English 310/510 Fall 2000 Schedule

Fall 2000

M W F 12-12:50, AD 132

Dr. Donna M. Campbell
Robinson House 22, 323-6676
Office Hours: M 11-11:50, 1-2; W F 11-11:50 and by appointment
campbedm@gmail.com

index.html

Required Texts

Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Fifth Edition. Volume I. New York: Norton, 1998.

Derounian-Stodola, Kathryn Zabelle, ed. Women's Indian Captivity Narratives. New York: Penguin, 1998.

Also required: An e-mail account that you check frequently.

Course Description

English 310/510 (Women's Studies 321C) covers American literature from the beginning through the 1840s and examines literary responses to the question "What is an American?" through a variety of fiction and nonfiction sources: essays, novels, short stories, poems, captivity narratives, and autobiographies. Beginning with Spanish and Native American narratives of contact between cultures, the early sections of the course will progress from the self-questioning of Puritan writers such as Bradford, Bradstreet, Taylor, and Rowlandson to the mythologizing tendencies of Crevecoeur, Franklin, Irving, and Cooper. The later sections of the course will explore Native American and African-American texts as well as the roots of American romanticism in canonical writers such as Emerson and Hawthorne.

Note on Assignments

This schedule should be regarded as a tentative guide to the assignments; it will change as the semester progresses. Because good, in-depth class discussion is more important than keeping up with the schedule, you should not be disturbed if some selections are omitted or if we appear to fall behind. If you are absent, please check with me or with a classmate to make sure of the assignment.

You should read all assignments carefully, including the biographical and introductory material in the Norton Anthology of American Literature, and come to class prepared to discuss the reading. In addition, you should bring with you a question or comment about the day's assignment written on a 3 x 5 index card.

Schedule of Assignments

Week Date Reading Assignment Additional Assignments or Information

1 8/30 Introduction

9/1 Encounters: Native American Tales of Contact (handout)
Norton 1-8
de las Casas, from the Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies, 15-18

2 9/4 Narratives of Exploration and Conquest: Spanish (continued)
Bernal Diaz del Castillo, from The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, 24-40
Cabeza da Vaca, from The Relation . . . 40-52 Sign up for reports

9/6 Narratives of Exploration and Conquest: English
Harriot, A Brief and True Report . . . 76-83
Smith, from The General History of Virginia, A Description of New England, and New England's Trials 102-120

9/8 Puritan Colonists and the "City Upon a Hill"
Norton 153-163
Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity and selection from the Journal, 214-234
Bradford, from Of Plymouth Plantation, 164-204

3 9/11 Puritanism: Orthodoxy and Dissent
Morton, from New English Canaan, 204-13
Williams, from A Key into the Language of America, 234-45

9/13 Puritan Poetry in the 1640s
Bradstreet, 246-83, especially "The Prologue," "The Author to her Book," Before the Birth," "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment, "Another [Letter to Her Husband] ..." "To My Dear and Loving Husband," "Verses upon the Burning of our House"

9/15 Bradstreet, continued Reports

4 9/18 Puritan Poetry in the 1680s
Taylor, 330-51, especially "Prologue," Meditations 8, 16, 22; "Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children," "Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold," "Huswifery"

9/20 No Class: Mass of the Holy Spirit

9/22 No Class: Labor Day Observed

5 9/25 Poetry Explication Exam Explication Exam

9/27 Enemies Without and Within: Captivity Narratives
Rowlandson,A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration . . . in Women's Indian Captivity Narratives; also, read the introduction, pages xi-xxviii

9/29 Rowlandson, continued

6 10/2 Hanson, "God's Mercy Surmounting Man's Cruelty . . ." in Women's Indian Captivity Narratives, 63-79
Dustan, "A Notable Exploit . . ." in Women's Indian Captivity Narratives, 53-60

10/4 "Panther Captivity," in Women's Indian Captivity Narratives, 81-91
Howe, "A Genuine and Correct Account . . ." Women's Indian Captivity Narratives, 82-91

10/6 Enemies Without and Within: Witchcraft
Mather, from The Wonders of the Invisible World, 373-9
Presentations: Transcripts from the Witchcraft Trials
(See assignment at witchcraft.htm)
Paper 1 Revision Option Due Date

7 10/9 Presentations: Transcripts from the Witchcraft Trials (continued)

10/11 Essay Exam 1 Exam 1

10/13 Research Day: No Class
Hand in Paper 1 at English Department office, 21 RH, by 4 p.m.
Paper 1 Due

8 10/16 No Class: Founder's Day Holiday

10/18 The Great Awakening
Edwards, Personal Narrative, 440-52; "Letter to Rev. Dr. Benjamin Colman," 466-74; "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, 474-87

10/20 Narratives: Autobiography
Franklin, "Remarks Concerning the Savages"; from Autobiography, Parts I, II, and III: 523-96

