The assignment for the first week is to answer the Course Orientation questions and to send your work to me as a Microsoft Word file attached to an email message.
Click here to view the questions.
The due date is January 15.
What you take from the primary sources serves as evidence to support the generalizations that you make about the reading. It is not sufficient to just summarize the information in the introductions, although this may be appropriate as a way of beginning your own essay. And although it is acceptable to use secondary sources to help you understand the reading, information about the writers or their works from the secondary sources is not a substitute for evidence taken directly from the assigned reading material. If you do use secondary sources, whether they are from the textbook introductions or some other book or article, you must document them. I know that some of the reading assignments are difficult, but when you signed on for the course, this is the work you agreed to do. I am looking for evidence of a good effort.
For assignment two, you may complete this assignment on Realism, Naturalism, and Regionalism and send it to me by January 29, or you may wait and do the next assignment on Sentimentalism and send it to me by January 29.
Introduction — American Literature 1865-1914 (1223-1236)
Samuel L. Clemens (1237-1240)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapters 12-18 (1282-1324)
According to the introduction in your textbook, "American Literature 1865-1914," (pages 1-15) what are the essential characteristics of the literary movements of realism, naturalism, and regional or local color literature, and who were the representative figures of each, and what are some of their major works? Be concise and specific. Document the sources you use.
Brete Harte -- The Outcasts of Poker Flat (web)
W.D. Howells -- Editha (1441-1453)
Ambrose Bierce — An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1453-1460)
Sarah Orne Jewett — The White Heron (1586-1594)
Kate Chopin — At the 'Cadian Ball (1594-1603) The Storm (1603-1607)Desiree's Baby (1607-1611)
One of the characteristics of the period of Romantic literature is sentimentalism. Using both Internet and library sources, define this term. The realistic writers in the period after the civil war reacted against sentimentalism by the use of satire and by holding sentimental notions up to the cold light of the real world. Point out examples of realistic writers attacking sentimentalism. Look particularly at Samuel Clemens and William Dean Howells. Make specific references to the reading to support your answer. Include appropriate quotations. Document the sources you use.
For assignment three, you may complete this assignment on Realism and send it to me by February 12, or you may wait and do the next assignment Regionalism and Local Color and send it to me by February 12.
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman — A New England Nun (1612-1620)
Sherwood Anderson — Mother (1903-1910) "Queer" (1910-1916)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman — The Yellow Wall-paper (1658-1671)
The term "realism" describes a type of writing that emerged in America after 1865. Using the introduction in your textbook as well as Internet and library resources, give a definition of this term. Use the reading you have done thus far to illustrate the characteristics of realism. Make specific references to the reading to support your answer. Include appropriate quotations. Document the sources you use.
Hamlin Garland — Under the Lions Paw (web)
Jack London — To Build a Fire (1761-1773) The Law of Life (web)
Edith Wharton — (1671-1672) Souls Belated (1673-1691
The terms "regionalism" and "local color" are used to describe writing that became important in American literature during the period from 1865 to 1914. Using the introduction in your textbook, as well as Internet and library resources, give definitions of regional or local color writing. Use your reading thus far to illustrate the characteristics of these kinds of writing. Make specific references to the reading. Include appropriate quotations. Document the sources you use.
For assignment four, you may complete this assignment on Naturalism and send it to me by February 26, or you may wait and do the next assignment on African-American writers and send it to me by February 26.
Theodore Dreiser — Old Rogaum and his Theresa and The Lost Phoebe (web)
Stephen Crane — The Open Boat (1719-1738) The Blue Hotel (1738-1757 )
The term "Naturalism" is used to describe a philosophical outlook as well as a kind of literature that was based on this perspective. Using the introduction to your textbook, A Handbook to Literature, and other sources, give a definition of this term. Use your reading assignments to date to illustrate the characteristics of Naturalism. Include appropriate quotations. Document the sources you use.
Booker T. Washington — The Atlanta Exposition Address (1621-1630) Boyhood Days (web)
W. E. B. Du Bois — The Souls of Black Folk (1702-1719)
The African American writers, Booker T. Washington and W. E. D. Du Bois, both worked for the advancement of their race. However, the two men had different ideas on how to achieve this. What does their writing reveal on this issue?
For assignment five, you may complete this assignment on the psychological novel and send it to me by March 12, or you may wait and do the next assignment on literature between the wars and send it to me by March 12.
Henry James (1498- 1500) The Real Thing (1539-1556)
The Beast in the Jungle (1556-1586)
According to A handbook to Literature, a psychological novel is a fictional creation in prose "that places unusual emphasis on the interior characterization and on the motives, circumstances, and internal action that spring from, and develop, external action" (382). But there are psychological short stories as well as psychological novels. Use your reading thus far to illustrate the characteristics of this kind of writing. Note especially the works of Henry James and Edith Wharton. Make specific references to the reading. Include appropriate quotations. Document the sources you use.
