ENGLISH 2230 -- AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1865

1492 - 1620 -- The Pre-Colonial Period / The Age of Exploration, Discovery, and Encounter

• Jamestown (Virginia) in 1607
• Plymouth Plantation in 1620
• Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628-1630

1620 - 1720 -- The Colonial Period / The Age of Puritanism

1720 - 1820 -- The Enlightenment Period / The Age of Reason and Revolution / Deism

1820 - 1865 -- The Romantic Period / Pantheism / Transcendentalism

ENGLISH 2235 -- AMERICAN LITERATURE SINCE 1865

1865 - 1914 -- Realism and Naturalism / Regionalism and Local Color

1914 - 1945 -- Modernism

1945 - Present -- Post-Modernism

ENGLISH 2230 -- MAJOR COURSE TOPICS

1.) What Is “Literature”? Common Genres vs. "Uncommon" Genres:

• Fiction -- novels and short stories
• Poetry
• Drama
   
• Autobiographies, Memoirs
• Journals, Diaries
• Historical Records
• Political Papers
• Journalism
• Essays
• Letters
• Speeches
• Sermons
• Travel Narratives, Exploration Reports
   
• Native American Oral Literature -- “Orature” (Oral Literature; Oral Culture)
• Songs and Chants
• Speeches
• Stories -- Creation Narratives, Trickster Tales, etc.
• Ceremonies and Rituals
• Names and Jokes
• Visual -- Shells/Beads on Clothing; Painted Hides, Tepees, Shields

2.) “Major” vs. “Minor” Writers:

• The Traditional “Canon” vs. Newer Writers
   
• Race -- White, Black, Red, etc.
• Gender -- Male, Female
• Class -- High, Middle, Low
• Sexuality -- Heterosexual, Homosexual

3.)  Interconnections Between Literature and History

• The Puritans and Other Religious Groups (e.g. Quakers)
• The Conflicts between Britain and the “British Colonies”
• The Revolutionary War
• The Issue of Slavery
• Contacts with the Native Americans
• The Civil War

4.)  Common “Conflicts” In Literature

• Individual vs. Self
• Individual vs. Another Person
• Individual vs. Society or Community
• Individual vs. Nature
• Individual vs. Fate or Destiny
• Individual vs. Supernatural

5.)  Common Topics/Themes in Early American Literature

• Nature
• Religion
• Government
• The Individual and the Self / Identity
• Women
• Native Americans
• African Americans
• Slavery
• Writing, Authorship, and Literary Authority

6.)  How Is Reading All of This “Old Stuff” Useful or Important to Us Today?

Copyright © 2007 Scott R. Stankey
Last revised on 29 August 2007 by SRS
Please address comments to scott.stankey@anokaramsey.edu