English 143 - Winter, 2011

19th Century American Literature to the Civil War

Class Information

Instructor: Hsu, Hsuan L.
CRN: 22559
Time: MWF 1:10-2:00
Location: 106 Olson

Description
This course provides an overview of major texts and contexts in antebellum U.S. literature. Among the topics we will study are literary nationalism, “manifest destiny,” Transcendentalism, historical fiction, sentimentalism, slavery, racial thinking, the representation of nature, and the role of literature during the Civil War. Focusing on groundbreaking works by Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson, Hawthorne, Melville, Stowe, and Douglass, we will consider how formal innovations intersect with issues such as cultural independence, territorial expansion, Indian Removal, gender inequality, and the abolition of slavery.

TEXTBOOKS:
Norton Anthology of American Literature 7th edition, Volume B 1820-2865
H B Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin (Norton)

Grading

-Short essay (15%)
-Longer essay (30%)
-FOUR posted response papers, 100-150 words each (10%)
-final exam (25%)
-participation, quizzes, & in-class writing (20%)