Professor Lucia Z. Knoles
Office: Founders 201
Phone: ext 7341 (off campus--767-7341)
E-Mail: lknoles@assumption.edu
Honors Major American Writers
Assumption College
What does it mean to be an American?
How do we define success in a country that guarantees our freedom to the "pursuit of happiness"? How can we believe in the value of equality if we also believe in the value of success? If we want to believe that each person is equally capable of pursuing happiness, what other values or beliefs must we hold?How do we deal with differences in a country composed of people of different nationalities, religions, and political opinions? Are there some characteristics that all Americans are expected to share? How do Americans go about the process of persuading other Americans to accept them and their views? Are there ways of disagreeing that allow us to maintain order, and what happens when our disagreements threaten order?
What kind of national "conversation" has allowed Americans to develop answers to these questions? What role does literature play in that conversation; what other voices take part in the conversation? How is the rhetoric of literature like or unlike rhetoric in other parts of our culture?Does literature offer any "answers"? What issues, if any, continue to be contested in literature? Do any answers remain consistent over time and across texts? Do we really listen to the answers or use them in our lives?
COURSE RESOURCES:
Go to the Course Search Page to search for resources on our our own site or in the collections of other organizations and institutions.
Grading Guidelines.
Topics for Course Projects.
Methods for Interpreting Texts
Advice on Locating and Selecting Resources for Research Projects.
Locating and Evaluating Web Resources for Academic Projects (courtesy of the Crossroads Project at Georgetown sponsored by the American Studies Association).
Citing web resources properly in your academic writing (also at the Crossroads Project).
Go to the Speakeasy Cafe to discuss readings.
Go to the Course Bibliography to locate some of the resources available at the D'Alzon Library.
Go to the Assumption College Catalogue and Online Databases to do research.
Online Information about Style Sheets for Footnotes and Bibliographies
Suggestions on How to Prepare for the Final Examination
To consult a menu of other web projects done by Dr. Knoles, see her faculty listing.
E-Mail the teacher: lknoles@assumption.edu.
Monday, August 28: Introduction to the Course Questions, Goals, Methods, and Evaluation Criteria
Wednesday, August 30: The Puritans "Shining Citie on the Hill"
"AFTER GOD HAD carried us safe to New England, and we had built our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God's worship, and led the civil government, one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the dust. "--from New England's First Fruits
Only a few decades after Puritans set up colonies in New England, a group in Massachusetts came together to celebrate the founding of the first college in the land, Harvard. Why did they bother setting up a college in a time when they still needed so many other basics of life?
The Puritans came to America with both high hopes and dire fears. Use the readings below to develop some hypotheses about these people. Who were they? What kind of society did they hope to construct, and how did their discussions of that society reflect their beliefs, values, and codes of conduct? What do the texts that survive today tell us about how they disseminated and debated their ideas?
Readings:
Winthrop: "A Model of Christian Charity," 107-110 and all of part two;
the farewell letter written to the Puritans who voyaged to America by the Mayflower, written by their pastor;
"A Father's Resolutions" by Cotton Mather;
NOTE: THERE IS NO WRITING ASSIGNMENT FOR WEDNESDAY. Reflection questions are designed to help you think in advance about issues that may be raised in class discussion.
Reflection Questions:
What problems would you expect to encounter if you were about to become part of a Puritan community in the new world? What vision of society do these writers offer? What problems do they see, and what beliefs, values, and codes of behavior do they recommend as solutions? Who do they imagine as their audience, and what do they do to try to persuade that audience?
On-line Resources: The Puritan Tradition and American Memory, The Mayflower Web Pages, "Fire and Ice" , and The Cotton Mather Home Page
Labor Day Weekend
Wednesday, September 6:
Readings:
"What is an American?" from St. Jean de Crevecoeur's, Letters from an American Farmer,
and Thomas Jefferson's "Query XVII. Religion" from Notes on the State of Virginia.
Reflection Question:
In a sense, both Winthrop and Crevecoeur expect America to serve as a "shining citie on a hill," but do they agree or disagree about what kind of model it should provide to the world? If these men were alive today, would they believe that American life had fulfilled their expectations? Specifically, what in particular do you think they would find pleasing, displeasing, or just surprising?
Online Resources:
letter written in 1737 by Cleemens Studenbecker and Peder Studenbecker, immigrants to Pennsylvania, describing life in America;
essay written by Gottleib Mittleberger on the Misfortune of Indentured Servants in Pennsylvania in 1754.
