OHLONE COLLEGE Ohlone Community College District OFFICIAL COURSE OUTLINE I. Description of Course: 1. Department/Course: ENGL - 120A 7. Degree/Applicability: 2. Title: Survey of American Literature: Credit, Degree Applicable, Transferable Beginning to 1865 - CSU & UC (T) 3. Cross Reference: 8. General Education: 4. Units: 3 Plan A - District General Education Lec Hrs: 3 IIIB. Humanities Lab Hrs: Plan B - CSU General Education Tot Hrs: 54.00 C2 - Humanities 5. Repeatability: No Plan C - IGETC 6. Grade Options: Letter Grade, May 3B. Humanities Petition for Pass/No Pass (GC) 9. Field Trips: Not Required 10. Requisites: Prerequisite ENGL 151B Fundamentals of Composition and ENGL 163 Techniques of College Reading or ENGL 151RW Introduction to College Reading and Writing 12. Catalog Description: This course focuses on the literary productions of America from its beginning to 1865. Students will read and discuss American oral traditions, short stories, poetry, drama, and novels and will become familiar with great American writers. 13. Class Schedule Description: Reading and discussion of American literature from Native American oral tradition to 1865. 14. Counselor Information: This course is commonly required for lower-division English majors and fulfills a general education requirement for non-english majors at a state university or at the University of California. It fulfills one of the requirements for the English A.A. degree at Ohlone. II. Student Learning Outcomes The student will:
III. 1. Identify and describe major currents in the development of American literature from its beginning to 1865. 2. Relate works of American literature to American cultural values and beliefs. 3. Analyze and evaluate the basic structures and elements of American fiction, poetry, and drama. 4. Demonstrate an understanding of the various gender and racial perspectives of American literature. 5. Identify and apply various critical approaches to the study of American literature. 6. Compare and contrast works of American literature within and across time periods. Course Content: A. Literature of the First Contact 1700. 1. Native American traditions (myths, legends, songs and chants, with a look at corresponding imagery in the ceremonial arts, pottery and clothing). 2. Native American Origin and Creation Stories from the Iriquois, Cherokee and Lakota 3. The literature of first European contact (journals, letters and chronicles and the European world view as reflected in paintings of the period) 4. Accounts by Christopher Columbus and other early explorers of the America a. Letter of Columbus, Describing the Results of His First Voyage B. World views reflected in the works of English, French and Spanish-speaking soldiers C. 1. Adventurers with the native peoples they encountered a. Cabeza de Vaca: The Narrative of Cabeza de Vaca The work of early colonists (journals, chronicles, autobiography, sermons, meditations and poetry) a. Samuel de Champlain The Voyages of Samuel de Champlain D. The shift in concerns from those of their European predecessors. 1. Contrast between world views reflected in the early colonist literature with that of the native peoples they encountered. 2. John Smith a. The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles E. Literature of the Colonial Period 1700-1800 1. English, African, African-American, Native American, Spanish and Mexican voices a. William Bradford, Of Plimoth Plantation; b. Anne Bradstreet, Selected poems; c. Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God;
d. Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin F. Differing visions of race, identity and nation a. Samson Occum, A Short Narrative of My Life ; b. Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself G. Stylistic and thematic parallels in painting, furniture and architecture H. Literature of the Enlightenment and Revolutionary Period 1. The influence of European philosophical movements on American writing and thinking 2. Contrasting visions of statehood and the rights of citizens a. Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776 I. Literature of the early 19th Century to 1865 1. The Romantic Period (poetry, journals, short stories and the novel) 2. Images of American Indian people 3. Views of nature in literature and painting a. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass b. William Cullen Bryant, "Thanatopsis", "The Prairies" c. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, "Self-Reliance" d. Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, Rip Van Winkle e. Henry David Thoreau, Walden J. Issues and visions in Pre-Civil War America 1. Images of the American self in the works of American Indians, slaves, and freemen; women and European-Americans a. Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown", "Wakefield", and " The Minister s Black Veil" b. Herman Melville, "Bartleby, the Scrivener" c. Edgar Allan Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Tell-Tale Heart" d. Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, "Mishosha, or the Magician and His Daughters" 2. Views on the rights of women a. Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century b. Emily Dickinson, Selected poems
3. Comparing and contrasting the literature of slavery and abolition a. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 4. African American Slave Songs IV. Course Assignments: A. Reading Assignments 1. Textbook readings. B. Projects, Activities, and other Assignments 1. Classroom Presentations: Individually or in groups, students will make oral presentations on specific American authors, their work, and their influence.written responses analyzing poetry and short passages of fiction and/or dramatic texts. Classroom presentation on author or era covered in the semester. C. Writing Assignments 1. Written Responses: Each week, students will write a one- to two-page response to the week's readings. Essays: Students will write several essays, which either 1) focus on a major current in the development of American Literature, 2) relate a work of American Literature to an American cultural value or belief, 3) analyze a major element of American Literature in one or more works, 4) compare and contrast two works of American Literature in the same time period or in different time periods, 5) analyze a work of American Literature in terms of racial or gender issues, or 6) apply a critical literary approach to one work of American Literature.Term or Other Paper(s) on authors and eras covered in the semester, with analysis of elements of either fiction, poetry, or drama. V. Methods of Evaluation: A. Take-home Essays - Students will write essays in which they focus on topics such as: Discuss one major current in the development of American literature; relate one work of American literature to an American cultural value or belief; analyze a major element of American literature in one or more works; compare and contrast two works of American literature in the same time period or in different time periods; apply a critical literary approach to one work of American literature. (SLOs 1-6, but depends on the assignment) B. Weekly Written Responses to readings (SLOs 1-4) C. Examinations: Students will complete in-class exams on the identification of specific terms and concepts related to American literature. (SLOs 1, 5, and 6) D. Classroom Presentations (SLOs 1-6) VI. Methods of Instruction: A. Lecture B. Discussion C. Audiovisual D. Collaborative Learning VII. Textbooks:
Recommended 1. Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter Eighth Edition 8th Edition, W.W. Norton and Company, 2012 ISBN: 9780393918854 2. Belasco, Susan and Linck Johnson The Bedford Anthology of American Literature (Volume One: beginnings to 1865) 2nd Edition, Bedford, 2013 ISBN: 0-312-48299-X Supplemental VIII. Supplies: Approval Date: 10/07/2014 CCC Number: CCC000445339 TOP Codes: 1503.00 C-ID Number: ENGL 130