Introduction to English II: American Literature and Culture to 1855

1

English 11B/American Studies 150

Introduction to English II: American Literature and Culture to 1855

Judith Richardson

Lectures: TuTh 10:30-11:50, Dinkelspiel G10

Office Hours:TBD

Office Location:Bldg 460 (Margaret Jacks Hall), Room 323

E-mail: ; Phone: 723-2724

Text: The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 8th Edition, Volumes A (Beginnings to 1820) and B (1820-1865). Available at the Stanford Bookstore. Unless otherwise noted, readings can be found in this anthology. Please have read the texts before the relevant class date. Check the CourseWork website for more specific reading instructions each week.

Schedule of Readings and Lectures

Week 1:

March 29: Introduction: America, Through the Looking Glass

March 31: Mount versus Hill: Some Colonial Models:

• Thomas Morton, New English Canaan
• William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, all selections from Book I, and “The Remainder of Anno 1620”; “Mr. Morton of Merrymount”; “War with the Pequots”; and “A Horrible Truth” from Book II
• John Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity”

Week 2 (April 5th and 7th): Puritan Delights and Dilemmas

• Edward Taylor, selections from Sermon VI (handout), and selected poems.
• Anne Bradstreet, selected poems

• Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson
• Cotton Mather, “The Wonders of the Invisible World”

Week 3 (April 12th and 14th): Enlightenments and 18th Century Selves

• Jonathan Edwards, “Personal Narrative” and “A Divine and Supernatural Light.”
• Benjamin Franklin, “The Way to Wealth” and The Autobiography Parts I, II, and part of Part III

Week 4 (April 19th and 21st): Revolutionary Sentiments: Affection, Seduction, and the Female Subject

• Phyllis Wheatley, selected poems
• Hannah Foster, The Coquette; or, The History of Eliza Wharton

Week 5 (April 26th and 28th):Tell a Tale of Haunting

• Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
• Edgar Allan Poe, “The Black Cat”

Week 6 (May 3rdand 5th): A New England Primer

• Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

Week 7 (May 10th and 12th): Expansive Americans

• Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”
• Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”

Week 8 (May 17th and 19th): A Week in the Woods

• Henry David Thoreau, Walden (selected chapters)

Week 9 (May 24th and 26th): Constricted Americans

• Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
• Harriet Jacobs, selections from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Week 10 (May 31st): Loopholes.

• Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener”