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AML 4213
Journeys to America: EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE
Spring 2012 Wednesday 5:00-7:40
Prof. Harvey’s HOME PAGE WITH THIS SYLABUS LINK AT THE TOP:
http://www2.fiu.edu/~harveyb/bruceharvey
You
need to go to this link for class lecture notes, assignment/exam
instructions, and class updates and messages.
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I’m Dr. Bruce A. Harvey, former Director of
FIU's Humanities Program, and currently a professor of English at BBC and the
Associate Director of the School of Environment, Arts and Society
(SEAS). My areas of expertise and interest include European
Intellectual History, American Literary and Culture Studies, and Literature
of the South Pacific.
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AC1 320 SEAS/College of Arts and
Sciences--Biscayne Bay Campus
Wednesday 4:00-5:00 & by appointment
(305) 919-5254
harveyb@fiu.edu
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COURSE
DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES
Welcome
to Journeys to America!
I have high ambitions for what you will
obtain from enrolling in AML 4213. Many of you will have signed up with the
notion that you're just completing an FIU English Dept. requirement, but I
hope that by the time you conclude the class you will have opened your minds
and hearts to fascinating realms of human inquiry as expressed in the works
you'll be reading. Ideally, how you see "America" and your identity
by virtue of living in "America," will be richly and complexly
transformed.
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). However, this "Early American"
material also gives you a lens to understand much of what the nation is
about, today.
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, via our
class discussions and, of course, via the two required essays.
I will now and again give formal lectures, filling in historical or cultural
background and so on, but always with the intent of such leading into active
discussion. I encourage you to partake, and not focus too much on
taking notes during class, as I’ve included (see the Calendar below) written-out
lectures from the online version of this course. Read these before you
embark on our texts, or after class discussion, and definitely review them
before each of the three Exams.
If you look at the Calendar below, you will see we’ll be watching two films
the last two weeks of the course, and also that the preceding week is
somewhat “lite” in reading load. This is done to give you time to
revise (if needed) either of the required essays.
Although this will be a large class (50 students), it is important that you
don’t get lost in the crowd: so always feel free to stop by for office hours,
and I’ll usually linger for an hour or so after class. Also,
occasionally, I’ll let class out early, so that those with particular matters
to discuss (problematic performance, “issues,” interest in pursuing an MA or
PH.D., etc.) can have a chance to do so.
Finally, the class meets for over 2 ½ hours. We’ll have a break midway
through for about 15 minutes. Coffee and snacks on me!
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TEXTBOOKs (at THE BBC Bookstore)
You
must use the editions specified, as assignments and review notes will be
keyed to their page numbers. The total cost, new, for the five books
below should be less than $50.00.
1. The Tempest, Shakespeare,
PENG USA (REV) 1999
ISBN: 9780140714852
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.
2. Journeys in New Worlds, William
Andrews, ed.
UCP 1990
ISBN: 9780299125844
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.
3. The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the
African, Olaudah Equiano
Dover 1999
ISBN: 9780486406619
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.
4. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Ben
Franklin,
Dover 1996
ISBN: 9780486290737
The quintessential American—or is he? To know Franklin in his brief
autobiography is to know key aspects of “American” identity.
5. Wieland and the Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist
Charles Brockden Brown
PENG USA 1991
ISBN: 9780140390797
One of the first American gothic potboilers, this novel revolts against the
sunny pragmatism and rationalism of Franklin.
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ASSIGNMENTS and Exams
Short Essay: Several
topics will be given for this 4-5 page paper. Full instructions will be
provided down-the-road. Little slack will be given for sloppy prose. An essay
with a number of major grammatical or sentence-construction glitches will
receive a temporary “0” in Turnitin, with the expectation that it be
resubmitted. A late paper will be penalized a notch (e.g., B to B-) for each
day submitted late, and only emergencies will allow you to submit your essay
late without a penalty. You can revise this first paper, with the
revision grade replacing the original grade.
Your
essay will be submitted through Turnitin: class ID = 4688367 password =
tempest.
PLEASE NOTE: YOU MUST, AFTER YOU’VE TURNED IN YOUR MATERIAL, DOUBLE-CHECK TO
MAKE SURE YOU TURNED IN WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU TURNED IN. JUST GETTING
THE TURNITIN RECEIPT DOES NOT SUFFICE. I WILL NOT ACCEPT, DAYS LATER,
EXCUSES SUCH AS “I TURNED IN A DRAFT BY MISTAKE.”
