FF:AJ15000 American Literature to 1865 - Course Information

AJ15000 American Literature: Beginnings to 1865

Extent and Intensity

0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).

Teacher(s)

doc. Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts

Timetable of Seminar Groups

AJ15000/A: Thu 14:10–15:45 C43, J. Smith
AJ15000/B: Thu 17:30–19:05 G24, J. Smith

Prerequisites (in Czech)

( AJ09999 Qualifying Examination || AJ01002 Practical English II ) && AJ04003 Intro. to Literary Studies II

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 75 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/75, only registered: 0/75, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/75

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

there are 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display

Course objectives

A survey of American literature from the colonial period through the Civil War. Specific topics to be addressed are indicated on the syllabus below. Assigned readings have in most cases been excerpted and arranged specifically for the course, and therefore should be accessed at the web address indicated (see "Odkaz a informace učitele" below).

Syllabus

• 25 September: BACKGROUND AND CONCEPTS FOR STUDYING EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE
• Read:
• Paul Boyer, American History: A Very Short Introduction, Preface and chapters 1-4
• ----------------------------------------------------------------
• 2 October: ENVISIONING THE “NEW-FOUND-LAND”
• Read:
• Michael Drayton, Ode to the Virginian Voyage
• Selections from Puritan writings, as posted
• William Cullen Bryant, The Prairies
• ----------------------------------------------------------------
• 9 October: THE AMERICAN FOUNDING
• Read:
• Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac and Autobiography, selections posted
• Selections from the Founders’ writings, as posted
• The Declaration of Independence
• Crevecouer, Letters from an American Farmer, selections posted
• Tench Coxe, A View of the United States, selections posted
• ----------------------------------------------------------------
• 16 October: NEOCLASSICISM AND CHANGING STYLES
• Read:
• Freneau and Brackenridge, The Rising Glory of America
• Selected Federalist Papers and other writings, as posted
• Selected writings on George Washington, as posted
• ----------------------------------------------------------------
• 23 October: RACE AND SLAVERY
• Read:
• Selected poems of Phillis Wheatley, as posted
• Selected “slave song” lyrics and commentary, as posted
• Selected writings on race, as posted
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Haiawatha, selections posted
• ----------------------------------------------------------------
• 6 November: INVERSIONS AND SATIRES
• Read:
• Royall Tyler, The Contrast, posted summary and Act I scene 2; Act II scene 2; Act III scenes 1-2
• Washington Irving, Knickerbocker's History of New York, selections posted, and Rip Van Winkle
• Selections from early American humorists, as posted
• ----------------------------------------------------------------
• 13 November: TRANSCENDENTALISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE
• Read:
• Selections from Ralph Waldo Emerson, as posted
• Theodore Parker, Of Justice and the Conscience
• Henry David Thoreau, Walden, selections posted
• ----------------------------------------------------------------
• 20 November: THE HAUNTED PAST
• Read:
• The Book of Mormon, selections posted
• Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown
• Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven and The Fall of the House of Usher
• ----------------------------------------------------------------
• 27 November: REVISIONISM AND PROTEST
• Read:
• William Apess, Lectures and Addresses, selections posted
• James Whitfield, America
• Frederick Douglass, Fourth of July Address
• Selections from feminist and abolitionist writings, as posted
• ----------------------------------------------------------------
• 4 December: THE CRISIS OF THE 1850S
• Read:
• Frederick Douglass, Autobiography, selections posted
• Harriett Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, selections posted
• Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, selections posted
• Walt Whitman, selected poems, as posted
• ----------------------------------------------------------------
• 11 December: THE CIVIL WAR; REVIEW AND EXAM PREPARATION
• Read:
• Abraham Lincoln, Addresses, selections posted
• Selected writings on the war, as posted

Literature

recommended literature
• A handbook of American literature : for students of English. Edited by Zbigniew Lewicki. Warsaw: U.S. Embassy, vi, 256. info
• GRAY, Richard J. A brief history of American literature. 1st pub. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, x, 410. ISBN 9781405192309. info

Teaching methods

Readings and lectures / discussions.

Assessment methods

Final exam at a time to be scheduled. The "re-sit" will be an essay assignment.

Language of instruction

English

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

Study Materials
The course is taught annually.

Information about innovation of course.

This course has been innovated under the project "Faculty of Arts as Centre of Excellence in Education: Complex Innovation of Study Programmes and Fields at FF MU with Regard to the Requirements of the Knowledge Economy“ – Reg. No. CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0228, which is cofinanced by the European Social Fond and the national budget of the Czech Republic.

Teacher's information

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0ByITdoqGbUYXaEZsSTZ4dmFKNkE&usp=sharing

• Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2014, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2014/AJ15000