Monday, September 11: Finding a Reasonable Voice for Revolution
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Readings:
Paine,"Common Sense," 309;
"The Declaration of Independence" (To see scans of the original drafts, visit Emory University's U.S. Founding Documents page.)
Additional Resources:
Abigail Adams Describes Hostilities Around Boston, 1775-1776
In-Class Project:
Visit the Speakeasy Cafe to compare thoughts about the readings.
Wednesday, September 13: Founders, Farmers and Businessmen
Readings:
Franklin, excerpts from the Autobiography, 223ff.
Reflection Questions: Does Franklin's vision of American have more in common with Winthrop's or Crevecoeur's ideals?
Also, Franklin's Autobiography proved to be particularly popular in the nineteenth century. What qualities or ideas do you believe might have made him attractive to Americans in an industrial and entrepreneurial age? (Here is a hint: Franklin's name and face were often used on the covers of magazines and newspapers published for young men in the nineteenth century. What do you make of this magazine cover?)
Additional Resources:
The World of Benjamin Franklin ; Benjamin Franklin: An Enlightened American; The Will of Benjamin Franklin; The Way to Wealth; Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin's "Apology for Printers." For a brief description of Franklin's life and work and links to a few on-line texts by Franklin (including "Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania") go University of Pennsylvania University Archives & Records Center.
Want to see what I just bought? Here's a peek . . .
Monday, September 18: The Dark Side of the Shining Citie
Readings:
Selections in The Norton Anthology from Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, 343-353;
Crevecoeur's "Letter IX. Description of Charles-Town," 302-307.
Deleted: Franklin's Franklin's "Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America," 219.
In-Class Research Workshop:
Using online databases to find and "track" scholarly discussions of authors or topics.
Additional Resources:
Letter from George Washington to Henry Lee on Buying Slaves, 1787
Wednesday, September 20: Yet Another Dark Side
Introduction to Hawthorne:
Lisete Tavares and Jessica Cullivan
Readings:
Hawthorne's "My Kinsman, Major Molineux," 587 ff.
Deleted: "The May-Pole of Merry Mount," 623 ff..
Before coming to class, use the online databases (try "First Search" or "EBSCO") to see what you can learn about the scholarly discussion over Hawthorne, and particularly over "My Kinsman Manjor Molineux." Specifically, come to class with at list one topic that comes up repeatedly in the scholarly discussion of "Kinsman" and a list of at least three books or articles that you might want to look at in order to pursue this issue. Also be prepared to say if you would be able to find a copy of that article or book at Assumption. If not, could you get a full-text copy through the database? If not, where is the nearest library you could find that resource?
To help you visualize what you are reading, the picture below shows present-day mummers in England. Is this how you picture Hawthorne's "mummers" in "My Kinsman, Major Molineux"?
Reflection Question:
What advice does "Kinsman" seem to offer about how best to get ahead in America, and is this consistent with the advice offered by any earlier authors? Think also about the role "misrule" plays in these two stories. Does misrule have the same purpose in the two stories? What do these two stories suggest about whether misrule is a good or bad thing in American life?
Online Resources:
As background for "My Kinsman, Major Molineux," you may find it interesting to look at Gouverneur Morris' Letter to Thomas Penn, May 20 1774 describing class conflicts. If you want to find out more about the "Lord of Misrule" (who seems to appear in both "My Kinsman" and "The Maypole of Merrymount," see THE ORIGINS AND TRADITIONS OF MAYDAY. For a wealth of information related to Hawthorne and his writing, see the Nathaniel Hawthorne Web. Among the resources you can find there are links to early reviews of Hawthorne's work, including one written by Herman Melville. In "Hawthorne and His Mosses," Melville wrote:
And now, my countrymen, as an excellent author, of your own flesh and blood,--an unimitating, and perhaps, in his way, an inimitable man--whom better can I commend to you, in the first place, than Nathaniel Hawthorne. He is one of the new, and far better generation of your writer. The smell of your beeches and hemlocks is upon him; your own broad prairies are in his soul; and if you travel away inland into his deep and noble nature, you will hear the far roar of his Niagara. Give not over to future generations the glad duty of acknowledging him for what he is. Take that joy to yourself, in your own generation; and so shall he feel those grateful impulses in him, that may possibly prompt him to the full flower of some still greater achievement in your eyes. And by confessing him, you thereby confess others, you brace the whole brotherhood. For genius, all over the world, stands hand in hand, and one shock of recognition runs the whole circle round.