Research Essay: Topics will be given, also, for this 10-12 page paper, as
well as several online research leads (articles in ProjectMuse). But
you can also choose a topic of your own, as long as you briefly review it
with me. Extensive instructions will be provided down-the-road.
Exams: There are three objective-style exams (20 questions each;
multiple choice and true/false). Trivial questions will not be asked; but all
the course materials--e-texts, the main book readings, and my lecture review
notes (especially)--will be considered as testable. If you’ve read our
materials diligently and thoughtfully (using my lectures as a highlight
guide) as the course proceeds, you should not need to study per se for them.
The exams are rarely curved; however, “bad” questions (ones that, say, the
bulk of the top quartile of students get wrong) are tossed from the mix. I’ll
give a practice exam before the first real one.
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GRADING AND ETC.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
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WEIGHT
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Short 4-5 Page Essay (submitted via
Turnitin)
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20%
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10-12 Page Research Essay (submitted via
Turnitin)
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40%
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Three Exams (in class, 20 questions each;
true/false & multiple choice)
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40%
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Total
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100%
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Grades are calculated with the standard
100-0 scale (90+ = A- to A; 80+ = B- to B+; etc.). A not-turned-in
assignment will receive a zero.
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Participation: This can
positively affect your final course grade, often a notch and sometimes an entire
letter grade.
Incompletes: University policy is that these can only be given in the
case of a health or family emergency, and only one outstanding assignment is
allowed to permit the incomplete being granted.
Late Submissions: Late essays will be accepted only under
extraordinary, documented emergencies. Otherwise, for every day late,
an essay will be docked a notch (i.e., B to B-).
Absence Policy: I’ve used every flavor of absence policy imaginable,
and find such, frankly, juvenile. Show up for class.
Period. The three exams will have a number of questions related to
passages highlighted in class, and so if you miss class, studying for them
will become unnecessarily arduous. The class meets only once a week; it
will be very obvious to me if you are not there. Being routinely in class
(and not being absent, in effect, if you are there: i.e. not having done the
reading) will qualify for a participation-boost, per above, especially when
your final grade is borderline b/w two grades.
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OTHER POLICIES
Disability
Notice: If
you have a disability and need assistance, please contact the Disability Resource Center
(MMC:
GC190; 305-348-3532) (BBC: WUC139, 305-919-5345). Upon contact, the
Disability Resource Center will review your request and contact your
professors or other personnel to make arrangements for appropriate
modification and/or assistance.
Religious
Holy Days: The
University's policy on religious holy days as stated in the University
Catalog and Student Handbook will be followed in this class. Any student may
request to be excused from class to observe a religious holy day of his or
her faith.
Academic
Misconduct Policy:
By taking this online course, you promise to adhere to FIU’s Student Code of
Academic Integrity. For details on the policy and procedures go to ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT (Section 2.44).
Intensive auditing (via Turnitin) of the course will be conducted to prevent
academic misconduct. It is very easy to detect plagiarism: SO DON'T DO IT:
YOU WILL BE CAUGHT!!! And, when you are caught, the consequences will be
severe, such as getting an "F" in the course or worse. If,
for some reason, you are taking this class (from me) again, it is ok if you
wish to submit essays you submitted (to me) a previous term; but please let
me know in a sidebar email, as otherwise the Turnitin system will flag you
down as plagiarizing yourself!
If you are tempted to plagiarize out of desperation to get an
assignment in on time, DON'T DO IT; talk to your professor first, in this
class and other classes.
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Date
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Lectures
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Topics & Readings
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Assignment
Due Dates/Instructions
&
Miscellaneous Reminders
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Prof = my lectures. Click
on them.
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E-texts = additional
readings. Click, print out, and bring to class.
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Week 1:
Jan 9-15
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Introductions
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Week 2:
Jan 16-22
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Prof: Vespucci, etc.
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E-text: Columbus
E-text: Vespucci
E-text: Montaigne
E-text: on Vespucci
(a jpeg picture)
E-text: on Columbus—just read Columbus part
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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.
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Week 3:
Jan 23-29
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Prof: Tempest
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Shakespeare, The Tempest
The Wiki. article below is better than the intro. to our edition (which I
found meandering and thus not required reading).
