Course
Prefix
Course
Number
Title
SCH
Component Area
TCCCM
ENGL
2326
American Literature
3
Creative Arts
ENGL 2326
(A)
I.
Course Description:
This course examines representative works of American literature from pre-colonial times to the
contemporary period using historical, philosophical, and structural filters to investigate universal
social themes. There are no prerequisites for this course. This course is one of the options offered
by the University for Completion of the core curriculum.
II.
Course Delivery Method:
Face to Face
III.
Required Textbooks/Resources:
Baym, Nina, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. A. New
York: Norton, 2011. Print.
(ISBN: 978-0393934762)
---. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. B. New York: Norton, 2011.
Print.
(ISBN: 978-0393934779)
Baym, Nina, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. C. New
York: Norton, 2011. Print.
(ISBN: 978-0393934786)
---. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. D. New York: Norton, 2011.
Print.
(ISBN: 978-0393934793)
---. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. E. New York: Norton, 2011.
Print.
(ISBN: 978-0393934809)
IV.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete English 2441 will be able
1) To identify the major literary movements in American literature and label texts according to these
categories
2) Identify the biographical and academic aspects of the American authors emblematic of the key
literary movements in American literature and explain the influences these authors have exerted upon
American literature.
V.
Course Outline:
General Topics of the class are as follows:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VI.
Pre-colonial Literature
Colonial and Postcolonial Literature
Pre-bellum Literature
Post-bellum Literature
Modernist Literature
Postmodernist Literature
Methods of Evaluation:
1-Critical Essay worth
700 points
12-In class quizzes worth
600 points
3-In class exams worth
600 points
In class, note cards worth
160 points
(B)
Each student will write one argumentative critical essay examining a text discussed during class; this
essay will range from ten pages to fifteen pages in length and will follow MLA format. Textual evidence
and content from at least five critical articles will inform the paper. Each student must append an
annotated bibliography to the essay. The critical essay is worth 700 points. Each student must
complete five in-class quizzes during the semester; each quiz builds upon the previous quizzes.
Questions in these examinations will use subjective forms (short-answer questions that ask students to
apply theoretical concepts to assigned texts). Each quiz is worth 50 points; the combined number of
points possible for quizzes is 600. Each student must complete three in-class examinations during the
semester; each examination builds upon the previous examinations. Questions in these examinations
will use subjective forms (short-answer and short-essay questions that ask students to apply theoretical
concepts to assigned texts). Each examination is worth 200 points; the combined number of points
possible for examinations is 600. All sessions will begin with index-card comments. Each student will
write his or her name, the name of the instructor, the name of the course, and the title “Index-Card
Comments” on an index card. Each student must write five complete sentences critiquing or
summarizing class content beneath this introductory information during the first five minutes of class.
The instructor will collect all index cards when class concludes and return them when the next class
session begins. Each completed index card is worth 10 points. The instructor will assign no points for a
card featuring four or fewer comments. Collectively, index-card comments are worth 160 points.
(C)
All chapters in required textbook are required readings.
