AML 3311 Syllabus



Unless there are specific questions, I do not plan to discuss the introductions to various time periods as the information is relatively self-explanatory. However, a (very) small amount of questions will show up from these sections on the midterm and final as I am more interested in your knowledge of the primary text. When reading these sections play close attention to traits or characteristics of American literature and how they differ from other periods. Such information will help you in many areas of the class.
The introductions to the authors are not required reading, and nothing from them will appear on the midterm or final, but again you may find useful and interesting information in there nonetheless.
One other item of note: Unless we get a definite indication of gender, we should not assume that the narrator's gender (or nationality, ethnicity, age, and so forth) is the same as the author's. In short, the narrator is not automatically a "he" or a "she." "They" is incorrect unless we have multiple narrators.

Over MLK, Jr. weekend I linked all the texts on the syllabus to the Internet. Some of the texts include the whole shebang rather than the excerpts Norton gives us and some would proably print out a number of pages much higher than what is in the book. Some of these sites are private sites, so I have no idea what may be going on in terms of accuracy and completeness, or the lack thereof. Last I checked, all the links work, but sites (including this one) do have problems on occasion. The links aren't intended as a substitute for the book but as a way to keep up until everyone gets the book. You should still bring one version or another of the day's text to class. If you read this material on a computer elsewhere, but come to class with no text, you have placed yourself at a decided disadvantage. The syllabus still assumes that you have the book, so if you are trying to figure out which parts of certain poems, essays, and longer works to read, check with a fellow student who has the book.

Week 1 (January 3-7)


R: Introduction to the course. Discussion of course policy sheet and syllabus. Class webpage at www.oocities.org/wcnesbitt

Week 2 (January 10-14)


T: Reading 1 American Literature to 1700-1820 Introduction 171-179 and J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur "What is an American?" 300-309, Thomas Paine 321-328, the first paragraph of 328, Jonathan Edwards Sinners . . " 213-214 ,(the first full paragraph on 213 through the first full paragraph on 214), and Phyllis Wheatley "To the Right . . " 375-376
R: Reading 2 Mary Rowlandson 136-152, Benjamin Franklin "Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America" 227-230, American Literature 1820-1865 Introduction 425-443, and James Fenimore Cooper 462-469

Information about writing a literary research paper

Week 3 (January 17-21)


T: Reading 3 William Apess "An Indian's . . ." 477-482 and Ralph Waldo Emerson "Self-Reliance" 539-556
R: Reading 4 Nathaniel Hawthorne "Young Goodman Brown" 610-619 and "Rappacini's Daughter" 647-667

Week 4 (January 24-28)


T: Reading 5 Henry David Thoreau "Resistance to Civil Government" 837- 853 and "Where I Lived, What I Lived For" (900 starting with "morning is when I am awake" though the end of the first full paragraph on 902), and Walt Whitman "Preface to Leaves of Grass" 989-1003
R: Reading 6 Walt Whitman "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" 1070-71
Whitman Song of Myself 1003-5 sections 1 and 2, 1006-7 sec. 5, 1011 sec. 13 first two stanzas, 1017 sec. 21 first two stanzas, 1020 sec. 24 first two stanzas, 1025 sec. 32. first two stanzas, 1030 second full stanza on the page, 1046 sec. 51 third stanza, and 1046-47 sec. 52

Week 5 (January 31-February 4)


T: Reading 7 American Literature 1865-1914 Introduction 1223-234, W.D. Howells "Editha" 1443-453, and Kate Chopin "The Storm" 1603-607
R: Reading 8 Kate Chopin "Desiree's Baby" 1607-611, Charlotte Perkins Gilman "The Yellow Wallpaper" 1659-671, and Booker T. Washington "The Atlanta Exposition Adress" 1622-630

Week 6 (February 7-11)


T: Reading 9 W.E. Du Bois "The Forethought," "Of Our Spiritual Strivings," and "Of Mr. Booker T. Washington" 1703-719, Stephen Crane "The Open Boat" 1721-738 and Jack London "To Build a Fire" 1762-773
R: Reading 10 American Literature between the Wars 1914-1945 Introduction 1807-820, Robert Frost "Mending Wall" 1880-881, "The Gift Outright" 1892, Wallace Stevens "The Emperor of Ice Cream" 1922, William Carlos Williams "The Red Wheelbarrow" 1940 and "This Is Just to Say" 1940

Week 7 (February 14-18)


T: Reading 11 William Carlos Williams "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" 1944-945 Ezra Pound "A Pact" 1949 "In a Station of the Metro" 1949 1949-950, E.E. Cummings "in Just-" 2113-114, "Buffalo Bill's" 2115, and "i sing of Olaf glad and big" 2116-117
R: This is the day to bring in a two page draft of your research paper or the first two pages of your paper so that we can all get a sense of how to proceed. This is mandatory if you are turning in a research paper before midterm. You will bring enough printed copies for everyone to have a copy as well as a copy on disk. We'll take a count the class before to see how many copies you will need to bring. We will discuss what you have brought for us. I am happy to talk about papers with you before and after this date during office hours and to discuss thesis ideas via e-mail. However, I cannot respond to drafts via e-mail. In short, you must come on this day if you are giving me a research paper before midterm.

Week 8 (February 21-25)


T: Research Paper One due.
R: Midterm.

Week 9 (February 28-March 4)


T: Reading 12 E.E. Cummings "next to of course . . " 2115, "somewhere . . ." 2117, "anyone lived . . ." 217-118, and 2118-119
R: William Faulkner "A Rose for Emily" 2160-166 and 2178-190

(March 7-11)

Spring Break

Week 10 (March 14-18)


T: Ernest Hemingway "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" 2209-225, American Prose since 1945 Introduction 2275-285, and 2374-384
R: Richard Wright "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" 2257-265 and Alice Walker "Everyday Use" 2581-587

Week 11 (March 21-25)


T: Martin Luther King Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail" print this out, read it, and bring it in.
R: American Poetry Since 1945 Introduction 2609-2621, Theodore Roethke 2640, Gwendolyn Brooks "the Mother" 2698-699, and "We Real Cool" 2702

Week 12 (March 28-April 1)


T: Allen Ginsberg Howl2732-739
R: Allen Ginsberg "A Supermarket in California" 2739-740, "Footnote to Howl" and "Sunflower Sutra" print this out, read it, and bring it in.


Week 13 (April 4-8)


T: Sylvia Plath "Lady Lazarus" 2778-781, "Daddy" 2781-783, and "Child" 2784
R: Adrienne Rich "Diving into the Wreck" 2766-768 and "Power" 2768-769

Week 14 (April 11-15)


T: Gary Snyder 2773-774 (if you care to read the introduction)
Axe Handles and Pine Tree Tops, print this out, read it, and bring it in, Amiri Baraka "An Agony. As Now." 2789-790, and "Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note" print this out, read it, and bring it in.
R: This is the day to bring in a two page draft of your research paper or the first two pages of your paper so that we can all get a sense of how to proceed. This is mandatory if you are turning in a research paper before the final. You will bring enough printed copies for everyone to have a copy as well as a copy on disk. We'll take a count the class before to see how many copies you will need to bring. We will discuss what you have brought for us. I am happy to talk about papers with you before and after this date during office hours and to discuss thesis ideas via e-mail. However, I am cannot respond to drafts via e-mail. In short, you must come on this day if you are giving me a research paper before the final even if you came to the first session.

Week 15 (April 18-22)

T: Evaluations bring a #2 pencil. Research Paper Two due.
R: Last day of class. Final

Week 16 (April 25-29)

Finals week. No class.

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