English (ENGL) 344

Overview

This course introduces students to American literature, its history and development, and its rich variety of forms and techniques. It surveys American literature from its beginnings to approximately 1900 and includes Native orators, Puritan authors, writers of the Enlightenment and Romantic periods, slave narratives, and works that would set the stage for the entry of the United States into the literary world of the Twentieth Century.

Through a critical examination of these literary works, students will develop a deeper understanding of some of the main issues and movements that shape American culture as we see it today. They will also build a good foundation for proceeding to English 345: American Literature II.

Note: Since this is a senior course, we expect students to have good reading and writing skills as well as the basic critical tools and knowledge of literary forms and techniques that are acquired in an introductory university English literature course like Athabasca University's English 211 and 212. Students who do not have the recommended credits in an introductory English literature course may experience significant difficulty with the essay assignments and examinations.

Outline

Lesson 1: Pre-America

Lesson 2: Puritan poetry

Lesson 3: The American Enlightenment

Lesson 4: American Tales

Lesson 5: The Scarlet Letter

Lesson 6: Billy Budd, Sailor

Lesson 7: Emerson

Lesson 8: Thoreau

Lesson 9: Two Slave Narratives

Lesson 10: Walt Whitman

Lesson 11: Emily Dickinson

Lesson 12: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Lesson 13: Henry James

Evaluation

To receive credit for ENGL 344, you must achieve a composite course grade of at least “D” (50 percent) and a grade of at least 50 percent on the final examination. The weighting of the course assignments is as follows:

Essay 1	Essay 2	Final Exam	Total
20%	40%	40%	100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.