Literature 3323: The American Renaissance 1820-1865

Shari Goldberg Office JO 5.110 Fall 2009

sgoldberg@utdallas.edu Office hours T 1:00-2:00 T R 11:30-12:45
972-883-4930 R 3:00-4:00 CN 1.304

Course description
What it meant to be an American writer was, in the nineteenth century, an evolving concept, and the
literature produced in that period reflects both an attraction to and resistance of the ideas of national
identity and an individual voice. This course will approach questions of identity and voice as literary
concerns that were marked by the political—slavery, expansionism, and the extermination of Native
Americans—and informed by the developing technologies of photography, detection, decoration, and
natural history.

Student learning objectives

The main goal of the course is to provide students with a broad overview of the key writers and literary
topics of the American nineteenth century. Students will engage the texts by closely reading in order to
assess how literary expression proposes philosophies of the self, of history, and of politics. Writing
assignments will further develop familiarity with the texts as well as skills of argumentation and analysis.

Required texts
Available at Off-Campus Books on Campbell Road (972) 907-8398:
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Norton)
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays & Poems (Library of America)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown & Other Short Stories (Dover)
Herman Melville, Melville's Short Novels (Norton)
Edgar Allan Poe, Selected Writings (Norton)
Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (Princeton UP)

Assignments from other texts (marked in the syllabus with a *) will be available via UTD e-reserves (unless
otherwise announced in class). The e-reserves site is: <http://www.utdallas.edu/library/services/reserves/
reservesvc.htm> Our course page is: <http://utdallas.docutek.com/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=674> The
password is: amerren3323.

With the exception of Dickinson's poems, the editions listed are recommended but not required. Many
assigned texts may be available online; these are acceptable for use only when printed versions are brought
to class for reference. Please draw texts from academic (.edu) or other reputable sites (e.g., gutenberg.org).
Course requirements
Students must:
◇ Act respectfully towards the viewpoints of others—those present in class and those whom we will read.
◇ Be prepared and present in all class sessions. Four absences, latenesses, or unprepared presences will
result in the final grade being lowered by one full grade. More than four absences may result in failure of
the course. Phones must not be used during class.
◇ Complete all assignments on their own and on time. Reading is the primary assignment and must be taken
seriously. Students are also responsible for participating in class discussions and completing all writing
assignments—in addition to other work announced in the course of the term.
Please see me in the event that these requirements become difficult to meet.

Evaluation
Student performance will be evaluated on an A-F grading scale, with components weighed as follows:
Weekly response papers 35%
Contribution to class 15%
Midterm exam 25%
Final exam 25%

Assignments
Each Tuesday: Brief (approximately 300 words) writing assignments based on the reading are due.
These will be an opportunity for you to demonstrate your engagement with the texts as well as your
involvement in the class discussions. Grades for these will be a check (grade equivalent of 85%), check plus
(grade equivalent of 95%) or zero. Keep in mind that work must be above average to receive credit. This
means that careful and steady reading habits are essential. Late assignments will not be accepted. In case of
illness or emergency, they may be emailed to me before the class meeting time if a hard copy is also
delivered in or by the next class.
◇ If not announced in class on Thursday, assignments will be posted the following Friday at:
http://spgoldberg.edublogs.org/.

Thursday 10/8: Midterm exam is due in class. The exam will consist of three questions about key texts
engaged during class and will be handed out and explained one week prior to the due date. Each question
should generate a 600-700 word response, for a total length of 1,800-2,100 words; exams should
demonstrate proficiency with the texts as well as familiarity with ideas discussed in class.

Thursday 12/10: Final exam is due in my office by 10 am. Format and evaluation criteria are same as
those for the midterm, above.
Schedule of readings and assignments, DUE ON THE DATE LISTED

T 8/25 Washington Irving, "Rip Van Winkle"

R 8/27 Emerson, "The Lord's Supper Sermon"

T 9/1 Emerson, "The American Scholar"

R 9/3 Emerson, "Self Reliance"

T 9/8 Emerson, "Spiritual Laws"

R 9/10 Thoreau, A Week: "Saturday"

T 9/15 Thoreau, A Week: "Wednesday"

R 9/17 Thoreau, A Week: "Thursday"

T 9/22 Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience" *

R 9/24 Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown"

T 9/29 Hawthorne, "The Birthmark"

R 10/1 Hawthorne, "The Artist of the Beautiful" & Melville, "Hawthorne and His Mosses" *

T 10/6 Poe, "William Wilson"

R 10/8 Midterm exams due

Poe, "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"
T 10/13 Poe, "The Black Cat" and "The Imp of the Perverse"

R 10/15 Poe, "The Purloined Letter"

T 10/20 Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: Preface + chapters 1-8
R 10/22 Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: chapters 9-11 (Appendix optional)

T 10/27 Douglass, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

R 10/29 Melville, "Bartleby"

T 11/3 Melville, "Benito Cereno": pages 34-69 (up to the shaving scene)

R 11/5 Melville, "Benito Cereno": pages 69-102

T 11/10 Images of African-American Slavery and Freedom

http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/082_slave.html
Slave Narratives: Voices and Faces from the Collection
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html
R 11/12 Dickinson, selected poems *
T 11/17 Dickinson, selected poems

R 11/19 Dickinson, selected poems

T 11/24 Whitman, selections from Specimen Days *

R 11/26 Thanksgiving Break

T 12/1 Whitman, "Song of Myself" *

R 12/3 Whitman, "Song of Myself"

R 12/10 Final papers due in my office by 10 am.

This syllabus is subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.