Wide Web site on an American poet and to present one of this poet's poems to the class. As you build your site and prepare your class presentation, refer to the following criteria, which I will use when I grade the sites:

  • The biographical information on the poet is thorough, accurate, clear, well-organized, and free of distracting errors in Standard Written English. (3 points)
  • A headnote effectively presents major issues and themes related to the poet by referring to at least two critical studies. The headnote also should comment on the poet's cultural context and may include links to relevant Web sites. This headnote is accurate, clear, and free of distracting errors in Standard Written English. (5 points)
  • An explication helps readers understand one of the poet's works by defining unfamiliar words, identifying all allusions, and commenting on the ways in which the poem's content works together with its form to create meaning or an effect. In commenting on form, the writer should label the poem's rhythm and--if there is end rhyme--its rhyme scheme, along with several other features, such as alliteration, imagery, figurative language, repetition, and syntax. This explication is accurate, clear, insightful, and free of distracting errors in Standard Written English. A recitation of the poem shows an attempt to interpet the poem orally through such sound devices as stress and pause. (8 points)
  • A bibliography lists all sources cited in the site, as well as other useful sources, and conforms to MLA style. If the poem in the site appeared in an original collection published by the poet, this collection should appear in the bibliography. (2 points)
  • The site is attractive and makes effective use of Internet technology. (2 points)
  • Except for the poem being explicated and properly documented material from sources, everything on the site must be your own work. Failure to quote, paraphrase, or cite borrowed material correctly will cause you to fail this assignment. In accordance with the university's policy on plagiarism, I also can fail you for the course and report you to Student Affairs.

You will sign up for a date to submit your site to me on a diskette. After this deadline, I will not accept the site. At any time before the due date, you may bring me a draft of your site, and I will be happy to comment on any of these criteria and help you master the technology. I also will give at least one workshop on using Netscape Composer to build a Web site.

When the semester is complete, every thorough, clear, well-organized, accurate, and insightful site will remain on the Web as part of All American. Thus, by working hard on this project, you not only will learn a great deal about a poet, practice explicating poetry, improve your writing and research skills, and practice using new computer technology, but will have an electronic publication that you may cite in resumes and portfolios.

Examination (20 points)
This examination will give you an opportunity to demonstrate your reading and writing skills by identifying important authors, works, characters, and literary devices and analyzing themes and issues in at least one essay.

Be Your Best

You can expect me to be the best teacher I can be. I will be on time to class, give you my full attention and energy during every class discussion, respond thoughtfully to your oral comments and written assignments, and work hard to make this course interesting and rewarding.

I expect you to be your best, as well. Although this course is no more difficult than most college courses, it demands regular attendance, a commitment to in-class discussion and writing, and a large amount of out-of-class preparation, including reading and writing assignments, library research, and study. I expect you to make these commitments, to show up to class on time and ready to work, to check your e-mail for announcements the day before you come to class, and to turn in neatly typed, carefully edited assignments on time. Please note that I will not accept late assignments except in the case of personal incapacitation, a death in the family, or an advance arrangement with me.

I want to help you do well in this course. I will guide you with provocative questions and exercises in class, ample notes and study questions on the World Wide Web, and assignments that will encourage you to think creatively and retain information. The ultimate responsiblity for your success or failure, however, lies with you. To make sure that you get the most out of Major American Authors, concentrate on achieving the following goals:

