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English 11B/American Studies 150
Introduction to English II: American Literature and Culture to 1855
Judith Richardson
Lectures: TuTh 10:30-11:50, Dinkelspiel G10
Office Hours: TBD
Office Location: Bldg 460 (Margaret Jacks Hall), Room 323
E-mail: [email protected]; Phone: 723-2724
Texts: The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 8th Edition, Volumes A (Beginnings to
1820) and B (1820-1865); they can be purchased together as “Package 1.” (The recently
released 9th edition is also fine.) Available at the Stanford Bookstore. Unless otherwise noted,
readings can be found in this anthology. Please have read the texts before the relevant class date.
Check the Canvas website for more specific reading instructions each week.
Schedule of Readings and Lectures
Week 1:
April 4: Introduction: America, Through the Looking Glass
April 6: Mount versus Hill: Some Colonial Models:
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Thomas Morton, excerpt from New English Canaan
William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, all selections from Book I, and “The
Remainder of Anno 1620”; “Mr. Morton of Merrymount”; “War with the Pequots”; and
“A Horrible Truth” from Book II
John Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity”
Week 2 (April 11th and 13th): Puritan Delights and Dilemmas
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Edward Taylor, selections from Sermon VI (handout), and selected poems
Anne Bradstreet, selected poems
Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary
Rowlandson
Cotton Mather, “The Wonders of the Invisible World”
Week 3 (April 18th and 20th): Enlightenments and 18th Century Selves
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Jonathan Edwards, “Personal Narrative” and “A Divine and Supernatural Light”
Benjamin Franklin, “The Way to Wealth” and The Autobiography Parts I, II, and part of
Part III
Week 4 (April 25th and 27th): Revolutionary Sentiments: Affection, Seduction, and the
Female Subject
Over/
2
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Phyllis Wheatley, selected poems
Hannah Foster, The Coquette; or, The History of Eliza Wharton
Week 5 (May 2nd and 4th): Tell a Tale of Haunting
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Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
Edgar Allan Poe, “The Black Cat”
Week 6 (May 9th and11th): An American Romance
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Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
Week 7 (May 16th and 18th): Expansive Americans
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Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”
Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”
Week 8 (May 23rd and 25th): A Week in the Woods
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Henry David Thoreau, Walden (selected chapters)
Week 9 (May 30th and June 1st): Constricted Americans
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Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Harriet Jacobs, selections from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Week 10 (June 7th): Loopholes.
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Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener”
Requirements
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Midterm essay, 5-7 pages, due Monday, May 8th (30%)
Final essay, 8-10 pages, due Monday, June 13th (45%)
Attendance and participation in lecture and section, including submission of any section
assignments (i.e. responses or focus points). (25%)