COURSE CALENDAR FOR AML 4213

Date	Lectures	Topics & Readings	Assignment Instructions/Due Dates             & Miscellaneous Reminders
Please note: each week below is divided into two blocks to help you proportion your study time.	Prof = lectures. Click on them. They are required reading.	All E-texts (click on them), professor lectures, and our major authors/books (the ones ordered for the bookstore) are required reading.	Especially in a summer term, things can get very busy—so pay attention to the ebb and flow of the workload and apportion your time accordingly!
Week 1: June 27-July 3 (see below as well)	Prof: Vespucci, etc.	The “Discovery Columbus, "Letter to Lord Sanchez" (E-text) Vespucci, "Account of His First Voyage" (E-text) Montaigne, Of Cannibals (E-text) Outside site on Vespucci (E-text) Outside site on Columbus (read Columbus part and skim rest according to your interest)  (E-text) Week one continues below!!!! Each block (1/2 week) equals what would be a week Fall or Spring term	CLICK THE "Prof...." LINKS TO THE FAR LEFT FOR MY LECTURES. YOU SHOULD LOOK AT THESE BEFORE, DURING, AND/OR AFTER YOU READ OUR MAIN AUTHORS (IT'S UP TO YOU, ACCORDING TO YOUR LEARNING STYLE). THE E-TEXTS ARE MANDATORY READING.
Week 1: continued	Prof: Tempest	IMAGINING THE NEW WORLD Shakespeare, The Tempest Try to read the entire play by today (or at least the first ½). The Wiki. article below is better than the intro. to our edition (which I found meandering and thus not required reading). Utopia Renais... Chain Wiki-Tempest Film option	Remember to contribute to the Discussion Forum; and remember to cut-and-paste your substantial postings in an accumulating file, which you will turn in at the end of the semester. I cannot emphasize too strongly: Discussion Forum participation is equivalent to attending class; it is very easy to procrastinate on this, and, as it is a major requirement, you will not pass the course if you don’t submit postings throughout the semester per the instructions on the Syllabus. Required Diagnostic Exam (grade does not count) Instructions: 1-Hour, to be taken b/w Saturday May 14th 9:00pm & Monday May16th 11:59pm
Week 2: July 4-10 (see below as well)	Indian summary	NATIVE AMERICAN AND PURITAN COMMUNITIES AND BELIEFS Cherokee Indian Creation/Trickster/Hunting Tales (e-text) Sioux Indian "Younger Brother" Tale (e-text) Native religion#1 Native religion#2 Winthrop, "Christian Experience," "Journal," & "Model" (e-text) Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation (e-text) Puritan summary 1 Puritans	DEAR SOME STUDENTS: SOME OF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN CHECKING YOUR EMAIL WITHIN THE BLACKBOARD SYSTEM FOR IMPORTANT MESSAGES.  AND SOME OF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN READING OR INITIATING POSTS.  YOU GET TO BOTH AREAS OF THE SYSTEM BY CLICKING ON THE ICONS ON THE FAR LEFT OF THE BLACKBOARD MENU. WE’RE NOW IN THE SECOND WEEK, AND VERY SOON THE “SOME” SHOULD BE REPLACED WITH “ZERO”! Required Online Exam#1 Instructions: 1-Hour, to be taken b/w Wednesday May 18th 9:00pm & Friday May 20th 11:59pm
Week 2: continued
Week 3: July 11-17 (see below as well)		17TH/18TH-CENTURY NARRATIVES OF CAPTIVITY & ASSIMILATION Rowlandson, "A Narrative of the Captivity ..." (in Journeys) I suggest that you read the first pages of the editor’s introductory historical material, pages 13-20, before you read Rowlandson's narrative, pages 31-65 (the preface by a Puritan minister immediately before can be skipped); and the last pages of the introduction 21-26, after you read her work. Puritan summary 2 & Rowlandson King Philip’s War (this site provides, more or less, the same background material as our Journeys volume on Rowlandson)
Week 3: continued		Equiano, The Life of...: Editor’s Note or Introduction (not the Preface written by Equiano himself!!!); Chapters I-III, IV (first several pages), V, VII-VIII, X-XI, XII (first several pages; last several pages), & Preface (Preface only makes sense after you've read the narrative) Equiano summary with the same links as in the column to the right (this comes from an Intellectual History course I teach, and so some of the points will be out of context) Equiano and the historical context of the slave trade (click on the first 5-10 “next” pages of this site) Equiano "fabrication" issue	Important: Please remember that although some lag time is acceptable (working students often post on the weekend following the week's readings) in respect to the Discussion forums, being chronically out of season is not acceptable.  To mix the metaphor: you don’t want to join the party, when the party has moved on to another locale.
Week 4: July 18-24 (see below as well)		Ashbridge summary  GREAT AWAKENINGS: DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE--SELF AND NATION MAKING Franklin, Autobiography of B. Franklin (Parts One & Two) Franklin Please review the Course Summary to help you consolidate your understanding of our readings thus far: LINK TO COURSE SUMMARY	Please note xxxxx Wed. is the last day to drop the course with a DR grade. Link for Instructions: For Essay#2 Due Monday June 13 by Midnight ESSAY DUE MARCH 1 CLICK FOR INSTRUCTIONS (if you write on Equiano your paper can be due the following week, March 8) ESSAY TOPICS (including Rowlandson and Equiano) ESSAY SAMPLE
Week 4: continued		shbridge, Autobiography (in Journeys) Read the introductory material on Quakers in our edition (121-23) before reading Ashbridge's account (147-70). Read the remaining interpretive material (119-21 & 124-29, skipping the too technical 130-44) after you read Ashbridge. You do not need to read the secondary accounts, from friends and husband, that follow Ashbridge's memoir.	Again: Please remember that although some lag time is acceptable (working students often post on the weekend following the week's readings) in respect to the Discussion forums, being chronically out of season is not acceptable.  To mix the metaphor: you don’t want to join the party, when the party has moved on to another locale. Required Online Exam#2 Instructions:1-Hour, to be taken b/w Saturday June 4th 9:00pm & Monday June 6th 11:59pm
Week 5: July 25-31 (see below as well)		THE DANGERS OF INDEPENDENCE: AMERICAN GOTHIC Brown, Wieland (do not read Memoirs of Carwin) Read Fliegelman introduction only after you read the novel, as it assumes that you have read the novel). Wieland summary
Week 5: continued
Week 6: Aug 1-7 (see below as well)		THE PASTORAL/SUBLIME TRADITION: GOING INTO THE WOODS & GOING WEST Crevecoeur, "What is an American?" (e-text) DeTocqueville excerpt: (e-text) Please note that all our readings have been thematically grouped; go back above and glance at the bold-capital lettering. We will finish the 2^nd half of Last of the Mohicans down-the-road. The link for the Final instructions is available to the left/below. The readings from here on are fairly “lite” length-wise, but profound in terms of cultural/intellectual/ideological history. Finally, please do read before the end of the semester and in preparation for the Final Essay, the COURSE SUMMARY.
Week 6: continued		Irving, "Rip Van Winkle" (e-text) Irving summary Irving Emerson, Excerpt from “Nature” (e-text) Film: to be decided COURSE SUMMARY Emerson bio: just read the 1^st paragraph or soF	Required Online Exam#3 Instructions (not ready): 1-Hour, to be taken b/w Saturday June 18th 9:00pm & Monday June 20th 11:59pm
Week 7: Aug 8-12 (see below as well)
Week 7: continued			Link for Instructions: For Discussion Forum Due Wed. June 22 by Midnight (not ready)
Aug xx: Official last day of class Aug xxx: Grades submitted Aug xxx: Grades available in the Panthersoft grade kiosk