Why does Melville claim Hawthorne as a truly American author, and why does that issue matter to Melville?
In-Class Research Workshop:
We will be sharing our thoughts about Hawthorne at the Speakeasy Cafe.
We will also be discussing some tips for starting your research projects.
NOTE: Because of our library session on Wednesday, September 20, we will not be discussing Emerson on Monday, September 25. You need not read this assignment until further notice.
Monday, September 25: Early Nineteenth Century Concerns Over Conduct, Cultivation, and the American Character
Introduction to Emerson:
Justin Depasse
Readings:
Emerson's "Self-Reliance," 550-567, and "Excerpts from William Makepiece Thayer's The Bobbin Boy." Also look through any one of the conduct books available at our course page on 19th Century American Conduct Books.
Nineteenth century children's books and magazines often offered prescriptions for good conduct. If you are interested in learning more about this subject, be sure to see "Nineteenth Century American Children and What They Read." There you will find a wonderful collection of children's stories and pictures of magazine and book covers.
In-Class Research Workshop:
Using the web to locate primary texts you can use in your semester projects.
Wednesday, September 27: A Different Voice in the Debate over Conduct and the American Character
Introduction to Thoreau:
Michele Davidson and Paula Canning
Readings:
Catherine Beecher's Treatise on Domestic Economy,
Thoreau: "Economy," 868; "Where I Lived and What I Lived For," 910; "Conclusion," 959.Reflections:
In Walden Thoreau offers his own vision of the "good life" as an alternative to more conventional notions of success. As you read, identify the elements of life in America that Thoreau was criticizing in his writing. Does he agree or disagree with the notions offered by those who were writing conduct manuals in the same period? What explains their similarities or differences?
In-Class Workshop:
On-line resources:
The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau Main Page,
The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau Life and Times of HDT
Monday October 2 and Wednesday October 4: Frederick Douglass and the American Conversation on Slavery
Readings:
Before Monday, read the selections from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass that are on pages 970-1001 of The Norton Anthology. Come to class on Monday prepared to discuss questions one through three on our class workshop page entitled CONTEXTUALIZING FREDERICK DOUGLASS. You do not need to read all of the supplementary materials in advance, but feel free to preview those that sound most useful and interesting.
On Wednesday, we will be discussing questions three through six from the workshop page. You should prepare for our discussion by thinking about the questions in advance and reading those supplementary materials that might be most useful in helping you explore possible answers.
Additional Resources on Douglass and on the Subject of Slavery:
Words and Deeds in American History--pages from Frederick Douglass manuscript
Frederick Douglass at the Lyceum: Autobiography as Argument
African American Pamphlets Home Page
To learn more about the book Douglass used to teach himself how to read, see The Influence of the Columbian Orator.
Speeches Prompted by the Actions, Prosecution, and Execution of John Brown
The E Pluribus Unum Project Exhibit on Rhetoric and Reform. Be sure to pay particular attention to The Debate Over Rhetoric and Reform.
Begin reading Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin in preparation for next week's discussion.
Columbus Day Weekend
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Douglass, Stowe, and Garrison:Who had the "right" voice in the Antebellum Debate over Abolition?Wednesday, October 11
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Introduction to Stowe:
Kelly Dugdale and Shannon Halpin
Reading:
Uncle Tom's Cabin, Preface to end of Chapter 11 "In Which Property Gets into an Improper State of Mind," (page 114 in Bantam Classic edition). Discussion of the Shelby household.
Monday, October 16
Reading:
Uncle Tom's Cabin, Chapter 11 to the end of Chapter 21, (page 256 in Bantam Classic edition). Discussion of slave-trading and the St. Clare Household.
Here is how we will use our time in class:
1. Stowe Introduction by Kelly and Shannon.
2. Brief answers to remaining bibliography questions, and a quick update on projects, guidelines, and grading criteria.
3. Discussion of the "cast of characters" in the novel.
Wednesday, October 18: Research Workshop--Finding Primary Resources for Our Research Projects
Reading:
Use the Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture site at the University of Virginia to find one or two resources that contribute to your understanding of the novel. Come to class prepared to share your favorite resource with the class and explain why you think it is helpful.
