Texts: Baym, Norton Anthology of American Literature Shorter Seventh Edition Volume 2

Course Objectives: 1. Students will read some of the major works of American literature from the Civil War to the present 2. Stulents will  read these works in social, political, and historical context, and hone their skills as close readers. 3. Students will  develop skills as attentive and thoughtful readers of literary texts through close attention to individual texts as well as the relationships between texts and the political, social, authorial, and historical "texts" that go into their creation. 4. Students will write critical essays about literature along with more informal writing in order to develop mature writing skills.  5. Student will prepare themselves for further literary study and gain pratice as critical readers and thinkers.

Course Requirements and Grading Policy Course Requirements: Regular attendance and participation; regular preparation of reading (tested by classroom participation, regular postings to GAView discsussion boards,  possible unannounced quizzes and/or informal reaction papers), 2 short papers(4-5 pp.), and a final exam. Grading Policy: Participation (including active discussion) and preparation: 25% Paper 1: 25% Paper 2: 25% Final: 25% The drop date is July 9--you will have received a grade for a paper by then.

Attendance Policy No more than 2 absences are permitted. The portion of your final grade based on participation and preparation is based on just that. If you come to every class, but do not talk or never do the reading on time, do not expect to get 100% just for being in class. The University Catalog states that Georgia Southern professors are responsible for setting specific attendance policies. Finally, you are expected to be on time for class and to stay for the duration of class. This means you should refrain from engaging in distracting activities, such as reading newspapers, eating meals, getting up in the middle of class to use the facilities, and other forms of rude and distracting behavior.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION,  more page numbers  & links to come.

It is incredibly hard to fit all the work one would do during a semester into a 5-week syllabus.  I haven't attempted to do so.  That said, there is a whole lot of reading.  I will post potential paper topics very soon.

Week 1

6/22 Intro. to class
6/23 American Literature 1865-1914  1-16;   Whitman  17-77, 
6/24 Dickinson 77-93
Resource: The Classroom Electric: Dickinson, Whitman, and American Culture
6/24 Twain 93-97,  Huck Finn 101-287
PBS page on Huck Finn, Teaching the Controversies . 
6/25 Huck Finn, concuded.l

Week 2

6/29  Henry James headnote, 315-318  "Daisy Miller"   319-356  
6/30  "The Beast in the Jungle."  374-403. Documents about Realism and Naturalism 569-585

7/1  Freeman 443-452, Jewett 414-422, London  649-661
7/2  Stephen Crane 601-641; Paul Laurence Dunbar 641-649
7/3 Independence Day Holiday

Week 3

7/6  Henry Adams   The Dynamo and the Virgin (1900) ; Du Bois  "Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others" (reading at link) and Washington's Atlanta Exposition Address (Washington Reading is at the link)   Du Bois vs. Booker T. Washington   Dudley Randall's poem "Booker T. And W.E.B." (1969) 

7/7 American LIterature 1914-1945 705-720   Robinson  721-725 & Frost 775-790
PAPER 1 due 
7/8  Eliot & Pound
7/9  Williams & Stein  (other modern poems TBA
7/10  Hughes, Cullen, Brown