Engl 2110 American Lit1, O'Donnell, ETSU, Fall 2023
[ Policies ][Calendar]
Calendar
last update: December 2, 2023
- Class meets onMondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from10:30 to 11:25am in Burleson 302.
- Note: Due to mydaughter's school schedule I have cancelled four Friday class meetings thissemester. Those meeting dates are Sep 1; Sep 15; Oct 13; and Oct 27.
- See"Policies" link, above, for a calendar overview.
WEEK 1
Wednesday, Aug 30
Read "My Kinsman,Major Molineaux", the short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, on p308 of the2nd volume of the 10th edition of the Norton Anthology of American Lit.
Friday, Sep 1: Class cancelled.
WEEK 2
Monday, Sep 4: Labor day.
Wednesday, Sep 6:
Read "The Author's Account of Himself," fromTheSketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, by Washington Irving (p27-28). And read"Rip Van Winkle" (p29), also by Irving.
Also read James Fenimore Cooper,excerpt from Chapter III of Volume II of The Pioneers [The Slaughter ofthe Pigeons] (p72).
Friday, Sep 8
Read Edgar Allan Poe, "Ligeia" and "The BlackCat." (I will not necessarily provide page numbers for readingassignments, from here on out. Use the index, in the back of the anthology, tofind page numbers for the readings.)
Read "The Humbug:Edgar Allan Poe and the economy of horror." By Jill Lepore. The NewYorker, April 27, 2009, here online: www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2009/04/27/090427crat_atlarge_lepore.(Click here fora cachedversion.)
Reading responsedue: Respond to Poe's short stories.Do you enjoy the stories? Do they creep you out? What effects do the storieshave on you, and why? Describe the narrators. Describe the settings. 1-2 typedpages. Bring a hard copy of your response to class, and be prepared to pass itaround to other students.
WEEK 3
Monday, Sep 11: Read Frederick Douglass,Narrative ofthe Life...[1845]; the headnotes, preface and chapters 1-9.
Wednesday, Sep 13: Read Douglass chapters 10-11, and theappendix.
Friday, Sep 15: Class cancelled.
WEEK 4
Monday, Sep 18
Read headnotes forHarriet Beecher Stowe (p760-762), and read these 4 chapters from Volume I ofStowe's 1852 novel,Uncle Tom's Cabin: Chapters I, III, VII, andIX; pages 762-794.
Also read "Did abook start the Civil War? 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' is a testament to the power ofculture." By David Reynolds.New York Daily News, Monday,April 11, 2011.www.nydailynews.com/opinion/book-start-civil-war-uncle-tom-cabin-testament-power-culture-article-1.112605
Wednesday, Sep 20
Continuing Volume I ofStowe's novel, read chapters XII, XIII, and XIV.
Friday, Sep 22
From Volume II ofStowe's novel, read chapters XXXI, XXXIV and XL; pages 843-859.
Reading responsedue: Compare Douglass's nonfictionaccount of American slavery in the decades before the Civil War with H. B.Stowe's fictional account of the same general subject matter. How are theseaccounts similar? How are they different?
WEEK 5
Monday, Sep 25
Read "The CherokeeLeader Who Paved the Way for MLK." By Steve Inskeep. The WashingtonPost, May 29, 2015. Click here: faculty.etsu.edu/odonnell/readings/inskeep_cherokee_leader.pdf
Read Elias Boudinot --headnote, and excerpt from the first edition of the Cherokee Phoenix,Feb 21, 1828; pages 287-291.
Wednesday, Sep 27
Read "The CherokeeMemorials," headnote and Memorial of the Cherokee Council dated Nov 5,1829; pages 292-297.
Friday, Sep 29
Read the letter from R.W. Emerson to Martin Van Buren, April 23, 1838; pages 301-304.
WEEK 6
Monday, Oct 2
Read Ralph WaldoEmerson's poem, "Brahma," here online: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45868/brahma-56d225936127b
Read Herman Melville'spoem, "The Portent," page 1422.
Read Thoreau, excerptfrom "A Plea for Captain John Brown;" pages 1060-1064.
Wednesday, Oct 4
Read, from Thoreau's Walden,at least one chapter of your choosing, from 8 chapters that are included in ouranthology (chaps 1, 2, 7, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18), on pages 947 to 1049. Beprepared to present the chapter you choose, in class. Be prepared to discusswhy you chose that chapter, explain what the chapter is about, and select agood passage to read aloud in class.
Friday, Oct 6
Read Ralph WaldoEmerson, "The Divinity School Address;" pages 203-216.
WEEK 7
Monday, Oct 9
Read the first 3chapters -- pages 406-419 -- of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel, TheScarlet Letter.
Wednesday, Oct 11
Exam 1, in class today.
Friday, Oct 13: Class cancelled.
WEEK 8
Monday, Oct 16: Fall break. No class.
Wednesday, Oct 18:
Extra credit event: Poetry Hoot at the Down Home,300 W. Main Street, 7-9pm.
