English 4348: Spring 2015
American Renaissance
Dr. Ann BeebeOffice Hours:
BUS 250MWF 10:00-11:30am and
Office: 903-565-5827by appointment
Home & Cell Numbers given in classEmail:
Welcome to English 4348 (American Renaissance). I am looking forward to studying the evolution of American literature during the 1830s and 1860s over the semester with you.
I work hard to put together my classes, and I expect a great deal from my students. I expect you to be in class every day and on time. I expect all reading to be completed by the assigned date. I expect your reading to be active. Mark up your book and take notes as you read. I expect everyone to participate substantially in class and Blackboard discussions and listen respectfully to classmates. And lastly, if you have any questions about class policies, assignments, or readings, I expect you to ask them. You may always ask questions in class, call or email me, or drop by my office.
In return there are certain things you can expect from me. I will attend class and be on time. I will keep my office hours and make appointments with students who cannot meet during my hours. I will complete all the readings and plan lessons by the assigned date. I will give all assignments in writing and sufficiently in advance. I will grade and return all assignments in a timely manner. I will maintain your Grade Center on Blackboard so you can track your weighted course grade. I will answer questions about assignments in class or in my office. If I cannot answer a question when you ask it, I will have the answer by the next class period.
Required Texts: Please use these editions.
- Emerson’s Poetry and Prose (Porte, ed. Norton. ISNB: 978-0-393-96792-0)
- The House of Seven Gables (Levine, ed. Norton. ISBN: 978-0-939-924763-3)
- Woman in the 19th Century (Reynolds, ed. Norton. ISBN: 978-0-393-97157-6)
- Leaves of Grass and Other Writings (Moon, ed. 2nd ed. Norton. ISBN: 978-0-939-97496-6)
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Andrews, ed. Norton. ISBN: 978-0-393-96966-5)
- The Wide Wide World (Tompkins, ed. CUNY Press. ISBN: 978-0935312669)
- Scribbling Women: Short Stories (Showalter, ed. Dent. ISBN: 978-0788197475)
- The Poems of Emily Dickinson (Franklin, ed. Harvard ISBN: 0-674-67624-6) – Please use the FRANKLIN edition only.
Questions to ask of every author: (Possible BB posts & class discussion)
1. Identify 10+ characteristics of the author’s writing style.
2. How did this author influence the other authors on the syllabus? How was this author influenced by the
authors on the syllabus or other authors (US, UK, World)? Make connections.
3. How does this author address the role of women in the house and in the United States?
4. How does this author (re)define American masculinity?
5. What is this author’s view on education? Consider the education of boys and girls.
6. How does this author address the tension between the individual and the community?
7. How does this author address the legal reality of slavery? How does this author address the separate
issue of racism?
8. How does this author (re)define motherhood / fatherhood?
9. How does this author address class / economic divisions?
10. What images or symbols are central to this author’s work?
11. How does this author address issues related to religion (faith, doubt, death, etc.)?
Daily Schedule:
[This schedule includes all major readings and assignments. Small additions or changes
may be made. I will make any such changes in writing.]
Week One:
M, 1/12Introduction to course, texts, assignments, and expectations
W, 1/14Read Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American Scholar” 56-69
RQ #1: In “The American Scholar” Emerson discusses three different influences
on the human mind: Nature, books, and action. Which influence does he take to be the most important? Why? Emerson stresses that American scholars have the duty “to guide men by showing them facts amidst appearances.” How is this to be accomplished? [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
[Before 9:05am on the assigned day, email me your RQ from your UTT Patriot email account: . Late RQs will not be accepted. Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
Turn in Student Information Sheet
F, 1/16ReadEmerson, “Self Reliance” 120-137
RQ #2:Analyze this statement: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little
minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines” (125). Explain Emerson’s claims about consistency in this essay. [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
Week Two:
M, 1/19No Class
W, 1/21Emerson, “Experience” 198-213
Emerson, Context 601-607
RQ #3:Summarize (with page references) three key themes in “Experience.”
After you have provided a clear summary, engage the theme you think is most relevant to 21st-century life. Why do you think that theme, and Emerson’s approach to the topic, is still pressing?
F, 1/23Emerson, “The Poet” 183-198
Emerson, Context 597-601, 648-654
Quiz 1 (all readings since January 12)The quizzes will take place in the last 25
minutes of class. Each quiz will consist of four short answer questions. They will be closed book / notes quizzes.
