American Literature I

Catalog description

Studies the origins of American Literature beginning with the indigenous peoples and conquistadors who made first contact, and continuing up until the Civil War. Touches on Colonial and Puritanical writings from key figures such as Anne Bradford and Cotton Mather, moving on to the Revolutionary War writings of founding members such as Jefferson, Franklin, and John Jay. Literary movements to be examined include Transcendentalism (Emerson, Fuller, and Thoreau) and the American Renaissance (Hawthorne, Poe, Alcott, and Melville). Debates on feminism and slavery will also be explored.