9 10/23 Revolutionary Ideals and Contradictions: The European American Experience
Franklin, continued
Crevecoeur, from Letters from an American Farmer, 640-65, especially letters 3 and 9

10/25 Revolutionary Ideals and Contradictions: The Native American Experience
Apess, "An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man," 1045-51
Occom, "A Short Narrative of My Life," 612-19

10/27 Reports Reports

10 10/30 Revolutionary Ideals and Contradictions: The African American Experience
Equiano, from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, 751-86

11/1 Wheatley, "On Being Brought . . . ," "to S. M.," "Thoughts on the Works of Providence," 824-41

11/3 Images of Early America: Film clips

11 11/6 Democratic Vistas
Norton 912-32
Irving, Rip Van Winkle, 926-48 Paper 2 Prospectus Due

11/8 Cooper, from The Pioneers, 980-96
Kirkland, from A New Home-Who'll Follow? 1051-60

11/10 Essay Exam 2 Exam 2

12 11/13 Reports Reports

11/15 Romanticism in American Art:
The Hudson River School (lecture) Meet in AD 134

11/17 Romanticism and Transcendentalism
Emerson, "Self-Reliance" 1126-44; "The American Scholar," 1101-14 Paper 2 Revision Option Due Date

13 11/20 Interpreting the Puritan Past
Hawthorne, "The Custom-House" Preface to The Scarlet Letter, 1306-31
The Scarlet Letter, 1331-43

11/22 No Class: Thanksgiving Break

11/24 No Class: Thanksgiving Break

14 11/27 Reports Reports

11/29 The Scarlet Letter, 1343-69

12/1 The Scarlet Letter, 1369-1427 Paper 2 Due

15 12/4 TBA

12/6 TBA

12/8 The Scarlet Letter, 1427-end

16 12/11 Exam 3:30-5:30 p. m. Exam 3

Web Site for the Class

All course materials handed out in class are available at the following site:

index.html

In addition, this site contains bibliographies on many of the authors and works covered in the course as well as links to selected sites with materials relevant to the course.
You will also need to sign up for our Blackboard page at http://webclass.gonzaga.edu. Scroll down to English 310 and follow the directions for getting a new account and enrolling in the Blackboard version of the course.

Course Policies

Attendance. Attendance is required. According to the Gonzaga University Student Handbook, after six hours of unexcused absences, or six class periods in a course that meets three times a week, students will receive a grade of "V," which "has the same effect as an 'F' on the grade point average" (87). Being 5 minutes late on three occasions or more than 10 minutes late on any one occasion will count as an absence.

Disability Support Services. If any students in this class have a disability that may affect their full participation in this course, please contact Disability Support Services in the Crosby Student Center as soon as possible so that any necessary accommodations can be made.

Class Participation. Your participation in class discussions is important and is an essential part of your grade. Even if--perhaps especially if--you don't think that you understood the readings well, you should feel free to bring your concerns, questions, and comments to class. You should also feel free to post these questions to the discussion board.

Written Work

Examinations

The course includes four equally weighted examinations, one explication exam on poetry and three hour examinations comprised of short answer, identification, explication, and essay.

Formal Papers. Students in English 310/510 will write two formal papers, a short (5-6 pages) analytical interpretation of a work, and a longer analytical paper (6-8 pages) that may require some research. A list of paper topics will be handed out well before the papers are due.

Another option for each paper is to prepare a hypertext (web page) of a long passage or chapter of a single work instead of writing a formal paper. Your hypertext will provide analysis and explication of the passage. You will also need to write a 2-3 page essay explaining why you made the choices you did in terms of analysis.

Prospectus. For each paper, students must hand in a 100-150 word prospectus describing the proposed subject of the paper, its thesis (if known), works to be covered, and source materials. The prospectus will receive comments but will not be graded. If the prospectus is missing, the paper grade will be lowered 5 points.

Format and Plagiarism Policies. Papers must be neatly typed and carefully proofread. Citations should follow MLA style as it is outlined in the MLA Handbook or grammar handbooks such as The Little, Brown Handbook. Although I do not expect to encounter plagiarism in this course, cases of plagiarism will be treated according to GU's Academic Honesty Policy.

Option to Revise. I strongly encourage you to bring in drafts of your papers well before they are due so that we can confer about the subject and style of your paper.

Students also have the option to hand in papers early and to resubmit them for credit on the usual due date. Revising a paper does not guarantee a higher grade the second time around. The revision option is a no-risk proposition, however, for if the paper receives a higher grade the second time, both grades will be averaged and counted toward the final course grade. Resubmitted papers that receive a lower grade will not be counted.
Papers will not receive extensive comments on the second grading. Please note that this option does not constitute an editing service: papers that exhibit too many mechanical or spelling errors will be turned back unread.