(D)
Week #1:
Course Introduction
“Beginnings to 1700” (Vol. A, 3)
“The Iroquois Creation Story” (Vol. A, 21)
from “Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage (February 15,
1493)” (Vol. A, 35)
from “Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage (July 7,
1503)” (Vol. A, 36)
from The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles
(Vol. A, 83)
from New England’s Trials (Vol. A, 96)
from The Winnebago Trickster Cycle (Vol. A, 105)
Week #2:
from The Bay Psalm Book (Vol. A, 188)
from The Tenth Muse (Vol. A, 208)
“A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”
(Vol. A, 257)
“Psalm Two (First Version)” (Vol. A, 290)
“Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children” (Vol. A, 303)
“Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold” (Vol. A, 304)
“Huswifery” (Vol. A, 305)
“A Fig for Thee, Oh! Death” (Vol. A, 306)
from The Diary of Samuel Sewall (Vol. A, 309)
“The Selling of Joseph: A Memorial” (Vol. A, 323)
First Quiz
Week #3:
“American Literature: 1700-1820” (Vol. A, 365)
from The Private Journal of a Journey from Boston to New York (Vol. A, 380)
from The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover (Vol. A, 391)
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (Vol. A, 430)
Second Quiz
Week #4:
“The Way to Wealth” (Vol. A, 457)
“The Speech of Miss Polly Baker” (Vol. A, 463)
“Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One” (Vol. A, 465)
“Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” (Vol. A, 476)
from Letters from an American Farmer (Vol. A, 605)
from The Letters of John and Abigail Adams (Vol. A, 626)
from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas
Vassa, the African, Written by Himself (Vol. A, 688)
Third Quiz
Week #5:
“American Literature: 1820-1865” (Vol. B, 3)
“An Indian’s Looking Glass for the White Man” (Vol. B, 154)
“Nature” (Vol. B, 214)
“The Minister’s Black Veil” (Vol. B, 409)
“William Wilson: A Tale” (Vol. B, 667)
“Bartleby, the Scrivener” (Vol. B, 1483)
Fourth Quiz
Week #6:
First Examination
“American Literature: 1865-1914” (Vol. C, 3)
from The Squatter and the Don (Vol. C, 110)
“Comments to Major MacMurray” (Vol. C, 413)
“[He has filled graves with our bones]” (Vol. C, 415)
“The Problem of Old Harjo” (Vol. C, 1037)
from “Impressions of an Indian Childhood” (Vol. C, 1087)
from “The School Days of an Indian Girl” (Vol. C, 1093)
Week #7:
“In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport” (Vol. C, 522)
“The New Colossus” (Vol. C, 524)
“Turned” (Vol. C, 806)
“The Law of Life” (Vol. C, 1043)
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (Vol. C, 946)
Fifth Quiz
Week #8:
from Up from Slavery (Vol. C, 675)
“The Goophered Grapevine” (Vol. C, 699)
from The Souls of Black Folk (Vol. C, 885)
from Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man (Vol. C, 1011)
“Lift Every Voice and Sing” (Vol. C, 1010)
from Lyrics of the Lowly Life (Vol. C, 1029)
Sixth Quiz
Week #9:
“American Literature: 1914-1945” (Vol. D, 3)
“Luke Havergal” (Vol. D, 41)
“Richard Cory” (Vol. D, 41)
from The Making of Americans (Vol. D, 200)
“After Apple-Picking” (Vol. D, 240)
“The Wood-Pile” (Vol. D, 241)
“Birches” (Vol. D, 242)
“‘Out, Out—’” (Vol. D, 244)
“The Figure a Poem Makes” (Vol. D, 250)
Seventh Quiz
Week #10:
Trifles (Vol. D, 253)
from Winesburg, Ohio (Vol. D, 265)
“The Gilded Six-Bits” (Vol. D, 541)
“Barn Burning” (Vol. D, 800)
“The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (Vol. D, 826)
“The Leader of the People” (Vol. D, 882)
“The Man Who Was Almost a Man” (Vol. D, 899)
Eighth Quiz
Week #11:
Second Examination
“American Literature since 1945” (Vol. E, 3)
“Big Wind” (Vol. E, 39)
“Child on Top of a Greenhouse” (Vol. E, 41)
“Daddy” (Vol. E, 629)
“The Applicant” (Vol. E, 634)
“Lady Lazarus” (Vol. E, 625)
“Why I Am Not a Painter” (Vol. E, 508)
“A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island” (Vol. E, 511)
Week #12:
from Invisible Man (Vol. E, 208)
“Going to Meet the Man” (Vol. E, 424)
“Recitatif” (Vol. E, 609)
“Wet Camp” (Vol. E, 1115)
“Taking Away the Name of a Nephew” (Vol. E, 1116-1117)
