COURSE UNIT TITLE

: EARLY AMERICAN POETRY AND PROSE

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
AKE 2039 EARLY AMERICAN POETRY AND PROSE COMPULSORY 3 0 0 5

Offered By

American Culture and Literature

Level of Course Unit

First Cycle Programmes (Bachelor's Degree)

Course Coordinator

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR YEŞIM BAŞARIR

Offered to

American Culture and Literature

Course Objective

This course is designed to build an intellectual and cultural framework for the American literary canon from the colonial years to the American revolutionary war and early Romantic period.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   Have a good command of the data about the first settlers of America, American colonies and American cultural history from the 17th to the first half of the 19th century,
2   Identify the concepts and ideas that have shaped the intellectual and social life in colonial and revolutionary America,
3   Comment on the major works of literary canon that have modified the social mindset from the American colonial beginnings to the early Romantic period,
4   Define the intellectual progress and ideological milestones that have established the groundwork of American culture,
5   Compare the secular and spiritual potentials of colonial and revolutionary America with the American ideas and values today.

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Native Origins: Tales, Myths, Songs and Elements of Local Folklore "Creation of the Whites" (Yuchi Tale) "Two Songs" (Nahuatl Song, from Cantares Mexicano, 16th Century) "Song" (Innuit Song, Copper Eskimo) "Takomaq" (Innuit Improvised Greeting, Iglulik Eskimo) "Varsak Vai-I" (Deer Hunting Song of Pima Indians, Arizona)
2 Anglo-Americans' New World: John Winthrop (From) A Modell of Christian Charity (1630)
3 Anne Bradstreet's Poetry of Domesticity "Before the Birth of One of Her Children" (1678), "To My Dear and Loving Husband" (1678) "Upon the Burning of Our House" (1666)
4 The Bay Psalm Book The New England Primer "Psalm 137" (1640) "The Dutiful Child's Promises" (1683) "Verses" (1683)
5 Edward Taylor's Metaphysical Poetry Cotton Mather on Salem Witch Trials "Upon a Spider Catching a Fly" (1680) (From) The Wonders of the Invisible World (1693)
6 Mary White Rowlandson's Captivity Narratives William Byrd's Histories of the Dividing Line (From) A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1675) (From) History of the Dividing Line betwixt Virginia and North Carolina (1728-1736)
7 Jonathan Edwards and Great Awakening "Resolutions" (1722) (From) Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (1741)
8 MIDTERM EXAM MIDTERM EXAM
9 Augustan Poets: Ebenezer Cook(e) and Richard Lewis "Sot Weed Factor" (1708) "Food For Criticks" (1731)
10 18th Century American Poetry (miscellaneous) William Dawson, Jane Colman Turell, Lucy Terry, Thomas Godfrey, Nathaniel Evans, Anne Eliza Bleecker, Elizabeth G. Fergusson, Mercy Otis Warren, Sarah W Morton
11 Benjamin Franklin and American Enlightenment "A Witch Trial at Mount Holly" (1730) "Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America" (1784)
12 Phyllis Wheatley's Slavery Poetry and Moral Themes Philip Freneau and American Rural Literature "On Being Brought from Africa to America" (1773) "To the University of Cambridge in New England" (1773) "On the Ruins of a Country Inn" (1782) "The Wild Honey Suckle" (1786) "The Indian Burying Ground" (1788)
13 Jean de Crevecoeur's New Man, the American Washington Irving and Theme of the American Revolution "What's an American " Letters from an American Farmer (1782) "Rip Van Winkle" (1819)
14 American Mock-Heroic Poetry: Joel Barlow William Cullen Bryant's Spiritual Poetry E A Poe's Gothic Verse "The Hasty Pudding" (1796) "Thanatopsis" (1817) "The City in the Sea" (1831, 1845) "The Haunted Palace" (1839) "Raven" (1845)

Recomended or Required Reading

Bercovitch, Sacvan. The Puritan Origins of the American Self. Yale U P, 1975.
Campbell, Neil, Alasdair Kean. American Cultural Studies: An Introduction to American Culture. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Ruland, R., M. Bradbury. From Puritanism to Postmodernism: A History of American Literature. London: Routledge, 1991.
The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Third Ed., Vol. 1. New York: W.W.Norton, 1989.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

1. Lectures: Lectures are the primary components of instruction among teaching strategies to lay the theoretical basis of subject and introduce the reading material relevant to the studied topic. Lectures play a central role in getting to know the terms and concepts defining the topic.
2. In-Class discussions: In-class discussions aim at questioning the applicability of course material to diverse situations in daily life and increasing the factual awareness of the information. Textual analysis of the course material is followed by open discussions.
3. Visual presentations and films: It includes in-class projection of visual data such as pictures, illustrations, photographs, and maps as well as videos complementing the topic when necessary.

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 MTE 1 MIDTERM EXAM 1
2 FIN FINAL EXAM
3 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTE 1 * 0.50 + FIN * 0.50
4 RST RESIT
5 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTE 1 * 0.50 + RST * 0.50


Further Notes About Assessment Methods

Exams inquire the correct use of terms and concepts profiling the course material and question the major thinking patterns acquired in the course.

Assessment Criteria

1. Midterm exam covers the topics instructed in class from the beginning of semester to the day of the exam.
2. Final exam covers the topics instructed in class after the midterm exam to the end of the semester, with some significant references to the content of the midterm exam.

Language of Instruction

English

Course Policies and Rules

1. Students are required to attend 70% of the course schedule.
2. No textbooks or notes are allowed during the exam.
3. No dictionaries are allowed during the exam. All vocabulary used in the exam are covered previously in the class and expected to be familiar to the student.
4. Any form of cheating in the exam will result in a zero grade and also in disciplinary action.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

yesim.basarir@deu.edu.tr
office phone: (232) 301 8513

Office Hours

By appointment

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 13 3 39
Preparation about subject 13 1 13
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 13 2 26
Preparation for midterm exam 1 5 5
Preparation for final exam 1 5 5
Reading 13 1 13
Web Search and Library Research 13 1 13
Midterm 1 1 1
Final 1 1 1
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 116

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10PO.11PO.12PO.13PO.14
LO.1554443
LO.255543343
LO.3553555354
LO.43534552533
LO.5253354