2024-2025
Meeting Mondays 1:30-3:00 Central Time
If no page numbers are indicated, read all
Poets and Preachers of The Colonial Era – Colonial Religion – The Great Awakening
Weeks 1-2 (8/26-9/6)
The Day of Doom (pg. 22-85) and Sinners In The Hands of An Angry God, Anne Bradstreet – 1. To my dear and loving husband, 2. A Dialogue Between Old England And New
Suggested reading schedule:
Week 1: Monday – class, Read Day of Doom pg. 22-37
Tuesday – Read DOD pg. 38-50
Wednesday – Read DOD pg. 51-62
Thursday – Read DOD pg. 63-75
Friday – Read DOD pg. 75–85
Week 2: Monday – Read Sinners In The Hand Of An Angry God pt. 1 stop at “application”
Tuesday – Read Sinners In The Hand Of An Angry God “Application” through end
Wednesday – Anne Bradstreet To My Dear And Loving Husband, A Dialogue between Old England and New England stanzas 1-2
Thursday – A Dialogue between Old England and New England stanzas 3-4
Friday – A Dialogue between Old England and New England stanzas 5-end
Literature From The Founding of America
Weeks 3-5 (9/9/-9/27)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin – purchase or borrow a hard copy, or read online here.
Week 3: Monday – Read Chapter 1-2 Ancestry and Early Life in Boston – Beginning Life as a Printer
Tuesday – Read Chapter 3-4 Arrival in Philadelphia – First Visit to Boston
Wednesday – Read Chapter 5 – 6 Early Friends in Philadelphia – First Visit to London
Thursday – Read Chapter 7-8 Beginning Business in Philadelphia – Business Success and First Public Service
Friday – Read Chapter 9 – 10 Plan for Attaining Moral Perfection – Poor Richard’s Almanac and Other Activities
Week 4: Monday – Read Chapter 11-12 Interest in Public Affairs – Defense of the Province
Tuesday – Read Chapter 13-14 Public Services and Duties – Albany Plan of Union
Wednesday – Read Chapter 15-16 Quarrels with the Proprietary Governors – Braddock’s Expedition
Thursday – Read Chapter 17-18 Franklin’s Defense of the Frontier – Scientific Experiments
Friday – Read Chapter 19 Agent of Pennsylvania in London
Week 5: Monday – Read Electrical Kite
Tuesday – Read The Way to Wealth
Wednesday – The Whistle
Thursday – A Letter to Samuel Mather
Friday – Catch up!
Week 6-8 (9/30-10/18)
1700’s/Constitutional philosophy – Selections from Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Hobbes
Week 6: Monday: Read John Locke A Letter Concerning Toleration pg. 7-27
Tuesday: Read John Locke A Letter Concerning Toleration pg. 28-47
Wednesday: Read John Locke A Letter Concerning Toleration pg. 48-61
For Letter Concerning Toleration, consider the following and come to class prepared to discuss: Christianity is a dogmatic religion; its dogmas are its life because they are understood to be handed down y its founder, Christ. if Christ was in fact the Son of Go and was in fact the “way,” the “door,” the one who achieved the fullness of time in his crucifixion and resurrection, what are the implications of that fact for Locke’s doctrines? Objectively speaking, can every church be orthodox to itself because it sees itself as being so? is one set of beliefs simply as good or as true as another, or is there error in opposition to truth and are there degrees of participation in truth? Where is Locke on these questions?
Thursday: Read John Locke Second Treatise of Government chapters 1-5
Friday: Read John Locke Second Treatise of Government chapters 7, 9-13
For A Treatise on Government, consider the following and come to class prepared to discuss: Many of the founding fathers of the American Constitution drew heavily from Locke’s writings. What would they say now, in retrospect, about his doctrines? What would they have learned from them given contemporary controversies surrounding issues of church and state?
Week 7: Monday: Read J.S. Mill on Utilitarianism and answer questions 1-5 at the end of the reading.
Tuesday: Read J.S. Mill the Study Guide on J.S. Mill pg. 162. and chapter 1 summary on study guide pg. 163. Then read Chapter 1 in Considerations on Representative Government and answer question 1 on pg. 167 of the J.S. Mill study guide.
Wednesday: Read Study Guide pg. 163-164 chapter 2 summary. Then Read Chapter 2 in Considerations on Representative Government and answer questions 2, 3, and 4 on pg. 67 of your study guide.
Thursday: Read Study Guide pg. 164-165 chapter 3 summary. Then read Chapter 3 in Considerations on Representative Government and answer questions 5, 6, and 7 on page 67 of your study guide.
Friday: In 1 page, answer Reflection question 1 on page 168. Bring your paper to class and be prepared to read and discuss what you have written.
Week 8: No class.
