American Literature

American Literature is a graduation-required literature and composition course, in which students challenge their understanding of what America is, who is Americans are, and how America has come to be.

Syllabus for March 17

Monday

Lecture on chapter twelve: Mary and the return of the good Rev.. We will return to chapter five to better understand why the IM is so angry with him.
HW: Reading your novel.

Tuesday

Today we will finish discussing chapter five, and then return to the dumped spitoon at the end of chapter twelve. We will start our analysis of chapter thirteen.
HW: Reading your novel.

Wednesday

Part lecture, part small group work on chapter thirteen.
HW: Finishing your novel?

Thursday

First draft of your research paper: What question does your author answer or explore through the novel? What do the experts say? What's your take on their take? What does the evidence in the novel support? Lecture on drafting this paper.
HW: Reading chapter fourteen of IM.

Friday

In the library: finding supplementary materials to create a multi-genre paper. Poems, paintings, songs, sculpture, short-stories: what other American artists have said about the same question your novelist explores.
HW: Reading chapter fifteen on IM. Also read the first half of chapter sixteen by Monday.