Additional Locations for Finding Primary Sources:
For material on abolitionist material, see Ultraists vs. Nothingarians (Be sure to take a look at the links at the bottom of the page; they will take you to related material.)
Monday, October 23: Eva's Role as Educator and Spiritual Role Model
Reading:
Uncle Tom's Cabin, Chapter 22, "The Grass Withereth--The Flower Fadeth," to the end of Chapter 28, "Reunion," (page 316)
Writing:
Bring in a short (no more than a few sentences) description of the specific topic you will discuss in your research paper.
Ex: "In my project, I will use the character Topsy to show how Stowe argues that education and Christianity could overcome characteristic pro-slavery forces regarded as inherent in Africans and African-Americans."
Web Resources for Class Discussion--Images of Eva:
Little Eva reading the Bible to Uncle Tom in the arbor. First Edition, 1852
Eva and Tom, Illustration for Chapter 16, 1883 edition.
Eva and Henrique riding and in the sitting room, 1883 edition.
Eva's Goodby to the Slaves, Chapter 26
St. Clare and Eva, 1888 edition
Eva and Tom Writing a Letter, 1893 Edition
Eva and Tom by the lake, 1897 edition
Ophelia and Topsy at Eva's bedside, 1897
Tom and St. Clare, 1897 edition
Wednesday, October 25: Research Workshop/Presentations on Work in Progress--How to Read, Analyze, and Apply Secondary Resources
A 19th Century Illustration of Christianity and Progress
Moving Forward Hand in HandReading:
Articles will be supplied in Monday's class. If you have a source you would like to discuss, please bring it in by noon on Friday, October 20.
Writing:
Prepare a written outline of your essay. You do not need to use any particular outline structure. However, be sure to list your main point and to list beneath each point the particular quotes you intend to discuss in that section of your paper.
Special Offer:
If you would like some guidance on improving your draft of your paper, bring a copy to class today so that you can benefit from Monday's in-class "Draft Workshop." Ideally, it would be useful if you provided both a printed copy and a copy on disk. You can submit a draft of the entire work, one "point" of your argument, or even one or two paragraphs. Do what you believe will be most useful. You are not required to take advantage of this offer, but it does represent an important opportunity.
Monday, October 30: Draft Workshop
Wednesday, November 1:
Reading:
Uncle Tom's Cabin, Chapter 29, "The Unprotected" to the end of the novel.
*Note: Although this is the day we will be discussing the conclusion in class, you should complete your reading of the novel well before this date so that you are prepared to write your paper. It would be impossible to write about Uncle Tom's Cabin without reading the narrative as a whole.
During class, we will also discuss the completed projects and the research and writing process.
Monday, November 6: Revising and Polishing Drafts
More Information on Cartes de Visite:
Carte de Visites, an explanation provided by the "City Gallery Popular History of Photography"
Small Worlds, The Art of the Carte de Visite at The American Museum of Photography
Encylopedia Brittanica Entry on "carte-de-visite"
About Carte de Visite Photographs
Matthew Brady's Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. (Includes an exhibit of Brady's c.d.v. album).
Matthew Brady--An overview of his career and works.
Pictures from Later in the Century at the Lyceum
Chicago Photographic Collectors Society--c.d.v.'s and the tintypes and cabinet photos that succeeded them.
Carte de Visite Wet Collodion Plate Camera
Want to see what I just bought? Look HERE.
NOTE: HERE'S INFORMATION ON HOW TO CITE AN ILLUSTRATION. IT'S TAKEN FROM THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE:
Illustrations and tables. In citing illustrations and tables, the abbreviation fig. is used for figure, but the terms plate, map, and table are given in full. It is usual, and helpful, to give the page number as well as the illustration or table number. A comma should follow the page number:
10. Margaretta M. Lovell, A Visitable Past: Views of Venice by American Artists, 1860-1915 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989), 86, fig. 96.
Wednesday, November 8: Caught Between Two (or More) Cultures
Introductions to Chestnutt and Whitman
Readings:
Charles Chestnutt's "The Wife of His Youth," (pp. 1647-1656);
Additional Resources:
William Dean Howells on "Mr. Charles W. Chestnutt's Stories," Atlantic Monthly 85 (1900): 699-701.
The Whitman Project Main Index (University of Virginia Whitman Hypertext Archive)
Monday, November 13: MUST the True American be a Yankee?
Introductions to Willa Cather:Diana Rigor (Cather).