Week Three:
M, 1/26Emily Dickinson (Franklin edition only), Poem Numbers 272-347 (from 1862)
RQ #4: Explicate one of the Dickinson poems from today’s readings. [Note: if
you need to review prosody and your explication skills, please view the “Poetry Workshop” video lecture under “Getting Started.” You can also consult sample explications from The Explicator, .edu websites on poetry, or poetry textbooks. Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Travelled is very readable and practical.]
W, 1/28Margaret Fuller, Preface – 35 (con’t)
RQ #5:Analyze the persona of Woman in the Nineteenth Century. [Make sure to
include page numbers when you quote.]
NOTE: Start brainstorming paper topics now. Look ahead on the syllabus. Pull
up current articles on these texts on the library databases. What are the trending topics and research questions? Recommended: They Say; I Say.
F, 1/30Fuller, 35-72
Fuller, Context 213-223
RQ #6: Fuller’s text makes many references to literature and classical history.
Select one allusion and analyze its functions (3-4) in her work. [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
Week Four:
M, 2/2Fuller, 72 – 105 (finish)
Fuller, Context 223-226, 232-234
RQ #7: Analyze this statement: “But if you ask me what offices they may fill; I
reply – any. I do not care what case you put; let them be sea-captains, if you will” (102). [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
W, 2/4Fuller, Robinson essay, 243-257
Quiz 2 (all readings since the last quiz including today’s assignment)
F, 2/6Scribbling Women: Sedgwick, 3-16
Scribbling Women: Phelps, 17-25
RQ #8:Analyze Mrs. James in “The Angel over the Right Shoulder.” Offer a
physical, psychological, social, and economic analysis. Bonus question: Can you compare / contrast this character with any other character in US / UK literature? [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
Week Five:
M, 2/9Frederick Douglass, Preface through Chapter 4 (3-25)
RQ #9: What are 3-4 functions (intended and intended) of the prefaces by
Garrison and Phillips to Douglass’ Narrative?
W, 2/11Douglass, Chapters 5 through 10 (25-65)
RQ #10: Who is Mr. Convey and what is his significance in Douglass’ Narrative?
[Don’t just describe him; analyze him. Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
F, 2/13Douglass, finish the Narrative (65-80)
Quiz 3 (all readings since the last quiz including today’s assignment)
Exam 1 Study Guide given to class
Week Six:
M, 2/16Dickinson, (Franklin edition only) Poem Numbers 348-405 (from 1862)
RQ #11:Explicate one of the Dickinson poems from today’s readings.
W, 2/18Scribbling Women: Harper, 27-36
F, 2/20Exam 1 Review
Pick up take-home essay question
Week Seven:
M, 2/23Turn in typed take-home essay at the beginning of class
Take in-class portion of Exam 1
W, 2/25Nathaniel Hawthorne, Introduction through Chapter 5 (ix-63)
Hawthorne, Context 317-320
F, 2/27Hawthorne, Chapters 6 through 10 (63-113)
Hawthorne, Context 320-323
RQ #12: How does the text compare and contrast Phoebe and Hepzibah? Why
does the text make this comparison so explicit? Bonus question: Can you compare / contrast these characters with any other character in US / UK literature? [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
Week Eight:
M, 3/2Hawthorne, Chapters 11 through 15 (113-169)
Hawthorne, Context 324-331
Post 3-5 potential paper topics on BB by midnight. Provide feedback for 3+
classmates. [All 4348 papers must analyze and interpret one or more of the texts studied in this class. Biographies, plot summaries, historical analysis, appreciations, or summaries of published critical articles will not be accepted.]
