English 158A - Spring, 2013

The American Novel to 1900

Class Information

Instructor: Kilgore, John
CRN: 62584
Time: TR 12:10-1:30
Location: 118 Olson

Description

This course examines a diverse selection of important US novels from 1791-1901. We will read examples from some of the many generic traditions significant to the period, including the seduction tale, the gothic thriller, the historical romance, the reform/sentimental narrative, the maritime adventure story, regionalist satire, naturalist novella, and historical/documentary fiction. Lectures will focus on the historical contexts of the individual novels and the relationship between novelistic form and narrative content.

Grading

Attendance: 10%
Quizzes: 15%
Paper 1: 25%
Paper 2: 30% (higher scoring paper)
Final: 20%

Texts

Charlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth, Susanna Rowson
Wieland; or, The Transformation, Charles Brockden Brown
Hope Leslie; or, Early Times in the Massachusetts, Catharine Maria Sedgwick
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, Edgar Allan Poe
Pudd\'nhead Wilson, A Tale, Mark Twain
Clotel; or, The President\'s Daughter, William Wells Brown
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (A Story of New York), Stephen Crane
The Marrow of Tradition, Charles Chesnutt