Spring, 2005
English 370: The American Renaissance
Winston
Office: East College 401
Tel: (245-) 1363
Office Hours: M&F 1:00-2:30
E-mail: [email protected]
This class will examine major figures and works of one of the most intensely creative periods in
American literature, the American Renaissance. We will juxtapose selected works by important
Transcendentalists (Emerson, Fuller, Whitman) to works by those critical, or at least skeptical, or
the movement (Hawthorne, Melville). Ultimately, we will try to determine if the last two authors
to be considered in the course, Poe and Dickinson, can be considered either Transcendentalists or
anti-Transcendentalists. All of these authors reflect both continuity and change in American
literature. They both challenged and mirrored their nineteenth-century culture, and they remain
touchstones for contemporary American literary concerns as well. While the focus of the course
will be on close, careful reading and thoughtful writing, students will be expected to consider the
relationship between literature and society as well as the views of various critics and schools of
criticism, particularly in the critical paper.
Accommodations for Students with Learning Disabilities:
In compliance with the Dickinson College policy and equal access laws, I am available to discuss
appropriate academic accommodations that may be required for students with disabilities.
Requests for academic accommodations are to be made during the first three weeks of the
semester, except for unusual circumstances, so arrangements can be made. Students are required
to register with Learning Support Services located in Biddle House (contact
[email protected]) to verify their eligibility for appropriate accommodations and complete an
“Accommodation Letter.”
M, 1-24
W, 1-26
Introduction; The Syllabus as Text
Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Rhodora” (1081), “The Snow-Storm”
(1084), “Brahma” (1209)
F, 1-28
Emerson, “The Problem” (1060), “Days” (1228), “Hymn, Sung at the
Completion of the Concord Monument” (1175)
(Last day to Add/Drop or Change to/from Pass/Fail)
M, 1-31
W, 2-02
F, 2-04
Emerson, “Nature” (1)
Emerson, “Nature”
Emerson, “The American Scholar”(51), “An Address” (73)
M, 2-07
W, 2-09
F, 2-11
Emerson, “An Address,” “Self-Reliance”(257)
Emerson, “The Poet” (445), “Experience” (469)
Emerson, “Experience,” “Fate”(767)
M, 2-14
W, 2-16
F, 2-18
Emerson, “The Uses of Great Men” (615), “Uriel” (1065), “The Sphinx” (1055)
Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century
Fuller
M, 2-21
W, 2-23
F, 2-25
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance
Hawthorne
Hawthorne
EXPLICATON DUE
(Last day to Change in Level for Language and Math Courses)
M, 2-28
W, 3-02
F, 3-04
Hawthorne, Contextual Readings: 234-67, 312-31
Hawthorne, Contextual Readings: 277-300, 333-66, 415-25
Hawthorne, Contextual Readings: 457-85, 490-92, 501-06
M, 3-07
W, 3-09
F, 3-11
Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself” [1855] (27)
Whitman, “Song of Myself”
Whitman, “Song of Myself”
SPRING VACATION
M, 3-21
W, 3-23
F, 3-25
Whitman, “Song of Myself”
Whitman, “There Was a Child Went Forth” (138), “From Pent-up Aching
Rivers” (248), “Once I Pass’d through a Populous City”(266),
“Scented Herbage of My Breast” (268), “Whoever You Are
Holding Me Now in Hand” (270), “I Saw in Louisiana a Live-Oak
Growing” (279), “Here the Frailest Leaves of Me” (283)
Whitman, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (307)
M, 3-28
Whitman, “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” (388)
(Registration for the Fall 2005 Semester, through March 30)
W, 3-30
Whitman, “Beat! Beat! Drums!” (419), “Come Up from the Fields Father” (436),
“The Wound-Dresser” (442), “As I Lay with My Head in Your
Lap Camerado” (454), “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
Bloom’d” (45), “O Captain! My Captain!” (467)
(T, 3/31 Last Day to Withdraw from a Course with a “W”)
F, 4-01
Whitman, “To a Common Prostitute” (512), “Passage to India” (531),
A Noiseless Patient Spider” (564)
M, 4-04
W, 4-06
F, 4-08
Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener, “ Benito Cereno
Melville, Benito Cereno, Billy Budd
Melville, Billy Budd
M, 4-11
Edgar Allan Poe, “Sonnet – To Science” (38), “Romance” (53), “To Helen” (62),
“Israfel” (62), “Ulalume -- A Ballad” (89), “Eldorado” (101),
“Annabel Lee” (102)
Poe, “The Philosophy of Composition” (1373), “The Poetic Principle” (1431),
“The City in the Sea” (67), “The Raven” (81), “Dream-Land”
(79), “The Bells” (92)
W, 4-13
F, 4-15
Poe, “Berenice” (225), “Ligeia” (262), “The Oval Portrait” (481)
M, 4-18
W, 4-20
Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher” (317), “William Wilson” (337)
Poe, “The Masque of the Red Death” (485), “The Pit and the Pendulum” (491),
“The Tell-Tale Heart” (555), “The Imp of the Perverse (826)
Poe, “The Black Cat” (597), “The Oblong Box” (643), “The Cask of
Amontillado” (848)
F, 4-22
M, 4-25
W, 4-27
F, 4-29
M, 5-02
W, 5-04
F, 5-06
Poe, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (397), “The Purloined Letter” (680)
Emily Dickinson, 986, 328, 130, 1068, 1333, 526, 1071, 1624, 258, 712, 280,
465, 303, 1695, 512, 126, 67, 160, 76, 564, 754, 764, 1072
[Please read AT LEAST these poems; we will discuss them in
approximately this order.]
Dickinson
CRITICAL RESEARCH PAPER DUE
Dickinson
Dickinson
Dickinson
Final Examination: The take-home examination for this course is due no later than noon,
Friday, May 13. Late exams are unacceptable; you may, of course, submit your
examination earlier.
Course Requirements:
Diligent preparation, regular attendance, and active participation: approximately 10%
Explication (5-6 pages):
approximately 20%
Critical research paper (12-14 pages):
approximately
40%
Final take-home examination (10-12 pages):
approximately 30%
N.B.: You must complete all requirements of the course in order to pass the course. Late
papers/exams are unacceptable and will be given a failing grade; failure to submit an essay or
exam will result in automatic failure in the course. This course follows College policies
regarding matters of academic dishonesty; it is the responsibility of each student to know the
policies. Please see the current Community Standards and other appropriate sources.
The instructor reserves the right to adjust the syllabus as necessary.
Spring 2005
English 370: The American Renaissance
Winston
EXPLICATION
DUE: In class, Friday, February 25 (Please, no late papers; late papers are unacceptable.)
LENGTH AND FORMAT: 5-6 pages, assuming 12-point Times New Roman and one-inch
margins all around. In matters of format and style, please be guided by the English Department’s
style sheets on the departmental web page. Please use latest MLA style for citations.
ASSIGNMENT: Analyze Emerson’s “Each and All” (959) in the context of other Emerson
works we have studied. That is, while the focus of your essay must be clearly on “Each and
All,” you should refer to other works by Emerson which will help illuminate the poem. Thus,
you must both explicate (do a close reading of) “Each and All” and show connections between
the poem and Emerson’s thought as a whole, where appropriate.
Be sure to have a clearly stated thesis in your introductory paragraph. Generalize freely, but be
sure to quote from the texts in order to substantiate your claims.
N.B.: This paper should be original literary analysis demonstrating your thoughtful reading of
Emerson. You are to use no secondary sources in preparing this essay.
I will be happy to discuss your developing essay with you. Please recall that office hours are
M&F, 1-2:30.