Survey of American Literature

Our survey of American literature for this course is time-limited. We will begin with the discovery of America and work our way through to the 20th century. In between these two landmarks, we will follow the journey this nation took from being British colonies in the 17th century, to becoming the United States in 18th century to its Union crisis in 19th century to the two world wars that plagued the 20th century. We will see how America grew from dispersed colonies to a 'United States', and we pay attention to the major events that brought out the character of this nation, helped form its government, and nurished its growth. Along this historical time line, we will read a collection of texts written by American authors lived through this outlined history. We will read canonical authors from the colonial period 1620-1760, from 'the rise of the nation' in 1776-1789, from 'the expansion wes't and 'the good years' of the first half of the 19th century, from the crisis of the Civil War, from the Depression, from the despair and anxiety of the WWI and WWII, and we will end our journey with authors from the Civil Rights Movement. This literary/historical 'survey' will help us develop an educated understanding of the character of this nation and the literature it produced.