Tentative Schedule – English 203, Readings in American Literature

Date	Readings and Events
Sep 1	Introduction to each other to course and course policies.  Historical timeline.  Rita Dove, "Mississippi" (2681). Robert Frost, “The Gift Outright”
3	See The Literature of the New World.   Sign up for Footnotes this first week. Jonathan Edwards, "From Personal Narrative" (177 – 181). Benjamin Franklin (sample footnote), "The Autobiography (Parts I and II if internet version)" (184 - 198, 214 - 222); See also, this page from The Great Gatsby. St. Jean de Crèvecoeur, "Letters from an American Farmer, Letter III and Letter IX" (339 - 342, 402 - 405). See this weekly response sample.  Apess, "A Son of the Forest" (358 - 361); Washington Irving, "Rip Van Winkle," (367-378).
Awakening to the New World: Formation of a National Consciousness
8	Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nature" (487-89, 490-498 “Introduction,” “Beauty,” “Language”). See also this Intro to the American Renaissance.
10	Henry David Thoreau, Walden: "Economy" (602-643), "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" (643-652), "Conclusion" (689-697), "Resistance to Civil Government" (697 - 711).
15	Edgar Allen Poe, "The Cask of Amontillado" (763 - 765). Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown" (804-813), “My Kinsman, Major Molineux” (792-804).
17	Herman Melville, "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Tale of Wall Street" (853-879). Rebecca Harding Davis, "Life in the Iron Mills" (1118 - 1146 w/ related voices).
Doubts about this Awakening:  Questioning Democratic Idealism
22-24	Van Noy out of town. Continue reading.
29	Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself" (1166-1209 ), "One's Self I Sing," (1165). "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d" (1232- 1239); "A Noiseless Patient Spider" (1254).
Oct 1	Emily Dickinson, poetry selections: #216 (both drafts), 258, 324, 338, 341, 441, 585, 712, 986, 1052, 1129, 1540,1624, 1670
Rude (and Realistic) Awakenings:  Seeking a Moral Compass for New Times
6	Mark Twain, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" (1339-1343), "Corn-Pone Opinions" (1351-1354). Selections from "Huckleberry Finn," Chapters I, VIII, XI, XV, XVI and XXXI.
8	Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" (1733-1747). Questions for Discussion. See also Howells, “Deciding to Publish a Yellow Wallpaper” (1746).
13	Chief Seattle, "Our People Are Ebbing Away’ Like a Rapidly Receding Tide" (1362-1329); Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, "Life Among the Piutes" (1329-1332); Booker T. Washington, "The Awakening of the Negro." W.E.B. Du Bois, from The Souls of Black Folk (1779-1801).
15	Stephen Crane, "The Open Boat," (1814 - 1830); Theodore Dreiser, "He Got a Ride" (1834 - 1837). Sarah Orne Jewett, "A White Heron" (1640-1646).
20	Kate Chopin, “The Awakening” (1646-1691)
22	“The Awakening” cont’d to end. Quiz.
Awakening to Modernity
27	F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Winter Dreams" (2129-2143); Ernest Hemingway, "Soldier’s Home" (2218 - 2223).
29	William Faulkner, "That Evening Sun" (2159 - 2170). Willa Cather, "Neighbor Rosicky" (1880 - 1900). Evening Sun discussion questions.
Nov 3	Robert Frost, "The Mending Wall," The Road Not Taken," "After Apple Picking," Birches," "Design," "Directive" (1900 - 1911).
5	William Carlos Williams, selections (1959 - 1965); Elizabeth Bishop, (2278 - 2289); Wallace Stevens, "Anecdote of the Jar," "The Idea of Order at Key West," "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" (1938 - 1948).
10	Hughes, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "Dream Boogie," Theme for English B" (223 - 2228). Ralph Ellison, "The Battle Royal (2352-2361). Group discussion questions. Alice Walker, “Everyday Use” (2634-2639).
12	Watch film: “The Glass Menagerie” (2292-2338)
17	Tillie Olsen, "I Stand Here Ironing (2345-2350). Flannery O’Connor, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (2434 - 2444).
19	Joyce Carol Oates, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" (2590 - 2603). Bobbie Ann Mason, “Shiloh” (2613-2623).
Thanksgiving Break
1	Tim O’Brien, "The Things They Carried" (2639-2652); Raymond Carver, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" (2604 - 2612). See also this unedited version, “Beginnings.”
3	Leslie Marmon Silko, "Storyteller" (2653 - 2663). Erdrich, “Lulu’s Boys” (2701-2709). Mary Oliver, “The Sun” (2569).
8	Show and tell: read one thing we haven't already read from "Literature Since Mid-century" to write a response on (or get full credit for discussing in class). Jennifer Egan, “Great Rock and Roll Pauses” (be sure sound is on--from A Visit from the Goon Squad).
10	Exam Review.
Exam