Readings:
Gertrude Simmons Bonnin's "Impressions of an Indian Childhood (pp. 1776-1787).Willa Cather's "Neighbor Rossicky," (pp. 1830 ff.).Resources on Bonnin/Zikala Sa--
Indians of North America--Biography
The School Days of an Indian Girl
An Indian Teacher Among Indians
Voices From the Gaps Gertrude Simmons Bonnin
Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)
The American Experience America 1900 People & Events
WestWeb Western Women's History--includes links to Bonnin's texts
Resources on Education of Native Americans
The "Auobiography" of Angel DeCora originally published in 1911 in a journal called The Red Man. Also available at the EmoryWomen Writers Resource Project are a number of texts regarding Native Americans, including Susette La Fleshe's "An Indian Woman's Letter," (originally from the letter written by an Indian teacher to the Omahas).
See projects done by Duke University Students on Native American Education: Documents from the 19th Century and Education of Native Americans: Hampton Institute 1878-1923.
Representations of Native Americans in 18th and 19th Century America--
Wednesday, November 15: The Ongoing American Conversation on Race
Introductions to writers of the Harlem Renaissance:
Cassie Mallet (Hughes), Amy Pouliot (McKay). Be sure to visit Sarah Messier's Zora Neale Hurston page for resources on Hurston and the Harlem Renaissance.
Readings:
Poems by Langston Hughes (pp. 2224 ff.).
Poems by Claude McKay (pp. 2969-2073).
Zora Neel Hurston's "How It Feels to be Colored Me" (pp. 2084 ff.).
Question for Reflection:
Do the Harlem Renaissance Writers Speak with the Voice of Frederick Douglass?
Yet Do I Marvel
I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind
And did He stoop to quibble could tell why
The little buried mole continues blind,
Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die,
Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus
Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare
If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus
To struggle up a never-ending stair.
Inscrutable His ways are, and immune
To catechism by a mind too strewn
With petty cares to slightly understand
What awful brain compels His awful hand.
Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:
To make a poet black, and bid him sing!--Countee Cullen
Additional Resources:
Poetry and Prose of the Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance (includes painters)
Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance--a biography courtesy of the SmithsonianThe Harlem Renaissance - English Literature--courtesy of the Mining Co.
Harlem Mecca of the New Negro--a Hypermedia edition of the special 1925 edition of the Survey Graphic on the "Renaissance" underway in Harlem.
Circle's Harlem Renaissance Links
PAL Harlem Renaissance A Brief Introduction --includes characteristics and typical themes of H.R. writers, a timeline, an assessment of the movement, and a list of links to HR writers.)
Monday, November 20: When White Males Feel Excluded, Is Everyone Alienated?
Introductions:
Sarah Arvanites (Faulkner). In preparation for class, also be sure to consult Jessica Tuozzoli's Fitzgerald Page.
Readings:
Fitzgerald's "Winter Dreams," (pp. 2125),
and Babylon Revisited," (pp. 2141 ff.) ;and Faulkner's "Barn Burning," (pp. 2175-2188)
Class Discussion:
How do the short stories by Fitzgerald and Faulkner take part in the American conversation on the relationship between money and morals, class and conscience? For a "time capsule" of quotations from three distinct periods on this subject, see Money and Morality in American Culture and Literature on our course website.
Additional Resources:
William Faulkner American Writer 1897-1962, the University of Mississippi
William Faulkner and Academia, at the University of Mississippi
Owl-Eyes Biography and Etexts Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited": A Long Expostulation and Explanation Thomas
--an MA Thesis written by Thomas Larson; includes interpretations, illustrations, discussions of Fitzgerald criticism, and bibliogrpahyF. Scott Fitzgerald at Lit Engine--Index of links to biographical material, e-texts, letters, interviews, reviews, and other resources.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, American Literature on the Web--Includes general resources, e-texts, and information on the Jazz Age.
F. Scott Fitzgerald Country--An excellent website on Long Island history; includes an essay on Fitzgerald and the
PBS Website: A Film Version of Fitzgerald's "A Labor of Love"
Thanksgiving Break
Monday, November 27: Introduction to Edith Wharton's House of Mirth
Introduction:
Jessica Cullivan and Lisete Tavares (Wharton); Renee Krajcik (The Gilded Age)
Readings:
Chapters I to IX of Edith Wharton's House of Mirth (pp. 1-102 in the Signet Classic Edition).