Additional Policies on Papers

Late papers are penalized at the rate of one letter grade per class day late.
Missed papers receive a 0.
You are allowed one 48-hour extension without penalty if you speak to me about it at least one class day before the paper is due.

Online Discussion and Cards

Cards. Since this course does not require an individual reading journal, students should instead come to class each day prepared with a 3 x 5" index card on which is written a question on, comment about, or favorite quotation from the day's reading. Cards will not be graded individually but will be used in both class discussions and small group discussions.

Online Discussion. In addition, in lieu of an individual reading journal, this class will have a community reading journal-an online discussion component in which you'll provide thoughtful, in-depth responses to the readings.

How can I see and respond to the online discussion? The online discussion in this class will be conducted through an e-mail discussion list, engl310-l. You can see all the posts you've sent by going to the archives at
http://lists.gonzaga.edu/engl310-l/
In this way, you can read through a series of posts and then send your own message to the list.

How do I join the e-mail list? To subscribe to the list, send a message to

majordomo@gonzaga.edu

Leave the subject line blank. In the message section, write the following and then send the message:

Subscribe engl310-l

Note that there's a lower-case L, not a one, at the end of engl310-l. If you use a signature file, please delete it; there should be nothing in the message except "subscribe engl310-l" (without the quotation marks).

How do I send messages? 2. To send a message to the list, put this in the TO: line
engl310-l@gonzaga.edu
Write your subject in the subject space and your message in the message space, and then send your message. It will appear in the e-mail boxes of the other people in the class as well as on the archive page. You can also reply to messages.

What will I write about and how often should I post a message? You should plan to contribute to the discussion page at least twice a week. Each week, you'll post one question (usually from your comment cards) and one comment in response to the other questions and comments posted at the site. You are, of course, welcome to post more frequently than this.
You can also use the questions or comments you write on your daily cards as a message to post to the online discussion list.

How will the online discussion be graded? The online discussion component will be evaluated on both quantity (numbers of posts) and overall quality. I will periodically count the number of posts that you contribute and put that number into the Blackboard Gradebook (available online; only you can see your own grades) so that you can see the number. Posts that say simply "I agree" or other extremely brief messages won't be counted.
Individual posts will not be graded for either content or style, but the overall quality of your contributions to the discussion will be evaluated at the end of the semester.

Possible Additional Assignments

Brief reading quizzes, brief in-class responses to the reading, and short out-of-class response papers may be given from time to time.

Reports

Students will research a topic of interest to the class and present their findings in one of these ways:

Give a clear, concise (5-7 minutes) oral report to the class
Write a 5-6 page paper
Create a web page.

On the report signup day, please indicate which of these three options you intend to pursue.

Approximate Weights of Grades

Paper 1 15% Paper 2 20% Report 10%

Exams 35% Online Discussion and Cards: 10%

In-class writings, responses, group presentations, quizzes, and class participation: 10%

