American Literature 1865-1918









 

Syllabus

This is a schedule of the work we will discuss in class on each day. Most page numbers are for The Norton Anthology of American Literature 1865-1914 (Volume C). Page numbers prefaced by "Crane" are for The Red Badge of Courage, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, and Other Selected Writings; those prefaced by "Wharton" are for New Riverside Edition of Ethan Frome and Summer.

Tuesday, April 1
Introduction to class

Thursday, April 3

"The Literature of an Expanding Nation" (handout)
Whitman: Preface to Leaves of Grass (21-35), "Song of Myself, 1855" (37-79)
Tuesday, April 8
Dickinson: 49, 67, 185, 214, 216, 241, 280, 315, 328, 441, 505, 664, 712, 754, 1129, 1545, 1732 (these are poem numbers, not page numbers)
Thursday, April 10
Twain: "How to Tell a Story" (408-11), "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" (412-20), "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calvareas County" (215-19), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Chapters 1-4 (219-30)
Study Question One due
Tuesday, April 15
Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Chapters 5-20 (230-311)
Thursday, April 17
Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Chapters 21-33 (311-70)
Tuesday, April 22
Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Chapters 34-The Last (370-407)
Harris: "The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story" (592), "Mr. Rabbit Grossly Deceives Mr. Fox" (593)
Chesnutt: "The Wife of His Youth" (789-97)
Thursday, April 24
James: "The Art of Fiction" (553-67), Daisy Miller: A Study (468-506)
Study Question Two due
Tuesday, April 29
Woolson: "Miss Grief" (437-50)
Gilman: "The Yellow Wallpaper" & "Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper'" (832-45)
Freeman: "A New England Nun" & "The Revolt of 'Mother'" (725-43)
Thursday, May 1
Chopin: The Awakening Chapters 1-21 (633-83)
Tuesday, May 6
Chopin: The Awakening Chapters 22-39 (683-723)
Thursday, May 8
No Class Meeting: We're off to the Lit Fest!
Tuesday, May 13
Washington: selections from Up From Slavery (746-79)
Dunbar: "Frederick Douglass," "We Wear the Mask," "Sympathy" (handouts)
DuBois: selections from The Souls of Black Folk (876-901)
Study Question Three due
Thursday, May 15
Cochise: [I am alone] (460-2)
Charlot: [He has filled graves with our bones] (462-5)
Eastman: From the Deep Woods to Civilization excerpts (797-810)
Zitkala Sa: "Impressions from an Indian Childhood," "The School Days of an Indian Girl," and "An Indian Teacher among Indians" (1006-35)
Sunday, May 18
6 -10 p.m.: view The Birth of a Nation (extra class to make up for canceling on Thursday, May 8)
Tuesday, May 20
We'll view The Immigrant in class
Cahan: "A Sweat-Shop Romance" (820-30)
Frus & Corkin: "The Historical and Cultural Contexts of Stephen Crane" (9-29)
Crane: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets Chapters 1-5 (Crane 76-91)
Thursday, May 22
Crane: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets Chapters 6-end (Crane 91-130)
Roosevelt: "How Not to Help Our Poorer Brothers" (Crane 167-70)
Study Question Four due
Tuesday, May 27
Class will meet in basement "Aqua Lounge" of Evolution on Court Street, between Union & Washington Streets
Frus & Corkin: "The Civil War Remembered" (Crane 287-300)
Crane: Red Badge of Courage Chapters 1-12 (Crane 173-227)
Thursday, May 29
Crane: Red Badge of Courage Chapters 13-24 (Crane 227-71)
Tuesday, June 3
Wharton: Ethan Frome (Wharton 13-87)
Study Question Five due
Thursday, June 5
Wharton: Summer (Wharton 91-210)
Tuesday, June 10
7pm: All final projects are due in Shannon's office or mailbox.