Literature Curriculum Project Syllabi

WRI 230 Literary Studies: 19th Century U.S. Literature
Suggested Level for teaching students: sophomore and junior level college students
Naropa University Department of Writing & Poetics
Naropa Core Writing Program

                     O lands! O all so dear to me -- what you are (whatever it is), I become part of that, 
                                                whatever it is. --Walt Whitman

Course Description:
In this course we will look at important works of fiction, essay, poetry, and memoir that, written one hundred to two hundred years following the Declaration of Independence, are exciting and vital to this day. We will investigate the ways they reveal and define a particular American experience and character in history, literature, and poetics. They will be treated, not as static texts, but as enduring social and cultural signposts. Readings include works by Edgar Allen Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Phyllis Wheatley, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, as well as enduring Native American texts. Response papers and a final research paper required.

Our investigations will be structured by how the literature of this time informed the identity of the United States. We will explore how these works influenced 20th century outrider movements like the Beat Generation. We will pursue questions of literary form in relation to realism, transcendentalism, and pragmatism. Content is delivered through a combination of lecture, in-class discussions, creative and critical reading/interpreting workshops, and listening materials from the Naropa Audio Archive.

Goals and Objectives
This course provides the opportunity to explore a constellation of literature of the United States in the century in which the nation was forming itself geographically, politically, and culturally. We will investigate the larger ramifications that these texts have had on the American imagination and re-shape and deepen our own understanding of what America is.

Required Reading Materials
The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Shorter Sixth Edition
Nina Baym, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, et al.0-393-97969-5 • One-volume paperback • 2,800 pages • 2003

Other materials for the class will be collected in a downloadable sourcebook in the library or will consist of listening and viewing materials provided in-class.

Course Requirements
A sheet of weekly response questions will be given out each class, from which one question must be selected for a three to five page typed response due at the beginning of class the following week. Students are responsible for eight (8) of these response papers, a final research paper of 8-10 pages due at the beginning of the last class, and a short 10 minute presentation of the paper’s general exploration.

Weekly response papers are due on the day of the class for which they are assigned and will not be accepted late for full credit. These must be thoughtful and well-written. Secondary critical research and references is not necessary unless outside support information is wanted. All papers will be graded and commented on.  You can turn in as many weekly papers as you like over the course of the semester — the grades of the best eight papers will be averaged toward your final grade.

Final papers should extend the thought and research of one or more of the weekly papers, or another topic may be chosen if approved. Final papers should include references to at least three outside critical sources. Other types of sources may be used if approved. Please use MLA citation. No final paper will be accepted after the last class.

It is recommended that students in this course take advantage of the Naropa Writing Center to develop ideas and structure for composing and editing the weekly and/or final papers. This support allows you to develop skills that will make difference for this paper and any work you will produce in the future.

Course Outline:

Week One: Introductions, etc., in-class writing and sharing of our collaborate definition of the United States of America

Week Two: Phyllis Wheatley, Introduction, p. 366; “On Being Brought to Africa from America” p. 367; “To the University of Cambridge, in New England” p. 367; “On the Death of the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield, 1770” p. 368; “Thoughts on the Works of Providence” p. 370; “To S.M., a Young African Painter on Seeing His Works,” p. 373; “To His Excellency General Washington,” p. 374; Introduction to Frederick Douglass, p. 939; Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, p. 942

Week Three:  Introduction to Walt Whitman, p. 985; Walt Whitman, Preface to Leaves of Grass, p. 989, “Song of Myself” p.1003;

In-class Naropa Audio Archive: Allen Ginsberg on Whitman’s use of the word “candor” in the Preface to the Leaves of Grass

Audio: Allen Ginsberg clip including Preface Leaves Grass
Click Here to Download

Audio: Allen Ginsberg on Whitman’s conception of mind and ego as related to Buddhism (1987)
Click Here to Download

Week Four: Introduction to Allen Ginsberg, p. 2730;

Allen Ginsberg, “Howl” and “A Supermarket in California,” p. 2739;

Audio: Allen Ginsberg, “Howl
Click Here to Download

Audio: Allen Ginsberg's A Supermarket in California
Click Here to Download

Audio: Allen Ginsberg on Whitman’s “Song of Myself” (1987)
Click Here to Download

Week Five: Walt Whitman, “Letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson” p. 1047;

Audio: Ginsberg on Whitman and Emerson
Click Here to Download

Introduction to Ralph Waldo Emerson, p. 483; Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, p. 486

Week Six: Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Divinity School Address, p. 527; Self-Reliance, p. 539; Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller, selections from The Dial: A Magazine for Literature, Philosophy, and Religion http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/ideas/dial.html;

Week Seven: Introduction to Henry David Thoreau, p. 834; Henry David Thoreau, Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience), p. 837; excerpts from Civil Disobediences, edited by Anne Waldman and Lisa Birman (handout); In-class video: Steven Colbert’s roast of George Bush at the White House Correspondents Dinner

Week Eight: Introduction to Emily Dickinson, p. 1167; Emily Dickinson, “Wild Nights—Wild Nights!” p. 1174, “There’s a certain Slant of light” p. 1174, “The Soul selects her own Society—” p. 1175, “After great pain, a formal feeling comes—”, p. 1176, “Much Madness is divinest Sense—” p. 1178, “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—” p. 1179, “My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun,” p. 1184, “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—” p. 1186, “I dwell in Possibility—” (handout)

Week Nine: Introduction to Nathaniel Hawthorn, p. 581; Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Birth-Mark, p. 635; Introduction to Charlotte Perkins Gilman, p.1658; Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wall-paper, p.1659; Introduction to Margaret Fuller, p.760; Margaret Fuller, The Great Lawsuit, p. 763

 Week Ten: Introduction to Edgar Allen Poe, p. 694; Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven, p. 697; The Fall of the House of Usher, p. 714; The Tell-Tale Heart, p. 727; The Purloined Letter p. 731; The Cask of Amontillado, p. 743; The Philosophy of Composition, p. 748

Week Eleven: Introduction to The Navajo Night Chant, p. 1773; The Navajo Night Chant, The Sacred Mountains, p. 1774; Dance of the Atsalei, Thunderbirds p. 1776; Introduction to Chippewa Songs, p. 1780; Chippewa Songs, p. 1781; Song of the Crows, My Love Has Departed, Love-Charm Song, The Approach of the Storm; Introduction to Ghost Dance Songs, p. 1786; Songs of the Arapaho p. 1786; Songs of the Sioux, p. 1788  

Week Twelve: Introduction to Henry James, p. 1498; Henry James, Daisy Miller: A Study, p. 1501; William James, What Pragmatism Means (handout); Turn in proposal for Final Research Paper

 Week Thirteen: Introduction to Herman Melville, p. 1081; Herman Melville, Bartleby, the Scrivener, p. 1086; Bartleby in-class movie (2001)

Week Fourteen: Introduction to Mark Twain, p. 1237; Mark Twain, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, p. 1240; Steven Crane, The Open Boat, p. 1721 Workshop drafts for Final Research Paper

Week Fifteen: Final Research Paper Due along with 10 minute presentations.

This syllabus is credited to Amy Catanzano, MFA
Naropa University