Anoka Ramsey Community College -- Coon Rapids Campus

English 2230: American Literature to 1865

Course Handouts -- The Enlightenment Period

(a.k.a. The Age of Reason and Revolution; The Neoclassical Period)


General Information:

The Historical Background

The Age of Exuberance

"Buzzwords" of the Enlightenment

Enlightenment Genres

Captivity Narratives

Slavery Narratives -- Shorter Version

Slavery Narratives -- Longer Version

Primitivism and Noble Savage

American Contexts: "To Begin the World Over Again": The Emerging Idea of "America"

American Contexts: "Who Reads an American Book?": Calls for a National Literature

Literature for a New Nation -- Lecture Notes


Specific Authors (alphabetical by last name):

Questions about Early American Women Authors (Bradstreet, Rowlandson, Knight, Adams, Wheatley)

Elizabeth Ashbridge

Olaudah Equiano -- Rhetorical Information

Olaudah Equiano -- Issues and Questions

Olaudah Equiano -- Scott's Reading Notes and Study Ideas

Olaudah Equiano -- Scott's Responses to Two Discussion Questions (Fall 2006)

Benjamin Franklin

A Selection Written by Silence Dogood (a Franklin "persona") -- get copy from professor

Another Selection by Benjamin Franklin -- get copy from professor

An Excerpt from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby to Use with Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography -- get copy from professor

Philip Freneau -- Notes

Sarah Kemble Knight

Samson Occom -- Biographical Notes and Text Outline

Samson Occom -- Studying the Text

Samson Occom -- Discussion Questions

Susanna Rowson -- Charlotte Temple (novel)

Royall Tyler -- The Contrast (play)

Phillis Wheatley -- Issues and Questions

Phillis Wheatley -- Notes and Questions

Phillis Wheatley -- More Notes

Biblical References Used to Justify Slavery

John Woolman