English 2130:

American Literature - Honors

February      March     April

Return to Course Policies

Week 1

01/10
Introduction to course, policies, etc.



Franklin, Autobiography, Part I


Week 2

1/15
Martin Luther King Holiday - No Classes




1/17
Franklin, Autobiography, Part II

In-class reading: de Tocqueville, "Democracy in America" (WebCT)

Introduce Essay #1


Week 3

1/22
Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Presentation #1 - Slave Narrative


1/24
Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Writing Workshop Day - Draft of Essay #1 Due


Week 4

1/29
Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

Presentation #2 - Puritanism


1/31
Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

Presentation #3 - Romance Mode


Week 5


2/5
The Last of the Mohicans (Mann, 1992)

Essay #1 Due


2/7
Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Presentation #4 - Realism


Week 6
2/12
Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (cont.)


2/14 Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (cont.)

Fiedler, "Good Good Girls and Good Bad Boys" (WebCT)
Week 7

2/19
Whitman, "Song of Myself" (WebCT)


2/21
Midterm Essay Exam


Week 8

2/26 Virgin Suicides (Coppola, 1999)

begin  James, Daisy Miller


2/28
James, Daisy Miller

Thursday March 1st =  Last day to withdraw with a "W"


Week 10

3/5
Jewett, "A White Heron"; Chopin, "At the 'Cadian Ball"; Crane, "The Open Boat" (WebCT)

Presentation #5 - Naturalism and Regionalism

Introduce Essay #2


3/7 Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio


Week 11

3/12
Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio


3/14
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Presentation #6 - Modernism


March 19-24 Spring Break


Week 12

3/26
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (cont.)

Writing Workshop Day - Draft of Essay #2 Due


3/28
Honors Convocation - No Classes


Week 13

4/02
Toomer, Cane

Essay #2 Due


4/04
Toomer, Cane

Presentation #7 - Harlem Renaissance


Week 14

4/09
Bamboozled (Lee, 2000)


4/11
Morrison, The Bluest Eye


Week 15

4/16
Morrison, The Bluest Eye

hooks, "Eating the Other" (WebCT)


4/18
Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49

Presentation #8 - Postmodernism


Week 16

4/23
Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49


4/25
Last day of class - Review for essay exam

Presentation Portfolio Due


5/04
Exam:  11am -1 pm