  • Better understanding and appreciation of language and literature: When you encounter unfamiliar words in your reading, look them up in a dictionary and write down their definitions in your own words. Memorize definitions of key literary terms, along with examples to illustrate them, and continually practice explaining how these devices help writers convey meaning or an effect. Use the Literarary Analysis Quiz to determine which terms and concepts are particularly important. Finally, practice expressing yourself clearly in oral and written discussions. The increased understanding and appreciation you achieve through these practices will make you a more effective writer and help you to get more information and enjoyment out of what you read and experience in your life.
  • Deeper consideration of your world, your country, and yourself: Look for connections among works, between these works and their historical context, and between the material in these works and your own experience. Practice articulating your ideas about these connections by actively participating in class and online discussions. The richer mind that will grow out of this experience will help you get along with people, make decisions about your life and your community, and fulfill your own special potential.
  • Greater cultural literacy: Memorize important dates, the names of the works and authors we study, and any other literary, historical, or culture details that I emphasize. As you read, use literary reference works to identify unfamiliar names, works, events, and places. Use the American History Quiz and American Literature Quiz to determine which names and facts are particularly important. The broader cultural literacy you will develop will help you understand your heritage, function in the world that has grown from that heritage, and participate actively and intelligently in shaping the future world.

For general tips on improving your study habits, see Be Your Best. 

Fall 1998 · 149 Dial · 8-9:15 a.m. TR

Professor Mark Canada
118 Dial Humanities Building
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
canada@sassette.uncp.edu
www.uncp.edu/home/canada
Office Hours: 2-4 T, 2-5 R
521-6431

Online Forum
Listserv (eng221@papa.uncp.edu)

Schedule

You must have studied the works and authors before the unit begins and retain the information for the duration of the course--and, I hope, beyond.

Cultural Contact and Exploration (1500-1600)

Native American Literature (August 20)

  • The Iroquois Creation Story, The Pima Creation Story, Chippewa Songs
  • Syllabus, Internet, study skills

Exploration and Captivity Narratives (August 25 and 27)

Settlement (1600-1700)

Puritan Writings (September 1 and 3)

  • "Early American Literature 1620-1820"
  • John Winthrop, "A Model of Christian Charity"
  • Anne Bradstreet, "The Prologue," "The Flesh and the Spirit," "The Author to Her Book," "Before the Birth of One of Her Children," "To My Dear and Loving Husband," "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment," "Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House"
  • William Bradford, Edward Taylor, Mary Rowlandson

Colonial Period (1700-1783)
Independence (1783-1817)

Personal and Political Writings, Early Belles-Lettres (September 8 and 10)

Development (1817-1848)

Transcendentalism (September 15 and 17)

American Romanticism (September 22 and 24, September 29 and October 1)

Conflict and Civil War (1849-1865)

Poetry of the American Renaissance (October 6 and 8)

  • Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself," "Facing West from California's Shores," "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," "Cavalry Crossing a Ford," "The Wound-Dresser," "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"
  • Emily Dickinson, 67, 214, 216, 241, 249, 287, 341, 435, 441, 465, 585, 632, 640, 712, 986, 1129, "My Business Is Circumference"

Slave Narratives (October 13)

Reconstruction (1865-1877)

Regional Writers (October 20 and 22)

Age of Industry (1877-1914)

Realism and Naturalism (October 27 and 29)

  • Henry James, "The Real Thing"
  • Stephen Crane, "The Blue Hotel," "Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind," "A man said to the universe"
  • Journal 3

World Wars (1914-1945)

Modern Drama (November 3 and 5)

Modernism (November 10 and 12)

  • "American Literature between the Wars"
  • Robert Frost, "Mending Wall," "The Death of the Hired Man," "The Road Not Taken," "Birches," "Fire and Ice," "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
  • William Faulkner, "Barn Burning"
  • Ernest Hemingway, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"

Harlem Renaissance (November 17 and 19)

Cold War and Fin de Siecle (1945-today)

Recent and Contemporary Poetry (November 24)

  • "American Poetry since 1945"
  • Selected contemporary poets

Recent and Contemporary Prose (December 1 and 3)

  • "American Prose since 1945"
  • Flannery O'Connor, "Good Country People"
  • Maxine Hong Kingston, "No Name Woman"

Review (December 8)

  • Review

Final Exam (December 15, 8 a.m.)

 Read on!

© Mark Canada, 1998