“Refugio’s Hair” (Vol. E, 1118-1119)
“The Body as Braille” (Vol. E, 1158)
“Visions of Mexico While at a Writing Symposium in Port Townsend,
Washington” (Vol. E, 1156-1158)
“The Body as Braille” (Vol. E, 1158)
Ninth Quiz
Week #13:
“Father and Son” (Vol. E, 21)
“After the Last Dynasty” (Vol. E, 22)
“The Wellfleet Whale” (Vol. E, 24)
“Howl” (Vol. E, 492)
“Footnote to Howl” (Vol. E, 500)
from Maus (Vol. E, 1058)
Tenth Quiz
Week #14:
“The White Porch” (Vol. E, 1159)
“Lost Sister” (Vol. E, 1162)
“Persimmons” (Vol. E, 1167)
“Eating Alone” (Vol. E, 1169)
“Eating Together” (Vol. E, 1170)
Eleventh Quiz
from The Way to Rainy Mountain (Vol. E, 677)
“Fleur” (Vol. E, 1143)
“Lullaby” (Vol. E, 1050)
Twelfth Quiz
Week #15:
Week #16:
Final Examination
Final Paper
Justification:
ENGL2441 complies with the Creative Arts FCA. This course focuses upon historical analysis, cultural
analysis, and critical analysis of texts to promote better appreciation for these creative artifacts by
enabling critical, creative, and innovative communication about these artifacts. The course promotes
discussion of the major movements in American literature beginning with the pre-colonial era and
ending in the contemporary era.
Next is the original submission form.
Course Prefix:
Course Number:
Title:
TCCCNS:
Component Area:
Day/Time Offered:
Number of Sections:
ENGL
2326
Overview of American Literature
ENGL2326
Creative Arts
MW 2:30 p.m.-3:45 p.m., TR 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
1
Cap:
Two-Year Schedule
(Spring, Fall, Both):
Pod (List Other Courses):
25
Spring-Fall-Fall (subsequent)
No
Section A:
Course Description: This course examines representative works of American literature from precolonial times to the contemporary period using historical, philosophical, and structural filters to
investigate universal social themes. There are no prerequisites for this course. This course is
one of the options offered by the university for completion of the core curriculum.
Course Delivery Method: Face-to-face
Required Texts:
Baym, Nina, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. A. New
York: Norton, 2011. Print.
(ISBN: 978-0393934762)
---. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. B. New York: Norton, 2011.
Print.
(ISBN: 978-0393934779)
Baym, Nina, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. C. New
York: Norton, 2011. Print.
(ISBN: 978-0393934786)
---. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. D. New York: Norton, 2011.
Print.
(ISBN: 978-0393934793)
---. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. E. New York: Norton, 2011.
Print.
(ISBN: 978-0393934809)
Student-Learner Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete English 2441 will be able
1) to identify the major literary movements in American literature and label texts
according to these categories, and
2) identify the biographical and academic aspects of the American authors emblematic of
the key literary movements in American literature and explain the influences these
authors have exerted upon American literature.
Course Outline:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Pre-colonial Literature
Colonial and Postcolonial Literature
Pre-bellum Literature
Post-bellum Literature
Modernist Literature
Postmodernist Literature
Course Requirements and Methods of Evaluation:
Final Paper (1)
Each student will write one argumentative critical essay examining a text discussed during class;
this essay will range from ten pages to fifteen pages in length and will follow MLA format.
Textual evidence and content from at least five critical articles will inform the paper. Each
student must append an annotated bibliography to the essay. The critical essay is worth 700
points.
In-Class Quizzes (12)
Each student must complete five in-class quizzes during the semester; each quiz builds upon the
previous quizzes. Questions in these examinations will use subjective forms (short-answer
questions that ask students to apply theoretical concepts to assigned texts). Each quiz is worth
50 points; the combined number of points possible for quizzes is 600.