Read: The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
Paper topic:
Option 1: Paper topic: Compare and contrast at least 3 aspects of Day of Doom with either Dante’s Inferno or Milton’s Paradise Lost, or both. Comparison options may include, but are not limited to, style, religious focus (Pre-Reformation vs Post-Reformation), literary devices, political outlook/uses, influence of author’s background, use of founding literature (biblical literature, Greek literature, historical documents, for example).
Option 2: Background: Benjamin Franklin was considered to be the first relatable American author. In other words, he was the first American (colonial) author who wrote in such a way that regular people could relate to his experiences and enjoy his whimsical style. Soon after the American Revolution, American leaders decided that Americans needed to create it’s own legacy of literature and style, and so a call for authors and literature was sent out. The rest is history.
Paper topic: Compare and contrast the literature you read from our first unit of study (Day of Doom, Anne Bradstreet, etc.) with at least two books you have previously read written AFTER the American Revolution. Comparison options may include, but are not limited to, style, religious focus vs. overtly secular focus, literary devices, political outlook, influence of author’s background, use of founding literature (biblical literature, Greek literature, historical documents, for example).
Some books you may have previously read that could serve as a contrast with pre-Jeffersonian colonial literature could include Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn, To Kill A Mockingbird, Little Women, any of the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, poetry by Robert Frost, Emily Dickenson, etc.)
Paper due: November 11
Paper length: 5-8 pages
Format: MLA (I am not super picky, but a good faith effort at page format, proper citation, punctuation and grammar, works cited page, etc. should be obvious. MLA help can be found here: MLA Style Guide
Weeks 9-10 (10/21-11/1) – Wealth of Nations – Smith
Week 9: Meet10/28
Monday: Read Study Guide page 100 to the first paragraph under Summary on page 101. Then read Chapter 1
Tuesday: Read the Things to Think About Questions on Page 104 in our Study Guide. Then read Chapter 2.
Wednesday: Read Chapter 3.
Thursday: Read Chapter 4.
Friday: Catch-up
Week 10: Meet 11/4
Monday 10/28: Read only pages 47-52 of Chapter 5 and only pages 72-76 of Chapter 7. These page numbers refer to the digital book posted above for Wealth of Nations
Tuesday 10/29: Read most of Chapter 8 (stop after section 43)
Wednesday 10/30: Type a 1 page response to Question 1 on Study Guide page 106. In your introduction, please state the book title and author’s name so your reader will understand what you are talking about. Then reread sections 38-40 and write your reflection.
Thursday 10/31: Proofread your writing and turn it in.
Literature Between the Wars – The first “American” Literature
Week 11 (11/11-11/15) Meet 11/11
Read for class meeting on 11/11
Rip van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Read the entire story
As you read, answer the following questions, and be able to discuss your answers in class.
1. What is the primary purpose of the story?
2. What are three themes you found in the story?
3. Discuss at least 5 cases of symbolism you found in the story.
4. What makes this story particularly American? Consider what you know about American history and the pieces of literature we have read thus far.
Fall Break No Class 11/18-11/29 – Read The Last of the Mohicans over this break!!!
Week 12-13 (12/1-12/20)
The Last of The Mohicans
Christmas Break December 23-January 10 Please begin to read Moby Dick over break!!!
Week 15 (1/6)
Edgar Allan Poe – The Raven, The Fall of The House of Usher
Week 16 (1/13) – Please also continue reading Moby Dick
Edgar Allan Poe – The Tell Tale Heart, The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Week 17-19 (1/20, 1/27, 2/3)
Moby Dick
Slavery And Writings About The Civil War Era
Week 20 (2/10)
The Underground Railroad – William Still
Week 21 (2/17, 2/21)
The Red Badge of Courage – Crane
The Post-Civil-War Era Stories and Poetry
Week 22-23 (2/24-3/7)
Roughing It – Mark Twain
(Review Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn if needed)
Week 24 (3/10-3/14)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – Paul Revere’s Ride, The Wreck of The Hesperus
Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass (To Think of Time…To Think Through, Sauntering the Pavement or Riding The Country, Great Are The Myths…I Too Delight), Beat! Beat! Drums!, Captain, My Captain, etc.
Week 25 (4/1-4/7)
For Class on 4/7 read:
T.S. Eliot – The Wasteland (Please note that there is some mature content referred to in this poem. You may skip those parts if you wish.)
Robert Frost – Stopping By The Woods, The Road Not Taken, Mending Wall
Week 26 (4/8-4/14)
The Transcendentalists
For Class 4/14 read:
Ralph Waldo Emerson – Self Reliance pages 6-28
Henry David Thoreau – Walden pages 6-25
Week 27 (4/14-4/21)
For Class 4/21 read:
Henry David Thoreau – Walden (pages 25-60), Civil Disobedience
Week 28-29 (4/22-5/5)
My Antonia – Willa Cather
For class 4/28 read through The Hired Girls, Chapter III
For class 5/5 read The Hired Girls, Chapter IV through the end
Week 30-31 (5/5-5/19)
For Class 5/12 Read through Chapter 5
For Class 5/19 Read Chapters 6-end