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Course Description: 

Includes the work of major authors from the seventeenth through mid-nineteenth centuries; teaching in American literacy history and supplementary reading in the American novel are also assigned; works that are read and discussed are considered for their inherent worth and for their significance to the evolving national culture.

Course Goals: 

This course provides the students the opportunity to: 

1. Use basic literary terms necessary for the interpretation and analysis of literature. 
2. Read and interpret American literary masterpieces from the Colonial, Revolutionary and Romantic periods. 
3. Become familiar with major historical periods, literary figures and philosophical movements of the American Colonial, Revolutionary and Romantic periods in literary art. 
4. Understand critical theories of literature as applied to representative works. 
5. Learn the development of different genres of writing in fiction, poetry, drama and the novel through American literature from the Colonial, Revolutionary and Romantic periods. 
6. Use sources outside of the classroom text to aid in the interpretation and analysis of literary works presented in class. 
7. Use documentation methods for researched papers as established by the Modern Language Association.

Student Learning Objectives or Outcomes: 

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Goal 1: 

1. Identify through class discussions the content, structure, theme, characterizations, symbolism, and other analytical concepts of American literature.
2. Write essays of varying lengths identifying the content, structure, theme, characterizations, symbolism, and other analytical concepts of American literature.

Goal 2: 

1. Read critically selections of American Literature from and about the Colonial, Revolutionary and Romantic periods.
2. Interpret representative selections of American Literature from and about the Colonial, Revolutionary and the Romantic periods for underlying messages and themes.

Goal 3: 

1. Demonstrate connections between historical documents/events, figures, and literary works in class discussion.
2. Demonstrate connections between historical documents/events, figures, and literary works in essays of varying lengths using current Modern Language Association guidelines.

Goal 4: 

1. Explore various literary critical theories.
2. Apply literary theories to representative works of literature from the Colonial period through the Age of Romanticism.
3. Demonstrate connections between literary criticism and literary works in class discussion.
4. Demonstrate connections between literary criticisms and literary works in essays of varying lengths using current Modern Language Association guidelines.

Goal 5: 

1. Trace the development of fiction as a genre through the Colonial period to the Age of Romanticism.
2. Trace the development of poetry as a genre through the Colonial period to the Age of Romanticism.
3. Trace the development of drama as a genre through the Colonial period to the Age of Romanticism.
4. Trace the development of nonfiction essays (for example: historical documents) as a genre through the Colonial period to the Age of Romanticism. 
   Trace the development of the novel as a genre through the Colonial period to the Age of Romanticism.

Goal 6: 

1. Conduct searches for background information to aid in the understanding of American literature.
2. Present research findings in class discussions of representative works.
3. Present research findings in documented papers about representative works using Modern Language Association guidelines.

Goal 7: 

1. Demonstrate connections between historical documents and literary works in essays of varying lengths using current Modern Language Association guidelines.
2. Present research findings in documented papers about representative works using Modern Language Association guidelines.
3. Demonstrate connections between literary criticisms and literary works in essays of varying lengths using current Modern Language Association guidelines.

Sequence Of Topics:

1. Colonial
1. William Bradford
2. Ann Bradstreet 
3. Edward Taylor 
4. Jonathan Edwards 
5. Native American Voices
2. Revolution 
1. Benjamin Franklin 
2. Thomas Jefferson 
3. Thomas Paine 
4. Philip Freneau 
5. Phyllis Wheatley
6. Native American Voices
3. Romanticist
1. Washington Irving
2. William Cullen Bryant
3. James Fenimore Cooper
4. Edgar Allan Poe
5. Nathaniel Hawthorne
6. Herman Melville
7. Ralph Waldo Emerson
8. Henry David Thoreau
9. Harriet Ann Jacob
10. Abraham Lincoln
11. Walt Whitman
12. Emily Dickinson

Literary Critical Theories 

1. Selected essays relating critical theories such as: reader response, historical, psychological, sociological, etc.

American novels 

1. selected novels by American authors writing during the seventeenth through the mid-nineteenth from previous list to be used as supplementary reading

Assessment and Grading

 Class discussion  10%
 Informal writing/quizzes !0%
 Formal writing 20%
 Examinations  60%

Reference, Resources, and Learning Materials

Text: McMichael, George, ed. Anthology of American Literature, Volume 1: Colonial Through Romantic. 7th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2000.

Optional Materials: Harmon, William and C. Hugh Holman, eds. A Handbook to Literature. 8th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2000.

Additional References: 
Dictionary 
Thesaurus 
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (current edition) Required Equipment: 3.5" HD floppy disk Computer software: 
Other Course Requirements: Students are encouraged to gain access to the Internet.

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Send e-mail to Mrs. M. Stchur