Colonial America

ENG 516/525: Literary Journalism
Lesson 2
July 9-11, 2001

Assignments

Read the works below as soon as possible and post the written assignment by 8 a.m. Monday of this week.

Read:

Colonial American journalism
Colonial American literature
Captain John Smith, excerpt from The Generall Historie of Virginia
Benjamin Franklin, BOSTON AND LONDON (Silence Dogood Nos. 1, 4, and 8); PHILADELPHIA 1726-1757 (The Busy-Body, Nos. 1 and 4; "One Piles a Fidler"; The Trial and Reprieve of Prouse and Mitchel; A Witch Trial at Mount Holly; Lying Shopkeepers; "A certain St-n-c-tt-r"; The Molasses Bill; "A certain C-n-table"; Death of a Drunk; Counterfeits; The Murder of a Daughter; On Protection of Towns from Fire; The Speech of Miss Polly Baker); 1753 Poor Richard's Almanack (skim); The Autobiography (paragraphs 88-98).

Post: Draft of period headnote

Objectives

By the end of this unit, you should:

be familiar with the general character of colonial American journalism;
be familiar with the general character of colonial American literature;
have explored the journalistic and literary qualities in the writings of Benjamin Franklin and Captain John Smith.

Names

Make sure you know the meaning and significance of each of the following names:

Benjamin Franklin
Philip Freneau
Captain John Smith

Resources

You can find more information about the subject covered in this lesson by consulting the print or electronic resources listed below:

The Press in America is a clear, concise overview of American journalism history, from its origins to modern times. In addition to describing important figures and trends, it covers issues related to freedom of expression.

American Journalism: A History: 1690-1960 covers important people and developments in American journalism over the past three centuries.

Updated July 5, 2001
© Mark Canada, 2001
mark.canada@uncp.edu

Introduction

Welcome back! I hope that your first week went well. As you know, we have to cram a lot of material into a short time span, so it is important to keep up with the work. By the time you come to our first class meeting this week, you should have read all of the assignments listed in the box at the left, posted your index page, and, of course, studied this lesson plan. You also should have conducted extensive research on the literary period I assigned you and begun drafting a headnote on this period. Finally, you should have begun the research and perhaps the writing for your author headnote or creative project.

During class this week, we will take a look at the literature and journalism of colonial America, focusing on works by Captain John Smith and Benjamin Franklin. All of the readings listed in the box at the left are available online. Please note that you do not need to read everything you find when you click on the links to the works by Franklin. Rather, just read the selections I have listed; most of these are just a few pages long. If you are using Netscape Navigator, you sometimes can find the selection by going to "Edit" in the toolbar at the top. Choose "Find in Page," type in the appropriate title, and click on "Find Next."

Discussion

During the colonial period of American history, which stretches from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 until the end of the American Revolution in 1783, American journalism and literature were both in their infancy. At times, they even shared the same cradles--that is, newspapers and magazines. Colonial writers were largely concerned with things of this world and the next--not with airy imaginings. Relatively few authors produced noteworthy poetry. Fiction was not to come in full force until the nineteenth century, and American drama did not take off until the twentieth century. The major colonial genre were forms of nonfiction, particularly essays and sermons.

It was, in short, a time ripe for literary journalism. Indeed, one of the first writers to live on American soil was a journalist of sorts. Captain John Smith recorded life in and around Jamestown, Virginia, which he helped to found in 1607, and his accounts are a bit like a correspondent's report back to his home country of England. Among the books Smith wrote about America are A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Noate as Hath Hapned in Virginia (1608), A Map of Virginia (1612), The Proceedings of the English Colonie in Virginia since Their First Beginning from England in the Yeare of Our Lord 1606 (1612), and The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles (1624). A century and a half later, Philip Freneau also straddled the fields of literature and journalism. In addition to writing a number of noteworthy poems, including several polemical ones that earned him the nickname of "Poet of the Revolution," Freneau edited the New York Daily Advertiser, the National Gazette, the Jersey Chronicle, and the New York Time-Piece. The greatest of colonial literary journalists by far was Benjamin Franklin. After contributing material to his brother James's New England Courant and The American Weekly Mercury, Franklin bought The Pennsylvania Gazette and turned it into an enormous success. From 1729 until 1766, Franklin not only ran the newspaper, but also produced much of its material, including straight news stories, essays, even a political cartoon.

As you read the selections for this week, consider both their journalistic and their literary qualities, as well as their purpose and style. Use the exercises below to guide your study.

Conclusion

Now that you have seen how I have created a unit on colonial journalism, it's your turn to guide our study of other periods and authors. Make sure that you have a good grasp on the literature and journalism of your period, as well as the characteristics of your author that make him or her a literary journalist. As I have explained on the syllabus, each of you will be responsible for assigning us works to read, contributing to a headnote on your period, creating a headnote on your author, and guiding our class discussion.

Next week, we will turn to some antebellum literary journalists, notably Mark Twain and Walt Whitman.

Exercises

I have designed the following exercises to help you get the most out of this unit. Please keep them in mind as you study the reading assignments and jot down some notes that will help you respond to them in class.

Overview

1A. How would you characterize the journalism of colonial America? In what ways does it resemble colonial literature? Why might a writer have crossed from one field to the other? Did these writers even think of them as distinct fields?

Featured Writers: Captain John Smith and Benjamin Franklin

1B. Do you consider Captain John Smith a journalist or a literary author? Defend your position by referring to specific aspects of his content, style, and purpose. What impact does your characterization have on our interpretation and appreciation of his work?
1C. Which of Benjamin Franklin's works might qualify as journalism and literature? Which belong exclusively to one domain? Explain your reasons for classifying the works as you did.
1D. Analyze the content, style, and themes of the works you read by Franklin. How do they square with those of the writing of other colonial journalists and authors?