American Literature I 4219-AL001

KNOWLEDGE
knows and understands:

- the main trends and works of American literature, literary genres typical of American literature, its major representatives, in relation to literature of the USA from the colonial era to the time of the Civil War
- theoretical and methodological foundations of literary studies, including terminology used in the history of American literature, in relation to literature of the USA from the colonial era to the time of the Civil War
- the connections between US culture and American literature
- interdisciplinary contexts of American literature from the colonial times to the Civil War, its social and political contexts

SKILLS
is able to:

- interpret works of American literature from the colonial times to the Civil War in the context of broadly understood American culture
- find and critically analyze literary sources and prepare oral presentations and written papers in English about them
- participate, under the supervision of an academic advisor, in the preparation of research projects in the field of American literature from the colonial times to the Civil War

SOCIAL COMPETENCES:
is ready to:

- use acquired interdisciplinary knowledge in the field of American literature from the colonial times to the Civil War to formulate own opinions, and recognize its importance in solving cognitive and practical problems

Attendance and participation - 30 p.
midterm test - 30 p.
final test - 40 p.

Grading scale

100-97 5!
96-91 5
90-84 4+
83-78 4
77-68 3+
67-60 3
59-0 2

None

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PURITANISM
• John Winthrop, “A Modell of Christian Charity” (s. 1-3, 7-9)
• “The Coming of the Wasichu” [Brule Sioux]
• Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (selections)
• Edward Taylor, “Upon a Spider Catching a Fly”
• Anne Bradstreet, “The Author to Her Book”, “Upon Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666”
• Jonathan Edwards, “Personal Narrative,” or “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (instructor’s choice)

THE ENLIGHTENMENT
• Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, Part II

PRE-ROMANTICISM
• Philip Freneau, “Lines Occasioned by a Visit to an Old Indian Burying Ground”
• Charles Brockden Brown, “Somnambulism”
• Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle,” or “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (instructor’s choice)

ROMANTYZM
• Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Black Cat”
• Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, or two stories: “My Kinsman, Major Molineux” and one other story chosen (instructor decides whether a given group reads SL or stories)

AFRICAN AMRICANS AND SLAVERY
• Phillis Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” "To His Excellency, General Washington"
• Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”
• Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (I-IV; X),
• Harriet Jacobs, Incidents of the Life of a Slave Girl (I, VI, X)

THE INDIAN QUESTION
• William Apess, “An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man”
• Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Letter to Martin Van Buren"

TRANSCENDENTALISM
• Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”
• Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience”; selections from Walden

MELVILLE
• Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” or “Billy Budd, Sailor” (instructor’s choice)

POETRY
• Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself” (części: 1, 2, 3, 6)
• Emily Dickinson: five poems selected by instructor, including “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”)

MARK TWAIN
"The Story of a Bad Little Boy," "The Story of a Good Little Boy," “The Celebrated Jumping Frog…," "Journalism in Tennessee"

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

• Description of 4219-AL001 in USOSweb