E-text:
on Utopia
E-text: on Renaissance
E-text: on Great Chain
E-text: Wiki on Tempest (you can skip/skim sections on
“Afterlife” etc—various interpretations 18th century+)
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Week 4:
Jan 30-Feb 5
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Prof: Puritan
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PURITAN
COMMUNITIES & BELIEFS
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E-text: Winthrop
E-text:
Bradford
E-text: on Puritans
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See
below for Exam#1 Instructions and Practice Exam
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Week 5:
Feb 6-12
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Film: either “The Black
Robe” or “The Mission”
The “Black Robe” is a fictional but historically accurate depiction
of relations b/w a Quebec Catholic priest and a northern Indian tribe
family. “The Mission”—also fictional, but historically accurate—is
about an adventurer turned penitent, involved in a South American Catholic
mission.
It would be nice to read actual
native American selections, but such requires somewhat “intensive”
anthropological prepping (not practical in the context of a week or
two). So these film representations of Indian “otherness” will have to
suffice.
These—along with the 2 films at the end of the semester—should be commonly
available via Netflix, Amazon, etc.
You may (if you like film and have some expertise in writing about film from
other classes) elect to write on either for the major research essay for this
course.
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Exam#1—Click for Instructions: Wed.
class
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Week 6:
Feb 13-19
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Prof: Rowlandson
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17TH/18TH-CENTURY
NARRATIVES OF CAPTIVITY & ASSIMILATION
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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.
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Week 7:
Feb 20-26
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Prof. Equiano
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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)
E-text:
on Equiano #1/read 1st “next” links
E-text: on Equiano #2/read only after
reading Equiano per se (CORRECTED LINK)
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ESSAY#1 DUE MONDAY FEB 27: CLICK FOR
INSTRUCTIONS
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Week 8:
Feb 27-March 4
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Prof. Ashbridge
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GREAT AWAKENINGS: DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE--SELF AND
NATION MAKING
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Ashbridge, Autobiography
(in Journeys book)
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.
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Week 9:
March 5-11
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Prof. Franklin
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Franklin, Autobiography of B. Franklin (Parts One
& Two)
E-text: on Franklin
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Week 10:
March 12-18
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Prof. HistoryWest
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SPRING BREAK
DON’T FORGET EXAM#2 (SEE RIGHT COLUMN!)
SEE LECTURE “HISTORY OF THE WEST” FROM 3/7 CLASS: NOT REQUIRED/NOT ON EXAM
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Please note March 19th
Monday is the last day to drop the course with a DR grade.
Exam#2—Click for Instructions: Wed.
class
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Week 11:
March 19-25
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Prof. Wieland
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THE DANGERS OF INDEPENDENCE: AMERICAN GOTHIC
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Brown, Wieland (do
not read Memoirs of Carwin)
Read complex/dense Fliegelman introduction only after you’ve read
the novel, as it assumes that you have read the novel).
DON’T FORGET EXAM#2 (SEE RIGHT
COLUMN!)
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Exam#2—Click for Instructions: Wed.
class
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Week 12:
March 26-April 1
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Brown, continued
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ESSAY#2 DUE MONDAY APRIL 2: CLICK
FOR INSTRUCTIONS
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Week 13:
April 2-8
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Prof: Crev. & DeToc.
Prof. Irving
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E-text: Crevecoeur.
E-text: DeTocqueville
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THE PASTORAL/SUBLIME TRADITION: GOING INTO THE WOODS
& GOING WEST, or, WHAT HAPPENS, CULTURALLY-SPEAKING, AFTER “EARLY
AMERICAN LITERATURE”
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E-text: Irving
E-text: on Irving
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Week 14:
April 9-15
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Prof. Overview of Wrap-Up Themes & Films Below
Slide Show
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Film: “Last of the Mohicans” (Daniel Day Lewis)
This is a romanticized version of the 1840 novel by James F. Cooper
Henry David Thoreau: Walden—no assigned reading; I will bring a brief
passage to class to be read then & discussed.
Paintings & material culture, from the Puritans to the Romantic Era Part
I (if time, I’ll do a slide-show/Powerpoint)
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Week 15:
April 16-22
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Film: “Shane”--THE classic
American Western!
E-text PDF: on Shane
Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Nature”—no assigned reading; I will
bring a brief passage to class to be read then & discussed.
Paintings & material culture, from the Puritans to the Romantic Era Part
II (if time, I’ll do a slide-show/Powerpoint)
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Exam#3—Click for Instructions: Wed.
class
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Week 16:
April 23-28
Finals Week
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There is no Final Exam in
the class.
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May 3: Grades available in the Panthersoft grade kiosk
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