http://www.fiu.edu/~harveyb/bruceharvey

http://www.turnitin.com course I.D. =3040210 password = columbus

LINK TO COURSE SUMMARY

AML 4213—Journeys to America (Early American Literature)
Spring 2010
Monday & Wednesday evenings 5:00-6:15
Biscayne Bay Campus

Prof. Bruce Harvey

BBC AC1 378
Office Hours: 3:00-5:00 Monday, 4:00-5:00 Wednesday, and by appointment

Office Phone: 305-919-5254
Home phone: 954-920-8938 (for non-routine situations and inquiries)

harveyb@fiu.edu

Key concepts about this country's national identity took shape as European travelers explored and then settled upon the continent. In this course, we'll read travel narratives, autobiographies, political-religious treatises, novels, and other literary works to examine how the new nation, ideologically and psycho-culturally, came into being. Our readings will especially focus on pre-1830 cross-cultural encounters and clashes from a variety of perspectives (native American, European, and African).

I will give occasional lectures to fill in historical or cultural or theoretical context, but the bulk of class time will be devoted to discussion. Besides introducing you to a fascinating area and era of study, a major goal of this course is to improve your analytical abilities--specifically, your ability to see how texts work rhetorically, aesthetically, and culturally. Another major goal is to develop your skill and pleasure in communicating ideas, both in class and on paper.

TEXTS (in the BBC bookstore)

Shakespeare, The Tempest (Pelican)

Sagely, imperialistic-minded Prospero vs. the sly, lyrical, beastly Caliban: this late play of the Bard presents the key issues that later define the New World experience.

William Andrews, ed. Journeys in New Worlds (Wisconsin)

This volume includes an autobiography of a demur Puritan woman, Mary Rowlandson, who learns to survive in the Indian “wilderness”; and the memoir of a Quaker woman who recalls her rebellious escape from paternal and cultural tyranny to carve out a space of independence in the New World.

Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings (Dover)

From village in Africa, to slave ship, to the Americas and middle-class success: Equiano’s life-story captures the early tensions of African-American identity in elegant and stirring prose.

Ben Franklin, Autobiography (Dover)
The quintessential American—or is he? To know Franklin in his brief autobiography is to know key aspects of “American” identity.

Charles Brockden Brown, Wieland and the Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist (Penguin)
One of the first American gothic potboilers, this novel revolts against the sunny pragmatism and rationalism of Franklin.

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Bottom of Form

GRADES & DUE DATES
33% = 10 1-page Response Papers 33% = 10-page Essay 33% = 5-page Final Synthesis Exam	Turnitin: 10 responses, see syllabus for due dates and topics Turnitin: due March 1 Turnitin: due April 20

COURSE POLICIES & ASSIGNMENTS

Participation and attendance: Every student is a vital part of the class community, and I will expect you to work to make the class an intellectually energizing experience. The flow of good discussions will result in a course more satisfying for everyone. Participation can take a variety of forms--the raising of questions or issues, stating opinions about the work or topic being discussed, responding to other students’ or my comments, involvement in group activities, and so on. Classroom participation will affect your final grade positively, helping to pull it up a notch or two, especially in borderline cases.

Always bring the syllabus and current text to class. Regular, and on time, attendance is required. You get two absences penalty free. I won't ask, and you don't need to tell me the reason. For the next two absences, your grade will be docked a notch--e.g. B+ to B--except in cases of true emergencies. If you miss more than six classes, you cannot pass the course.

Turnitin Site: The Response papers, Essay, and Final Synthesis Exam are all turned in via Turnitin (address at the top of this page). You will need to register on Turnitin for this course by using the course I.D. and password 3040210 columbus.

Response Papers: Response papers help make sure you are on "top" of the readings and prepared for discussion (in lieu of quizzes or exams!) and help you develop the habit of intense scrutiny. There will be ten of them, each worth ten points; grades will be based on a standard grade scale (i.e., A- =9, B- = 8, etc.). There will be two catch-up responses towards the end of the semester (to replace 0/F grades or lackluster ones), but otherwise they will be due, via Turnitin, on the designated dates on the syllabus. Usually, you’ll be asked to respond to a passage in a work we’re about to discuss, or you’ll be asked to select a significant passage on your own and justify/explain its significance; sometimes the cues may be more open-ended. I’ll give the response paper cue at least one week in advance; they must be submitted before the class meeting they are associated with. I’m not a word counter, but you should try for about 250 words for each response. A decent style, solid grammar, and clarity and insight are expected. Please submit them via Turnitin in single-space format. Feedback will not be lavish, but I will try to direct your attention to poor prose habits and potential seed ideas (in anticipation of the Essay below).

Essay: Topics will be given for this ten-page paper; I encourage you, however, to develop your own. A handout for topics and essay-writing tips will be provided down-the-road. Little slack will be given for sloppy prose. Any essay with a number of major grammatical or sentence-construction glitches will be returned without a grade, and at my discretion will be deemed late. A late paper will be penalized a grade for each class period submitted late, and only emergencies will allow you to submit your essay late without a penalty. Revisions will be accepted up to two weeks after you get your paper assessed on Turnitin; please review your paper with me in conference before you revise it. The revision grade replaces the original grade; however, my standards for revision are very high, so casual revising (fixing a problem here and there) will not earn you a better grade. Submit the revised paper directly to me via email (not Turnitin).

Take-home Final Synthesis Exam: You will be given three broad and comprehensive questions roughly two weeks before the due date of the exam (the otherwise date for an in-class exam, if there were one). You will choose one of the questions, leading you to discuss an issue/theme/etc. in four or five of our main authors. Instructions will be provided down-the-road. As this essay is at the end of the semester, revisions will not be possible.

Incompletes: These can only be granted if you have a health or family emergency.

Plagiarism: Don't do it. Plagiarism is easy to detect (especially by the Turnitin site), and the consequences for being found guilty of it can be devastating for your FIU career, besides being ethically nasty. If you do not know FIU's policies on plagiarism, learn them. If you get desperate/stressed in your course work, it’s better to talk to your professor than to passively not turn in work or cheat.

Conferences, Email, etc.: I am always happy to meet with you during office hours to talk more about the readings or other course matters. For brief questions or to set up a conference outside of my regular office hours, you may call me at my home number (for emergencies), leave a message on my office phone (305-919-5254), or email me at harveyb@fiu.edu. I almost always return email messages within the same day I receive them, so if you don't get a reply within a day, you should assume I didn't get the original message. P.S. If you are interested in pursuing an advanced degree, whether in a profession (Law, for example) or an MA or PhD in an English or Humanities field, feel free to come by to discuss such with me.

	BlackRobeReview
LINK TO COURSE SUMMARY