Week	Date	Reading Assignment	Additional Assignments or Information
1	8/30	Introduction
	9/1	Encounters: Native American Tales of Contact (handout) Norton 1-8 de las Casas, from the Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies, 15-18
2	9/4	Narratives of Exploration and Conquest: Spanish (continued) Bernal Diaz del Castillo, from The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, 24-40 Cabeza da Vaca, from The Relation . . . 40-52	Sign up for reports
	9/6	Narratives of Exploration and Conquest: English Harriot, A Brief and True Report . . . 76-83 Smith, from The General History of Virginia, A Description of New England, and New England's Trials 102-120
	9/8	Puritan Colonists and the "City Upon a Hill" Norton 153-163 Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity and selection from the Journal, 214-234 Bradford, from Of Plymouth Plantation, 164-204
3	9/11	Puritanism: Orthodoxy and Dissent Morton, from New English Canaan, 204-13 Williams, from A Key into the Language of America, 234-45
	9/13	Puritan Poetry in the 1640s Bradstreet, 246-83, especially "The Prologue," "The Author to her Book," Before the Birth," "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment, "Another [Letter to Her Husband] ..." "To My Dear and Loving Husband," "Verses upon the Burning of our House"
	9/15	Bradstreet, continued	Reports
4	9/18	Puritan Poetry in the 1680s Taylor, 330-51, especially "Prologue," Meditations 8, 16, 22; "Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children," "Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold," "Huswifery"
	9/20	No Class: Mass of the Holy Spirit
	9/22	No Class: Labor Day Observed
5	9/25	Poetry Explication Exam	Explication Exam
	9/27	Enemies Without and Within: Captivity Narratives Rowlandson,A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration . . . in Women's Indian Captivity Narratives; also, read the introduction, pages xi-xxviii
	9/29	Rowlandson, continued
6	10/2	Hanson, "God's Mercy Surmounting Man's Cruelty . . ." in Women's Indian Captivity Narratives, 63-79 Dustan, "A Notable Exploit . . ." in Women's Indian Captivity Narratives, 53-60
	10/4	"Panther Captivity," in Women's Indian Captivity Narratives, 81-91 Howe, "A Genuine and Correct Account . . ." Women's Indian Captivity Narratives, 82-91
	10/6	Enemies Without and Within: Witchcraft Mather, from The Wonders of the Invisible World, 373-9 Presentations: Transcripts from the Witchcraft Trials (See assignment at witchcraft.htm)	Paper 1 Revision Option Due Date
7	10/9	Presentations: Transcripts from the Witchcraft Trials (continued)
	10/11	Essay Exam 1	Exam 1
	10/13	Research Day: No Class Hand in Paper 1 at English Department office, 21 RH, by 4 p.m.	Paper 1 Due
8	10/16	No Class: Founder's Day Holiday
	10/18	The Great Awakening Edwards, Personal Narrative, 440-52; "Letter to Rev. Dr. Benjamin Colman," 466-74; "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, 474-87
	10/20	Narratives: Autobiography *Franklin, "Remarks Concerning the Savages"; from Autobiography, Parts I, II, and III: 523-96*
9	10/23	Revolutionary Ideals and Contradictions: The European American Experience Franklin, continued Crevecoeur, from Letters from an American Farmer, 640-65, especially letters 3 and 9
	10/25	Revolutionary Ideals and Contradictions: The Native American Experience Apess, "An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man," 1045-51 Occom, "A Short Narrative of My Life," 612-19
	10/27	Reports	Reports
10	10/30	Revolutionary Ideals and Contradictions: The African American Experience Equiano, from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, 751-86
	11/1	Wheatley, "On Being Brought . . . ," "to S. M.," "Thoughts on the Works of Providence," 824-41
	11/3	Images of Early America: Film clips
11	11/6	Democratic Vistas Norton 912-32 Irving, Rip Van Winkle, 926-48	Paper 2 Prospectus Due
	11/8	Cooper, from The Pioneers, 980-96 Kirkland, from A New Home-Who'll Follow? 1051-60
	11/10	Essay Exam 2	Exam 2
12	11/13	Reports	Reports
	11/15	Romanticism in American Art: The Hudson River School (lecture)	Meet in AD 134
	11/17	Romanticism and Transcendentalism Emerson, "Self-Reliance" 1126-44; "The American Scholar," 1101-14	Paper 2 Revision Option Due Date
13	11/20	Interpreting the Puritan Past Hawthorne, "The Custom-House" Preface to The Scarlet Letter, 1306-31 The Scarlet Letter, 1331-43
	11/22	No Class: Thanksgiving Break
	11/24	No Class: Thanksgiving Break
14	11/27	Reports	Reports
	11/29	The Scarlet Letter, 1343-69
	12/1	The Scarlet Letter, 1369-1427	Paper 2 Due
15	12/4	TBA
	12/6	TBA
	12/8	The Scarlet Letter, 1427-end
16	12/11	Exam 3:30-5:30 p. m.	Exam 3

How can I see and respond to the online discussion?	The online discussion in this class will be conducted through an e-mail discussion list, engl310-l. You can see all the posts you've sent by going to the archives at http://lists.gonzaga.edu/engl310-l/ In this way, you can read through a series of posts and then send your own message to the list.
How do I join the e-mail list?	To subscribe to the list, send a message to majordomo@gonzaga.edu Leave the subject line blank. In the message section, write the following and then send the message: Subscribe engl310-l Note that there's a lower-case L, not a one, at the end of engl310-l. If you use a signature file, please delete it; there should be nothing in the message except "subscribe engl310-l" (without the quotation marks).
How do I send messages?	2. To send a message to the list, put this in the TO: line engl310-l@gonzaga.edu Write your subject in the subject space and your message in the message space, and then send your message. It will appear in the e-mail boxes of the other people in the class as well as on the archive page. You can also reply to messages.
What will I write about and how often should I post a message?	You should plan to contribute to the discussion page at least twice a week. Each week, you'll post one question (usually from your comment cards) and one comment in response to the other questions and comments posted at the site. You are, of course, welcome to post more frequently than this. You can also use the questions or comments you write on your daily cards as a message to post to the online discussion list.
How will the online discussion be graded?	The online discussion component will be evaluated on both quantity (numbers of posts) and overall quality. I will periodically count the number of posts that you contribute and put that number into the Blackboard Gradebook (available online; only you can see your own grades) so that you can see the number. Posts that say simply "I agree" or other extremely brief messages won't be counted. Individual posts will not be graded for either content or style, but the overall quality of your contributions to the discussion will be evaluated at the end of the semester.