W, 3/4Hawthorne, finish the novel (169-225)
Hawthorne, Context 332-339
RQ #13: Hawthorne is well-known for his use of symbols in his novels and short
stories. List 3-5 symbols in this novel and select one for an extended analysis. [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
F, 3/6Scribbling Women: Spofford, 37-49
Dickinson, (Franklin edition only), Poem Numbers 406-428 (from 1862)
Quiz 4 (all readings since the last quiz including today’s assignment)
March 9-13Spring Break
Week Nine:
M, 3/16Susan Warner, Chapters 1 through 7 (1-76)
RQ #14:Analyze the mother-daughter relationship that Warner makes the
foundation of this novel. Explain 5+ characteristics of this relationship. [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
W, 3/18Warner, Chapters 8 through 15 (76-156)
F, 3/20Warner, Chapters 16 through 21 (156-227)
Quiz 5 (all readings since the last quiz including today’s assignment)
Week Ten:
M, 3/23Warner, Chapters 22 through 29 (227-305)
RQ #15:Analyze Nancy. Offer a physical, psychological, social, and economic
analysis. Bonus question: Can you compare / contrast this character with any other character in US / UK literature? [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
W, 3/25Warner, Chapters 30 through 36 (305-381)
F, 3/27Warner, Chapters 37 through 43 (381-454)
RQ #16: What are Mr. Saunders’ functions in the text? Offer a physical,
psychological, social, and economic analysis. Bonus question: Can you compare / contrast this character with any other character in US / UK literature? [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
Week Eleven:
M, 3/30Warner, Chapters 44 through 48 (454-527)
RQ #17: Why does Warner decide to make Ellen move to Edinburgh? The
change in setting serves what functions (3-4)? [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
W, 4/1Warner, finish novel and Afterword (527-605)
F, 4/3Scribbling Women: Davis, 51-86
Quiz 6 (all readings since the last quiz including today’s assignment)
Week Twelve:
M, 4/6Dickinson, (Franklin edition only) Poem Numbers 429-498 (from 1862)
Commit to a paper topic. Post a paragraph description to BB and email me a
copy () by midnight. The paragraph should include a working title, a working thesis, and a statement of the topic’s relevancy. [Paper topic approval is required.] Provide feedback to 3+ classmates on BB.
W, 4/8Scribbling Women: Alcott, 95-114
RQ #18:Analyze Miss Dane. How and why does she change in the story? What
does she learn about herself? What does she learn about others? Bonus question: Can you compare / contrast this character with any other character in US / UK literature? [Make sure to include page numbers when you quote.]
F, 4/10Exam 2 Review
Pick up take-home essay question
Week Thirteen:
M, 4/13Turn in typed take-home essay at the beginning of class
Take in-class portion of Exam 2
W, 4/15Walt Whitman, “Preface” 616-636, “One’s-Self I Sing” 3, “I Hear America
Singing” 12-13, “Poets to Come” 14
RQ #19:Analyze the persona of the 1855 preface. [Make sure to include line
numbers when you quote.]
F, 4/17Whitman, “I Hear It Was Charged against Me” 110, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” 135-140, “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” 206-212, “A Noiseless Patient Spider” 377
Whitman, Context 636-646, 493-505, 800-802, 823-830
RQ #20: Explicate “A Noiseless Patient Spider.”
Week Fourteen:
M, 4/20Whitman, “Calvary Crossing a Ford” 251-252, “The Wound-Dresser” 259-261,
“To a Certain Civilian” 272, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” 276-283
Whitman, Context 836-844
RQ #21: Explicate “Calvary Crossing a Ford.”
Due Date:Optional Extra Credit – Annotated bibliography of internet resources
W, 4/22Required Peer Review: Bring 3+ pages of your draft to class. [Missed peer
review = one letter grade deduction from paper grade.]
F, 4/24Essays due at the beginning of class – 2 formats. Essay manila folder
(not envelope) should include: final version with WC page in MLA format, draft from peer review, peer review comments, & copies of research. You will also submit your paper over Safe Assign on Blackboard before class.
M, 4/27Campus Study Day
Additional Information
Grading:
Quizzes10%
Exam 120%
Exam 2 20%
Essay with scholarly research (8-10pages + WC page)30%
Reading Questions10%
Daily Work: Class Participation (not attendance), Blackboard
Participation, Peer Review10%
You should expect to spend 2 hours outside class for every 1 hour in class. Translation: You should study 6 hours a week (minimum) outside of class for each 3-credit course.
[12 credit hours + 24 hours outside of class = 36 hours per week for a full time student.]
The last day to withdraw from a Spring class is March 23rd.
Student Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the semester, students should be able to:
- Reproduce a timeline of American literature from the 1830s to the 1860s that includes key genres, styles, topics, and authors
- Articulate the themes and ideas representative of American literature from the 1830s to the 1860s
- Recognize how historical, political, and social events shape our analysis and appreciation of literature
- Argue independent interpretations of canonical and non-canonical texts in the American literary tradition
- Write persuasive close readings / explications of short stories, novels, poems, and essays
- Use the terms related to literary study and literary theory appropriately in discussion and in writing
- Enter the critical interpretation of literary texts with published scholars in their own essays
- Understand literature’s significance in creating and shaping an evolving American identity
Reading Questions:
On the daily schedule I have written 21 reading questions. [Submission Format: Before class on the assigned day, email me your RQ from your UTT Patriot email account: . Late RQs will not be accepted.] Answer the reading questions in complete sentences with enough thoughtful detail to demonstrate that you have read the assigned works and have come to class prepared to discuss them. The daily reading questions will be worth 10% of your final grade.