Friday, Oct 20
Read chapters 4, 5 and 6-- pages 419-435 -- of The Scarlet Letter.
WEEK 9
Monday, Oct 23
Read chapters 7 through15 -- pages 435-480 -- of The Scarlet Letter.
Wednesday, Oct 25
Read chapters 16 through24 -- pages 480-523 -- of The Scarlet Letter.
Extra credit event: AuthorJeff VanderMeer speaks, Brown Hall Auditorium, 7pm.
Friday, Oct 27:Class cancelled.
WEEK 10
Monday, Oct 30
Read Lincoln'sGettysburg address and 2nd inaugural address, in volume B of the Nortonanthology.
Wednesday, Nov 1
Read "When LilacsLast in the Dooryard Bloom'd" by Whitman, pages 1382-1388 in volume B ofthe Norton anthology.
Friday, Nov 3
Read three poems thatGeorge Moses Horton published in 1865, on pages 1618-1621 of volume B of theNorton.
Read five poems that H.Melville published in 1866, on pages 1422-1425.
WEEK 11
Monday, Nov 6
In volume A of theNorton anthology, read the following by Anne Bradstreet -- "To the Memoryof My Dear and Ever Honored Father ..." p218; "To Her Father..."p220; "The Author to Her Book" and "Before the Birth..."p230; "To My Dear and Loving Husband" p237.Also read the5 poems on p234-238, and the letter which appear on pages 241-249.
Reading responsedue: Respond to Bradstreet's poems.What do they tell you about Puritan experience, and the Puritan mindset? Do youfeel any connection to Bradstreet? Focus on one or two poems, and quote apassage or two.
Wednesday, Nov 8
Read, in volume A of theNorton anthology, the following poems by Phillis Wheatley --"OnBeing Brought..." p715; "To the Right Honourable William..."p715; "To S.M., a Young African Painter..." p721; "To His ExcellencyGeneral Washington" p722.
Friday, Nov 10: Class cancelled.
WEEK 12
Monday, Nov 13
Read from theAutobiography of Thomas Jefferson, volume A, p622-628 (wherein he discusses thedrafting of the Declaration).Read excerpts from "Notes on the Stateof Virginia," p629-639.
Wednesday, Nov 15
Read"PresidentTom’s Cabin: Jefferson, Hemings, and a disclaimed lineage,"by JillLepore,The New Yorker, September 22, 2008:www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/02/22/president-toms-cabin(clickhere foracached version).
Also read"TheMonster of Monticello" [on Jefferson's views of race]. By PaulFinkelman.New York Times, November 30, 2012.www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/opinion/the-real-thomas-jefferson.html
Extra credit event: AuthorJim Minick speaks, Rogers-Stout 102, 4pm.
Extra credit event: Poetry Hoot at the Down Home,300 W. Main Street, 7-9pm.
Friday, Nov 17
Read, here online:"Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. BlackAmericans have fought to make them true." By Nikole Hannah-Jones. The 1619Project. The New York Times, August 14, 2019. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/black-history-american-democracy.html. If that link is behind a paywall, try thislink; or clickhere for a cached version.
Reading responsedue: Respond to Nikole Hannah-Jonesarticle. Write a few paragraphs. Bring what you've read by Thomas Jeffersoninto your discussion.
WEEK 13
Monday, Nov 20
Read Thomas Paine,"The Crisis, No. 1," p607-613 of volume A of the Norton; and ChaptersI and II from "The Age of Reason," p613-616.
Wednesday and Friday,Nov 22 and 24:Thanksgivingholiday.
WEEK 14
Monday, Nov 27
Read Ben Franklin,excerpts from Part Two of his autobiography -- including the prefatory shortletters by James and Vaughan, respectively -- on pages 504-520 in volume A ofthe Norton Anthology.Also read Franklin's "The Way toWealth."
Wednesday, Nov 29
Read, here online,"The Creed: What Poor Richard cost Benjamin Franklin,"by goodol' Jill Lepore,The New Yorker, Jan 28, 2008:www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/01/28/the-creed(clickhere foracached version).
Friday, Dec 1
Read the 25 poems byEmily Dickinson that appear from page 1512 through the top of page 1525, involume B of the Norton anthology.
Reading responsedue: Write a couple of paragraphsabout one of those 25 Dickinson poems that you read for the assignment today.Consider: Why did you choose to write about this particular the poem? What isthe poem about? What effect does the poem have on you? What do you think wereDickinson's intentions, in writing the poem?
WEEK 15
Monday, Dec 4
Skim the Dickinson poemson pages 1525 to 1544 of volume B of the Norton anthology. Pick 2 poems to readout loud, on your own time. Then come to class prepared to present and discussthe 2 poems that you have selected.
Wednesday, Dec 6
In-class reviewfor exam 2.
Friday, Dec 8: Class cancelled.
Exam2 is held during the final exam period: Weds Dec 13, 8-10am
