Transatlantic Literature in the Age of Empire, 1680-1820

 

English 4371

Spring 2005, W 6:30-9:30, 343 Dallas Hall

Prof. Michael Householder

16 Dallas Hall, x82950

TTh 11-12, W 12-2 and by appt.

mhouseho@smu.edu

 

***MANY LINKS ON THIS SYLLABUS ARE PASSWORD PROTECTED.  TO ACCESS LINKS, PLEASE CONTACT THE INSTRUCTOR***

 

Course description: This course surveys literary responses to the social, political, cultural, economic, and intellectual changes wrought on both sides of the Atlantic by the dissemination of English literature through North American colonization.  Topics include the impact of travel on cultural identity, justifications for empire (and rebellion), changing roles of women in society, literary negotiations of national identity, depictions of Native Americans and Africans, and responses to industrialization.

 

Primary texts (available at SMU Bookstore):

Mary Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God

Aphra Behn, Oroonoko

Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

Samuel Richardson, Pamela

Susanna Rowson, Charlotte Temple

Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France

Hector St. John de Crčvecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer

Charles Brockden Brown, Edgar Huntly

Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative

Royall Tyler, The Algerine Captive

Washington Irving, The Sketch Book

 

Course Expectations:  4000-level seminars are designed to be intensive and demanding.  Please expect to read approximately 200 pages each week on average.  Since this a three-hour seminar, it is essential that everyone come to class fully prepared to discuss the assigned reading.  To help you prepare for class discussions, I will be offering occasional short writing assignments to be submitted by e-mail prior to class.  In addition, because this is an upper-division course, you will be expected to complete a substantial essay (approximately 12 pages) designed to introduce you to the principles and methodologies of literary research.

 

Class discussion (5%)

Shorter homework assignments (5%)

Shorter 3-5 page essay assignments (30%)

Mid-term examination (15%)

Final examination (15%)

12 page research paper (30%)

 

 

Schedule of Assignments:

 

1/12

Introduction:  Defining Transatlantic Anglo-American Literature in the Age of Empire.

 

1/19

Imperial Encounters:  The British Imagination and the “New World.”  Mary Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God; Aphra Behn, Oroonoko

 

1/26

Writing the English Self, Part One: Providence and the Protestant Work Ethic.  Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

 

2/2

Writing the English Self, Part Two: The Rise of Female Authority.  Samuel Richardson, Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded (Part I); Nancy Armstrong and Leonard Tennenhouse, “Why Categories Thrive” (on reserve); Assign paper #1: Understanding and Applying Literary Criticism.  [Use this handout to get started.]

 

2/9

Writing the English Self, Part Three: The Dynamics of Domesticity.  Samuel Richardson, Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded (Part II).  Working drafts of paper #1 due at beginning of class.  Schedule peer conferences.

 

2/16

Americanizing the English Domestic Novel.  Susanna Rowson, Charlotte Temple.  Paper #1 due in class.

 

2/23

Writing the American Self: A Man’s Life in Letters.  Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography

 

3/2

Invoking a New Nation [Lecture Outline Here].  Thomas Paine, Common Sense; Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence (original draft); Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, The Federalist nos. 1 and 10.

 

3/9

The Familiar Rhetoric of Empire (and Rebellion).  Richard Price, from A Discourse on the Love of Our Country; Edmund Burke, from Reflections on the Revolution in France; Mary Wollstonecraft, from A Vindication of the Rights of Man and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; Thomas Paine, from The Rights of Man.  Assign Writing Assignment #2: Finding and Assessing Secondary Sources.

 

3/12-20

Spring Break

 

3/23

“What is an American?”  Hector St. John de Crčvecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer.  Research proposal and demonstration due this week.  [Sample annotation]

 

3/30

American Identity and Imperial Guilt.  Charles Brockden Brown, Edgar Huntly.  Paper #2 due in class.

 

4/6

Slavery, Commerce, Empire, Diaspora.  Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative

 

4/13

The Mirror of Imperialism.  Royall Tyler, The Algerine Captive

 

4/20

Empire and the Lyrical Imagination.  Alexander Pope, "Windsor Forest"; Oliver Goldsmith, "The Deserted Village"; Philip Freneau, “On the Emigration to America and Peopling the Western Country,” “The Indian Burying Ground,” “To Sir Toby”; Wordsworth, “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads”

 

4/27

Transatlantic Currents.  Washington Irving, The Sketch Book.  Research paper working drafts due in class.  [Peer conferencing guide]

 

5/2

Research projects due in my office by 12 noon

 

5/4

Final examination 6:30-9:30, DH 343