How to Explicate a Poem:
An explication is not a prose paraphrase. It offers a close reading of an excerpt or entire poem. A poetry explication is always written in complete sentences. For a quiz or exam explication you will typically be given 4-8 lines of a poem. Your explication should run 6-10 complex sentences. The first two sentences should contextualize the poem (possibilities: relevant author’s biography, time period, type of poem, connections to other poems by same author or by other writers). You should next address the overall theme of the poem and explain where your excerpt fits into the poem’s project. Pay close attention to form, meter, rhyme, etc. Use literary terms knowledgably. Explain their relevance to your interpretation. Work closely with the specific lines you have been given. Focus on key words or phrases, images, sounds, and offer your interpretations. Your last sentence should attempt to wrap up your close reading of the quotation. [See the “Poetry Workshop” video lecture on your Blackboard.]
Quizzes and Exams:
You will have 6 reading quizzes throughout the semester. They should not be difficult. The quizzes will be geared toward plot lines and characters. If you have read the selections and taken some notes, you should pass them. Quizzes missed due to an unexcused absence cannot be made up. Quizzes missed due to an excused absence must be rescheduled by the student. The quizzes are worth 10% of your final grade. Quizzes will take place in the last 25 minutes of class and are always closed notes and book. Cheating on a quiz in English 4348 will result in failure of the quiz. A second cheating incident will result in failure of the class.
1
You will have 2 exams. While they will also encompass plot lines and characters, they will go beyond memorization and ask you to do some interpretation and argumentation. If you have read the assignments, taken notes, participated in class and on BB, and paid attention to the development of themes along a series of authors, you should pass the exams. I will provide a study guide for each exam. Each exam is worth 20% of your course grade.
Research Essay:
This assignment requires you to go beyond a book review or research report. I am not checking to see if you have read the works in question. I want to understand your thoughts on the readings and have you present a well-reasoned and carefully written argument. You must make a claim (thesis), give reasons, offer evidence, show awareness of other points of view, etc. The essay should be 90% your ideas / words and 10% quotes. Do not overquote.
Details:
- Topic choices DUE on March 2nd (Topic Approval Required)
- 8-10 pages, ds, typed, 1 inch margins, 12 New Times Roman
- Appropriate use of 3-5 ACADEMIC SECONDARY sources (no encyclopedias, no book reviews, no cliff notes or spark notes, no Wikipedia, no non-academic websites). If you have any questions about a source, please check with me before you include a reference to it in your essay. Unless specifically approved, all sources must have been published between 1985-2015. NOTE: Your 4348 essays must be original works of scholarship. You are NOT paraphrasing or summarizing what other critics have said about the work(s).
- Required peer review on April 22nd.(You can turn in a draft to me at anytime. Give me 24 hours to make comments.)
- 30% of your final grade
- Turn in drafts, peer review, copies of research in a manila folder on April 24th.
Paper Format:
Title pages are not necessary. On the first page, top left, include the single-spaced header:
Your name
English 4348.001
My name (Dr. Ann Beebe)
Date
Leave one space and center your title. (All essays should have original titles.) Number and staple your pages. Make sure your margins do not exceed 1 inch; your font size should be 12. Always leave time to proofread your final version and make corrections. MLA in-text citation and a Works Cited page are required for sources. Please do not put your essay in a plastic cover.
Extra Credit Possibility – Internet Resources:
There are so many resources on the web for students of the American Renaissance – YouTube clips, TED talks, video lectures, podcasts, etc. You will be running across them as you read and investigate your readings on the web. I am offering you the chance to earn some extra credit by gathering a minimum of 10 high-quality links connected to the authors / texts on our syllabus for an annotated bibliography. You can focus on one author or a range of authors. Each entry should include the title of the website, an active link, and your 7+ sentence summary and evaluation of the link. (What is it? How long is it? Who posted it? How credible is it? Who might find the link useful? Why?)