FINDING, FOUNDING, & FIGURING:
17th- & 18th-century American Literature
Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being
unwilling to learn.--Poor Richard's Almanack
The images that constitute the dominant notion of America during
its formative years -- Puritans and Indians at the Thanksgiving
table, Ben Franklin and his kite, Washington and his cherry-tree,
etc. -- make for a rather simple view of "how it all began." In
recent years, other accounts have demystified the attitudes and
actions of "the founding fathers," reminding us that "America" (both
the place and the concept) is not easily reckoned. Given these
difficulties, how are we to approach literature written in the
earliest periods of the nation's history? What can these writings
tell us about the place, the people, and their ideas? What can these
writings tell us about us, our place, and our ideas? To respond to
these questions, we will have to undertake (and undergo) some serious
literary experimentation. We will have to experiment with history,
nature, time, and interpretation. Because we will be reading texts
that, in many instances, will prove quite strange (even offensive) to
our sensibilities, developing appropriate methods of reading those
texts and determining their usefulness for understanding America will
comprise a significant portion of the semester.
One of the course's premises -- that finding, founding, figuring
do not necessarily happen in order -- requires that we use these
terms as framing devices or points of departure; as such, they lead
to other terms, collected in the following table.
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Finding
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Founding
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Figuring
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Discovery
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Plantation
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Scrutiny
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Awakening
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Liberty
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Transformation
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Enlightenment
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Union
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Search
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By moving among these terms, using imagination, improving
interpretive skills, and engaging the concepts that emerge from the
interactions between terms and texts, we will attempt to find, found,
and figure that place, then, but also this
place, now. To do so, we must be willing to learn
from these textual encounters -- about America, literature, and
ourselves.
Student Work
Along with completing all readings by assigned dates, students
will be responsible for the following:
1. Group Questions: Thursday discussions will be based
on a set of questions generated by student groups (1 group per week).
The questions will be typed, copied, & distributed prior to the
beginning of class period; & the question-generating group will
be expected to help lead discussion.
2. Protocols (4): 1-2 pages (front & back), 1" margins,
single-spaced. These brief, exploratory writings on assigned topics
should demonstrate richness of engagement with texts & attention
to rhetorical efficacy.
3. Quizzes (3): 10 short-answer questions on readings. These
should demonstrate careful attention to details of texts.
4. Research Project Prospectus: an essay of 5 pages, double-spaced
(plus a bibliography of primary & secondary texts); should
include an introduction to the topic, description of salient aspects,
possible approaches, etc. (due 23 March).
5. Exam: a 2-part exam, consisting of short-answer questions
(in class 24 April) & essay questions (due 26 April, 4
p.m.).
6. Research Project (due 15 May): 10-15 page essay
(double-spaced) with annotated bibliography (single-spaced), on a
topic of the student's own devising.
Course Grades: #2-4 (25%), #5 (25%), #6 (25%),
Participation (25%).
- Reading List
- Andrews, William (ed.). Classic American
Autobiographies.
- Brown, Charles Brockden. Wieland, or The
Transformation.
- Gunn, Giles (ed.). Early American Writing.
- Paine, Thomas. Common Sense.
- Wigglesworth, Michael. The Diary of Michael
Wigglesworth.
-
- Reserve List
- Bartram, William. Travels & Other Writings.
F213.B2893
- Calhoun, Mary & Emma MacAlarney (eds.). Readings from
American Literature.
- 810.8 C128
- Dorson, Richard (ed.). America Begins: Early American
Writing. 810.8 D738A
- Edwards, Jonathan. Letters & Personal Writings.
208 Ed96 v. 16
- Franklin, Benjamin. Poor Richard's Almanack. PS749.A6
- Gottesman, Ronald, et al. (eds.). The Norton Anthology of
American
- Literature. PS507.N65 v.1
- Lyon, Thomas (ed.). This Incomperable Lande.
QH81.T355 1989
- Marx, Leo. The Machine in the Garden: Technology & the
Pastoral Ideal in
- America. E169.1 .M35 c.3
- Williams, Roger. A Key into the Language of America,
in Collections of the
- Rhode Island Historical Society. 974.5 R34C v.1
Almanac
6, 8 Feb. Finding, Founding, & Figuring
America
Ere you remark another's sin, bid your own conscience
look within.
"Shakespeare's American Fable," Leo Marx*; "Early American
Writing," Richard Dorson*
13, 15 Feb. Liberty
No gains without pains.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (CAA
70-228); The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Oloudah Equiano,
or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself (EAW
510-22); PROTOCOL
20, 22 Feb. Discovery
What signifies knowing the Names, if you know not the
Natures of Things?
"Native American Mythology" (EAW 3-19); "A Voyage
to New England," John Josselyn & "A Voyage to Virginia," Henry
Norwood (AB 19-66)*; "Introduction" to Travels (13-25)
and "Anecdotes of an American Crow" (573-6), William Bartram*; A
Key into the Language of America, Roger Williams (17-78,
109-19)*; New England's Prospect, William Wood (TIL
95-106)*; QUIZ
27 Feb., 1 Mar. Search
The sleeping Fox catches no poultry. Up! up!
A True History of the Captivity & Restoration of
Mary Rowlandson (CAA 19-69); PROTOCOL
6, 8 Mar. Awakening
He that riseth late, must trot all day, & shall
scarce overtake his business at night.
"Personal Narrative," Jonathan Edwards*; "Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God," Edwards (EAW 320-33); LIBRARY RESEARCH
13, 15 Mar. Union
The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.
"The Farewell Address to the People of the United States,"
George Washington (EAW 417-29); Selections, Thomas Jefferson
(EAW 442-447); "What Is an American?" J. Hector St. Jean de
Crevecoeur (EAW 473-9); Letters, Abigail Adams (EAW
502-9); "On the Equality of the Sexes," Judith Sargent Murray
(EAW 548-55); The Federalist Papers Nos. 1 & 10
(EAW 537-47); Selections, Philip Freneau (EAW 559-564);
Selections, Phillis Wheatley (EAW 565-9); "The Hasty Pudding,"
Joel Barlow (EAW 577-87); QUIZ
20, 22 Mar. Scrutiny
Observe all men; thyself most.
The Diary of Michael Wigglesworth; Poems, Anne
Bradstreet (EAW 175-92); Poems, Edward Taylor (EAW
231-44); PROSPECTUS
27, 29 Mar. Break
Be always ashamed to catch thyself idle.
3, 5 Apr. Transformation
'Tis easier to prevent bad habits than to break
them.
Wieland; or The Transformation, Charles Brockden
Brown; PROTOCOL
10, 12 Apr. Enlightenment
Hear Reason, or she'll make you feel her.
Common Sense, Thomas Paine; Selections, Paine
(EAW 485-9, 490-4); Poor Richard's Almanack, Benjamin
Franklin*; Selections, Franklin (EAW 348-362); Notes on the
State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson ( EAW 437-42);
PROTOCOL
17, 19 Apr. Plantation
Drive thy Business, or it will drive thee.
New England Primer (RAL 88-92)*; The
History & Present State of Virginia, Robert Beverley
(EAW 288-99); "The Sotweed Factor," Ebenezer Cooke
(NAAL 173-90)*; Of Plymouth Plantation, William
Bradford (EAW 123-36); The New English Canaan, Thomas
Morton (EAW 138-46); God's Promise to His Plantations,
John Cotton (EAW 102-3); "The Covenant of Grace," Thomas
Shepard (EAW 170-4); QUIZ
24, 26 Apr. Review & Exam
The Things which hurt, instruct.
1, 3 May Research
Industry, Perseverance, & Frugality, make Fortune
yield.
8, 10 May Presentation, Evaluation, & Farewell
Think of three Things &emdash; whence you came, where
you are going, & to Whom you must account.