Introduction -- American Literature Between the Wars 1914-1945 ( 1807-1822)
Edgar Lee Masters (web)
Edwin Arlington Robinson — Poems (1836-1841)
Amy Lowell — Poems (1873-1878)
Robert Frost — Poems (1878-1892)
Carl Sandberg — Poems (1916-1918)
Read the introduction entitled "American Literature Between the Wars: 1914-1945" (pages 1807-1822) and explain the major social, economic, and intellectual factors which created the background for American literature during this period. Be concise and specific. Document the sources you use.
For assignment six, you may complete this assignment on the Imigists and send it to me by March 26, or you may wait and do the next assignment on the short story and send it to me by March 26.
Ezra Pound — Poems (1946-1953)
H. D. (Hilda Doolittle) — Poems (1954-1963)
Robinson Jeffers — Poems (1963-1966)
Marianne Moore — Poems (1966-1973)
T.S. Eliot — The Love Song of J. Alfred Profrock (1973-1979) The Hollow Men (1994-1997)
Claude McKay — Poems (2082-2086)
Edna St. Vincent Millay — Poems (2109-2112)
According to James D. Hart in the Oxford Companion to American Literature, Imagism was a "poetic movement of England and the United States [that] flourished from 1909-1917" (401). Among its practitioners were Ezra pound, H. D., John Gould Fletcher, and Amy Lowell. Using Internet and library resources, identify the characteristics of this kind of poetry. Make specific references to the reading to illustrate these characteristics. Include appropriate quotations. Document the sources you use. See your grammar handbook for guidelines on quoting poetry.
Katherine Anne Porter — Flowering Judas (2086-2096)
The Gilded Six-Bits (2100-2108)
E. E. Cummings — Poems (2112-2120)
Jean Toomer — Poems (2120-2125)
Langston Hughes — Poems (2225-2232)
The process of creating a literary character is known as characterization. Using Internet and library sources define the terms "character" and "characterization" and explain the various means by which writers create characters. A Handbook to Literature is very useful here. Make reference to the stories you have read thus far to illustrate your ideas. Include appropriate quotations. Document the sources you use.
For assignment seven, you may complete this assignment on conflict and send it to me by April 9, or you may wait and do the next assignment on narrative points of view and send it to me by April 9.
F. Scott Fitzgerald — (2126-2127) Babylon Revisited (2143-2157)
William Faulkner — That Evening Sun (2166-2177)
Earnest Hemingway — The Snows of Kilimanjaro (2206-2225)
The Handbook to Literature defines conflict as "The struggle that grows out of the interplay of two opposing forces" (105). When we think of conflict, we usually think about conflict between people; however, other kinds of conflict are common in literature. Look back at the stories you have read and identify the different kinds of conflict that motivate the action. How do the conflicts represented in the stories help to illustrate the themes?
John Steinbeck — (2232) The Grapes of Wrath(2233-244)
Richard Wright -- The Man Who Was Almost A Man (2255-2265)
Eudora Welty — Petrified Man (2288-2298)
John Cheever — The Swimmer (2363-2373)
Works of fiction are told by created personages called "narrators." A Handbook to Literature explains that narrators may tell stories from different points of view and with varying degrees of knowledge and reliability. Using Harmon and Holman and other sources, explain the different characteristics of narrators and the points of view from which stories may be told. Use the stories you have read thus far to illustrate your comments. Document the sources you use.
For assignment eight, you have three choices. You may complete this assignment on character and characterization and send it to me by April 23, or you may choose to do the assignment on cultural perspectives, or the assignment on metaphors and similes and send it to me by April 23.
James Baldwin — Going to Meet the Man (2414-2426)
Flannery O'Connor — Good Country People (2427-2441)
John Updike — Separating (2470-2480)
Philip Roth — Defender of the Faith (2480-2503)
The short story is an important genre in American literature. Using Internet and library sources, give a definition of the term "short story" making use of the stores you have read thus far to illustrate its characteristics. Document the sources you use.
Thomas Pynchon — Entropy (2521-2532)
Maxine Hong Kinston — No Name Woman (2556-2566)
Alice Walker — Everyday Use (2580-2587)
Sandra Cisneros -- My Lucy Friend who Smells Like Corn (2594-2596)
America is a land of many peoples. In our recent history, more attention has been payed to writers who represent different ethnic groups and cultural traditions. These writers have revealed different facets of the American experience. In the reading you have done thus far, identify particular works which provide unique perspectives on life in America. What do they reveal? Make specific references to the reading. Include appropriate quotations. Document the sources you use.
Robert Penn Warren — Poems (2631-2638)
Theodore Roethke — Poems (2638-2643)
Elizabeth Bishop — Poems (2648-2662)
Robert Hayden — Poems (2662-2669)
Randall Jarrell — Poems (2670-2675)
Robert Lowell — Poems (2684-2696-)
Gwendolyn Brooks — Poems (2697-2702)
Richard Wilber — Poems (2702-2705)
Poetry often makes use of comparisons that are sometimes expressed as metaphors and sometimes as similes. Using A Handbook to Literature and other sources, define these terms using the poetry you have read to illustrate your ideas. Identify the tenor and vehicle in each example, and comment on how these figures of speech contribute to the main idea of the poem. See your grammar handbook for information on how to document quotations from poetry. Document all of the sources you use.