Preparation for Wharton Essay Question on Final Examination:
Think about how you might be able to draw upon and expand the expertise you developed in your research into Uncle Tom's Cabin and mid-nineteenth century American culture in order to develop an interpretation of The House of Mirth. Consider the issues that were part of the American conversation int he middle of the nineteenth century. Are they still being debated at the turn of the century, and has the debate changed? How do you see The House of Mirth participating in that debate?
Resources:
"What's Wrong with This Picture?": Contextualizing Edith Wharton in the College Classroom" (on our course site)
Special Topic
American Antiquarian Society 2001 American Studies Seminar: "Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture in Early America, 1674-1860."
Wednesday, November 29: Continuation of Wharton Discussion--What Happens When Morals and Manners Become Confused?
Would you like to read about the Morality of Motion?
See this and other books on etiquette and dancing at the Americna Memory Site.
Readings:Chapters IX to XV (pp. 102-176).
Monday, December 4: "Discovering What it Means to Be an America
He named for me the things you feel but couldn't utter. . . . Jimmy's essays articulated for the first time to white America what it meant to be American and a black American at the same time."
--Henry Louis Gates, Jr. literary and cultural critic, professor of English
Back in Harlem a few months ago, I filmed a segment for 60 Minutes, which has never been shown. (No one involved in the production has ever told me why. One person who asked was told that I was "too antagonistic"; someone else was told that I was not "antagonistic" enough.) We were on the block where I grew up and in front of the building from which I left home. My block is almost empty now, the buildings boarded up and sealed. On the top floor of my building, 46 West 131st Street, between Fifth and Lenox Avenues, had been my father and my mother and my aunt, my brothers and my sisters, cousins, travelers, wonder, music, joy! And I had witnesses.
It was a cold day but some people came out of their caves to see me. I wondered how they lived inside them, if they had heat or light. Some knew me from my youth, some from the TV screen. What was marvelous for me was how they suddenly appeared, as out of the ground. A patient young Black cop was trying to explain something of this to one of the TV people - but she tightened her skin around her like a cloak. A young Black man even came out of one of the abandoned buildings to offer me a large and very beautiful painting. He was a painter.
It had been hoped - by the TV people, I think, not by me - that Black youngsters would erupt on camera, arms raised and cursing Whitey! I said, "They won't and I know they won't. They no longer expect anything from you." Or, in other words, it can be said that Black people have managed to survive White sympathy. Now White people must learn to live without the reassurance of Black rage. --from James Baldwin's "whose Harlem is this anyway?"
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Introduction: Rian Murray and Marty Driend
Readings:
Jame's Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" (handout); Chapter One of Baldwins Collected Essays (Library of America).
Additional Resources:
Commentators on Baldwin (and the American Conversation)
"More on James Baldwin": From the Archives of the New York Times: Articles, Book Reviews, Interviews (audio files).
James Baldwin on Langston Hughes
James Baldwin (1924-1987) Teacher Resource File at the Internet School Library Media Center: Links, Bibliographies, Interviews, Excerpts, and Lists of Secondary Resources
James (Arthur) Baldwin at Books and Writers: Biography and brief bibliography.
James Baldwin Bibliography at PAL
James Baldwin's Obituary in The New York Times December 2, 1987
LookSmart Search Results for James Baldwin
Wednesday, December 6: Bringing it All Together
American Life, 1934, Anatol Shulkin (1901 -1961)
Suggestions on How to Prepare for the Final Examination
Readings:
Revisit the essays we read early in the semester by Crevecoeur and Tocqueville.
Discussion Question:
"Who is this new . . . American?"
Final Examination:
In the first part of your final examination, you will be asked to write an analysis of Edith Wharton's novel, The House of Mirth, that draws upon both your research in your subject of specialization and the other works we have read this semester.
Use your reading of other primary and secondary texts to develop an interpretation of the novel and to explain the particular way that The House of Mirth participates in, and contributes to, one signficant discussion that has evolved over the course of American history and literature. (You will probably use your subject of specialization as the focus for this essay, but you can feel free to choose a different focus if you wish.)
In the second part of your final examination, you will be asked to analyze the way in which three different literary works from three different historical periods respond to a single theme in the American "conversation." (The theme will be provided in the exam itself.) Your goal will be to discuss the way those works illustrate the evolution of American literature and culture, and also to offer and defend your own interpretation of the relationship between literature and culture.