English 142 - Winter, 2013

Early American Literature

Class Information

Instructor: Ziser, Michael
CRN: 52747
Time: TR 12:10-1:30
Location: 118 Olson

Description

This course will focus on prose narratives—mostly fictional—written in the late colonial and early national periods of American history (approximately 1760 to 1812), ranging from tales of captivity to seduction stories, picaresques, historical romances, and gothic novels. Their authors’ preoccupations—sexual politics, colonial encounter, and racial ordering—will be ours as well for the quarter, with lecture material and limited optional background reading on the historical circumstances most relevant to each book. Primary readings will be fairly heavy but enjoyable—perfect for the cold winter months.

Grading

3 short assignments: 3@5% = 15%
2 papers, the second with a research component (5-6pp and 6-8pp): 25% and 35%
Final Exam: 25%

Texts

The Coquette, Hannah Webster Foster
The Power of Sympathy, William Hill Brown
Charlotte Temple, Susanna Rowson
Reuben and Rachel, Susanna Rowson
Modern Chivalry, Hugh Henry Brackenridge
Life of Olaudah Equiano, Olaudah Equiano
Sovereignty and Goodness of God, Mary Rowlandson
The Algerine Captive, Royall Tyler
The Female American, Unca Eliza Winkfield (pseud.)
Wieland, Charles Brockden Brown
Adventures of Jonathan Corncob, Jonathan Corncob (pseud.)
Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin