Survey of American Literature

The course is a survey of American Literature from 1620 to the present. The course starts with readings from Native American Literature. Emphasis will be on the major American writers, the canon. In addition a novel is studied along with samples of the writings of the major writers..
 

Week	Topic
1	Registration
2	Sunday Sept. 24 : National Day, No school. Tuesday Sept. 26 : Introduction to American Literature Thursday Sept. 28 : Iroquois Creation Story 21,  The Navajo Creation Story 25                                   Hajffner (The Emergence) 26
3	Sunday Oct. 1 : Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) From Letter to Luis de                              Santangel Regarding the First Voyage (February 15, 1493)                              35 From Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the                               Fourth Voyage (July 7, 1503) 36 Tuesday Oct. 3 :. Bartolome De Las Casas (1474-1566) The Very Brief                               Relation of the Devastation of the Indies 39 From                               Hispaniola 39 From The Coast of Pearls, Paria, and the                               Island of Trinidad 41 Thursday Oct. 5 : Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca (c. 1490-1558) The                                 Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca H [Dedication)                                 44 [The Malhado Way of Life) 45 [Our Life among the                                 Avavares and Arbadaos) 47 [Pushing On) 48 [Customs                                  of That Region] 48 [The First Confrontation) 49 [The                                  Falling-Out with Our Countrymen] 50 First Quiz
4	Sunday Oct. 8 : William Bradford And Edward Winslow: Mourt's Relation                              [Cape Cod Forays) 72, John Underhill: News from                              America [The Attack on Pequot Fort) 75 Tuesday Oct. 10 : John Smith (1580-I63I) The Fourth Book. [Smith's                                Farewell to Virginia) 93 From A Description of New                                England 93 From New England's Trials 96 Thursday Oct. 12 : Native American Trickster Tales: From The Winnebago                                  Trickster Cycle (edited by Paul Radin) 105, Ikto                                  Conquers lya, the Eater (transcribed and edited by Ella C.                                  Deloria) 112
5	Sunday Oct. 15 : William Bradford (1590-1657) 121 Of Plymouth                                  Plantation: Book I, From Chapter I [The English                                  Reformation] 122, Chapter IV. Showing the Reasons and                                  Causes or Their Removal 124, Chapter XII. Anno 1621                                   [The First Thanksgiving) 144, Chapter XXIII. Anno                                   1632 [Prosperity Weakens Community) 147 Tuesday Oct. 17: Anne Bradstreet (c. 1612-1672): The Flesh and the Spirit                                22, The Author to Her Book 225, Thursday Oct. 19 : Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758): Sinners in the Hands                                   of an Angry God 430 Second Quiz
6	Sunday Oct. 22: Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790): The Way to Wealth 457                                   The Autobiography 480-83 & 534-542 Tuesday Oct. 24: John Adams (I735-I826) And Abigail Adams (I744-                                    I818) 625 The Letters: 626-632 Thursday Oct. 26: Thomas Paine (1737-1809) Common Sense 641                                    Introduction 641 From Ill. Thoughts on the Present State                                    of American Affairs 641 First Response Paper Due at 7 P.M.
7	Sunday Oct. 29: Thomas Jefferson (I743-I826) 659: From The Declaration                                  of Independence 661. Tuesday Oct. 31 : Olaudah Equiano (1745?-1797) The Interesting Narrative                                    of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the                                    African, Written by Himself 688 From Chapter I 688                                   Chapter II 690 Thursday Nov. 2 :  Washington Irving (1783–1859):Rip Van Winkle 29 Third Quiz
8	Sunday Nov. 5: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882): Nature: Chapter I and II , & Self‐                             Reliance 269 Tuesday Nov. 7: Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862): Walden  981-987 & 1023-1028 Thursday Nov. 9 : Emily Dickinson (1830–1886): Selectins of her poems                                     1667-1669
9	Sunday Nov. 12: Midterm Exam Tuesday Nov. 14:  Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864): Preface to The                               House of the Seven Gables 594-& The Scarlet Letter:                               The Custom-House Thursday Nov. 16: The Scarlet Letter: Chapter 1-5
10	Sunday Nov. 19: The Scarlet Letter: Chapter 6-10 Tuesday Nov. 21: The Scarlet Letter: Chapter 11-15 Thursday Nov. 23: The Scarlet Letter: Chapter 16-20
11	Sunday Nov. 26: The Scarlet Letter: Chapter 21-2 4 Tuesday Nov. 28: Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849): The Tell-Tale Heart 691 &                               The Cask of Amontillado 714 Thursday Nov. 30: Walt Whitman (1819–1892): From “Song of Myself” 1330-                              1336 Fourth Quiz
12	Sunday Dec. 3: Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) Narrative of the Life of                                  Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by                                 Himself: Chapters 1. 2. 6, 7, 11 & Appendix Tuesday Dec. 5:  Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) (1835–1910): The                                Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County 121 Thursday Dec. 7 : Henry James (1843–1916): The Real Thing 460
13	Sunday Dec. 10 : Kate Chopin (1850–1904) : Desiree’s Baby & The Story                                  of an Hour 551-557 Tuesday Dec. 12 : Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935): The Yellow Wall-                                paper & Why I Wrote “The Yellow Wall-paper”?  792 Thursday Dec. 14 : Jack London (1876–1916): To Build a Fire 1047   Second Response Paper  is due at 7 P.M.
14	Sunday Dec. 17 : Robert Frost (1874–1963): The Road Not Taken 241&                                   Design 246 & William Carlos Williams (1883–1963):                                   Spring and All 306 & The Red Wheelbarrow 309 Tuesday Dec. 19 : : F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940): The Great Gatsby (2013                                      Movie) Thursday Dec. 21 :   T. S. Eliot (1888–1965): The Love Song of J. Alfred                                    Prufrock 368 & Langston Hughes (1902–1967): The Negro Speaks of                                    Rivers 871 & I, Too 872 Sixth Quiz
15	Final Exam is on Wednesday 16-04-1439 at 8-10 A.M.