Postbellum America
ENG 516/525: Literary Journalism
Lesson 4
July 23-25, 2001

Assignments

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

Read:

Objectives

By the end of this unit, you should:
  • be familiar with the general character of antebellum American journalism;
  • be familiar with the general character of antebellum American literature;
  • have explored the journalistic and literary qualities in the writings of Frederick Douglass, Bret Harte, and Rebecca Harding Davis.

Names 

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

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 24, 2001
© Mark Canada, 2001
mark.canada@uncp.edu
 

Introduction

The group working on postbellum journalism has not sent me the URL of its period headnote.  When I receive this information, I will post a link here, along with links to the assigned readings.  On Monday, this group--Kelly Singer, Rebekah Revels, and Robin Duncan--will take us through an introduction to postbellum journalism, and Kelly will introduce us to the journalism and literature of Frederick Douglass.  On Wednesday, Rebekah will lead us through the work of Rebecca Harding Davis, and Robin will introduce us to Bret Harte.  We also will discuss Upton Sinclair's novel, The Jungle, during Wednesday's class.

I have finished my midterm evaluations of your online portfolios.  As a general rule, the period headnotes show promise--indeed, a couple are outstanding--while the author headnotes appear to be incomplete.  In fact, I was able to access only three headnotes, and none of these provided any analysis of how literature and journalism come together in the writer's work.  Because the portfolios were incomplete, the midterm grades were low.  As I explained on the syllabus, however, these grades do not count for anything; they are meant merely to give you an idea of where your portfolio stands at the middle of our session.  I hope that you all can revise and supplement your portfolios over the next couple of weeks and post work that will make all of us proud.  As always, I encourage you to let me know how I can help you in your research or writing.

Discussion

In class this week, we will discuss the character of American journalism during and after the Civil War.  During this period, journalism underwent some noteworthy and interesting developments, including the advent of the newspaper wars between Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.  Many of the great writers of this period, furthermore, had connections to journalism. Frederick Douglass, after writing his famous Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, founded an abolitionist newspaper called North Star. Bret Harte, author of the short story "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" and a number of other noteworthy literary works, began his writing career as a journalist.  Before he became a novelist and the leading critic of his age, William Dean Howells contributed material to the Ohio State Journal from 1856 to 1861.  Later, during his literary career, he wrote a novel called A Modern Instance, which features a reporter as one of its major characters. Rebecca Harding Davis worked for a newspaper before publishing her story "Life in the Iron Mills," and Willa Cather worked for McClure's magazine from 1906 until 1912, the year before she published her novel O Pioneers!  Both Jack London, author of The Call of the Wild, and Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage and some of America's finest short stories, served as war correspondents. Theodore Dreiser worked as a newspaper reporter in Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and Pittsburgh before beginning a literary career that produced Sister Carrie, An American Tragedy, and The Financier.

Conclusion

Next week, our other group--Sherry Loftin, James Bass, Sandy Smith, and Caroline Sanchez--will introduce us to the world of modern journalism.  After their group presentation on Monday, Sherry and Caroline will give their presentations on Carl Sandburg and Richard Wright.  On Wednesday, James and Sandy will introduce us to the works of Ernest Hemingway and Truman Capote.  As the syllabus indicates, your final portfolios are due at 8 a.m. Thursday, August 2, 2001.