GLS 592: Periods in Literature: American Romanticism

Instructor: Mika Elovaara

This course examines the major American writers from 1820 to 1865, whose works form a significant proportion of a literary period known as the American Renaissance. Ranging from the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman to the fiction of Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the nonfiction of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, the students will study assigned texts from a variety of perspectives, including historical context and possible autobiographical elements. Students will be expected to discuss the style of the authors, themes of the texts and also consider how early American literature helped define the America we live in today.

The class structure is based on online discussions of assigned readings, individual online meetings with the instructor biweekly, and relevant homework writing assignments.

Assessment Criteria: online discussions of assigned readings, an online video presentation, a final paper

Required Course Materials: webcam and a headset/speakers, a microphone, use of Windows Media Player, Skype, Microsoft Word, Adobe Reader, Power Point

Required Course Textbook: Norton Anthology of American Literature, 7th ed. vol. B.

Last Update: October 19, 2009