In-class Examinations (3)
Each student must complete three in-class examinations during the semester; each examination
builds upon the previous examinations. Questions in these examinations will use subjective
forms (short-answer and short-essay questions that ask students to apply theoretical concepts to
assigned texts). Each examination is worth 200 points; the combined number of points possible
for examinations is 600.
Participation (Required)
All sessions will begin with index-card comments. Each student will write his or her name, the
name of the instructor, the name of the course, and the title “Index-Card Comments” on an index
card. Each student must write five complete sentences critiquing or summarizing class content
beneath this introductory information during the first five minutes of class. The instructor will
collect all index cards when class concludes and return them when the next class session begins.
Each completed index card is worth 10 points. The instructor will assign no points for a card
featuring four or fewer comments. Collectively, index-card comments are worth 160 points.
Section B:
Institutional standard six (“Methods of Evaluation”) covers this item.
Section C:
This courses requires that students read all assigned texts.
Section D:
Week #1:
Course Introduction
“Beginnings to 1700” (Vol. A, 3)
“The Iroquois Creation Story” (Vol. A, 21)
from “Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage (February 15,
1493)” (Vol. A, 35)
from “Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage (July 7,
1503)” (Vol. A, 36)
from The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles
(Vol. A, 83)
from New England’s Trials (Vol. A, 96)
from The Winnebago Trickster Cycle (Vol. A, 105)
Week #2:
from The Bay Psalm Book (Vol. A, 188)
from The Tenth Muse (Vol. A, 208)
“A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”
(Vol. A, 257)
“Psalm Two (First Version)” (Vol. A, 290)
“Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children” (Vol. A, 303)
“Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold” (Vol. A, 304)
“Huswifery” (Vol. A, 305)
“A Fig for Thee, Oh! Death” (Vol. A, 306)
from The Diary of Samuel Sewall (Vol. A, 309)
“The Selling of Joseph: A Memorial” (Vol. A, 323)
First Quiz
Week #3:
“American Literature: 1700-1820” (Vol. A, 365)
from The Private Journal of a Journey from Boston to New York (Vol. A, 380)
from The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover (Vol. A, 391)
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (Vol. A, 430)
Second Quiz
Week #4:
“The Way to Wealth” (Vol. A, 457)
“The Speech of Miss Polly Baker” (Vol. A, 463)
“Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One” (Vol. A, 465)
“Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” (Vol. A, 476)
from Letters from an American Farmer (Vol. A, 605)
from The Letters of John and Abigail Adams (Vol. A, 626)
from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas
Vassa, the African, Written by Himself (Vol. A, 688)
Third Quiz
Week #5:
“American Literature: 1820-1865” (Vol. B, 3)
“An Indian’s Looking Glass for the White Man” (Vol. B, 154)
“Nature” (Vol. B, 214)
“The Minister’s Black Veil” (Vol. B, 409)
“William Wilson: A Tale” (Vol. B, 667)
“Bartleby, the Scrivener” (Vol. B, 1483)
Fourth Quiz
Week #6:
First Examination
“American Literature: 1865-1914” (Vol. C, 3)
from The Squatter and the Don (Vol. C, 110)
“Comments to Major MacMurray” (Vol. C, 413)
“[He has filled graves with our bones]” (Vol. C, 415)
“The Problem of Old Harjo” (Vol. C, 1037)
from “Impressions of an Indian Childhood” (Vol. C, 1087)
from “The School Days of an Indian Girl” (Vol. C, 1093)
Week #7:
“In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport” (Vol. C, 522)
“The New Colossus” (Vol. C, 524)
“Turned” (Vol. C, 806)
“The Law of Life” (Vol. C, 1043)
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (Vol. C, 946)
Fifth Quiz
Week #8:
from Up from Slavery (Vol. C, 675)
“The Goophered Grapevine” (Vol. C, 699)
from The Souls of Black Folk (Vol. C, 885)
from Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man (Vol. C, 1011)
“Lift Every Voice and Sing” (Vol. C, 1010)
from Lyrics of the Lowly Life (Vol. C, 1029)
Sixth Quiz
Week #9:
“American Literature: 1914-1945” (Vol. D, 3)
“Luke Havergal” (Vol. D, 41)
“Richard Cory” (Vol. D, 41)
from The Making of Americans (Vol. D, 200)
“After Apple-Picking” (Vol. D, 240)
“The Wood-Pile” (Vol. D, 241)
“Birches” (Vol. D, 242)
“‘Out, Out—’” (Vol. D, 244)
“The Figure a Poem Makes” (Vol. D, 250)
Seventh Quiz
Week #10:
Trifles (Vol. D, 253)
from Winesburg, Ohio (Vol. D, 265)
“The Gilded Six-Bits” (Vol. D, 541)
“Barn Burning” (Vol. D, 800)
“The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (Vol. D, 826)
“The Leader of the People” (Vol. D, 882)
“The Man Who Was Almost a Man” (Vol. D, 899)
Eighth Quiz
Week #11:
Second Examination
“American Literature since 1945” (Vol. E, 3)
“Big Wind” (Vol. E, 39)
“Child on Top of a Greenhouse” (Vol. E, 41)
“Daddy” (Vol. E, 629)
“The Applicant” (Vol. E, 634)
“Lady Lazarus” (Vol. E, 625)
“Why I Am Not a Painter” (Vol. E, 508)
“A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island” (Vol. E, 511)
Week #12:
from Invisible Man (Vol. E, 208)
“Going to Meet the Man” (Vol. E, 424)
“Recitatif” (Vol. E, 609)
“Wet Camp” (Vol. E, 1115)
“Taking Away the Name of a Nephew” (Vol. E, 1116-1117)
“Refugio’s Hair” (Vol. E, 1118-1119)
“The Body as Braille” (Vol. E, 1158)
“Visions of Mexico While at a Writing Symposium in Port Townsend,
Washington” (Vol. E, 1156-1158)
“The Body as Braille” (Vol. E, 1158)
Ninth Quiz
Week #13:
“Father and Son” (Vol. E, 21)
“After the Last Dynasty” (Vol. E, 22)
“The Wellfleet Whale” (Vol. E, 24)
“Howl” (Vol. E, 492)
“Footnote to Howl” (Vol. E, 500)
from Maus (Vol. E, 1058)
Tenth Quiz
Week #14:
“The White Porch” (Vol. E, 1159)
“Lost Sister” (Vol. E, 1162)
“Persimmons” (Vol. E, 1167)
“Eating Alone” (Vol. E, 1169)
“Eating Together” (Vol. E, 1170)
Eleventh Quiz
from The Way to Rainy Mountain (Vol. E, 677)
“Fleur” (Vol. E, 1143)
“Lullaby” (Vol. E, 1050)
Twelfth Quiz
Week #15:
Week #16:
Final Examination
Final Paper
Justification of FCA:
ENGL2441 complies with the Creative Arts FCA. This course focuses upon historical analysis,
cultural analysis, and critical analysis of texts to promote better appreciation for these creative
artifacts by enabling critical, creative, and innovative communication about these artifacts. The
course promotes discussion of the major movements in American literature beginning with the
pre-colonial era and ending in the contemporary era.
Assessment:
The instructor will collect the students’ final papers for assessment of all four required core
objectives: critical thinking, communication, teamwork, and social responsibility. The final
paper requires that a student analyze and evaluate information about a literary text; the student
must then synthesize the collected information in the form of an argumentative critical essay
(critical thinking and written communication). This essay must demonstrate revision and
application of course-content elements while promoting the text’s pertinence across cultures
(social responsibility). Each student will lead the class discussion about his or her chosen text
and solicit constructive criticism about his or her paper during that discussion before submitting
the paper’s final draft (oral communication and teamwork).