Welcome to ''American Literature 1800-1915''

Welcome to EL 266, "American Literature 1800-1915"

The course website is located at http://blogs.setonhill.edu/DennisJerz/EL266. I will update the site periodically, so the printout I gave you is only for your convenience today. The page you will want to consult most frequently is the outline (which lists all assigned readings and the due dates for major assignments).

Key Terms -- Colonial Period to Civil War

American Literature

Colonial Period
Puritanism
"Divine Right of Kings"
Declaration of Independence
Revolutionary War
"Manifest Destiny"
Louisiana Purchase
War of 1812
Francis Scott Key

American Renaissance
Edgar Allen Poe
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Transcendentalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
Walt Whitman

American Civil War

Key, ''Defence of Fort M'Henry'' (1814)

Francis Scott Key, (Background)

How does a poem mean?

In high school, you may have gotten credit for being able to paraphrase poems, in order to demonstrate that you understand the literal meaning of the content. But if the purpose of a poem is simply to communicate a message, why does the poet go to all the trouble to rhyme, to make classical allusions, to choose vivid images?

Whitman, ''I Hear America Singing'' (1855)

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand
singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or
at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of
the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day--at night the party of young fellows,
robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

Poe, ''Sonnet: To Science'' (1829)

SCIENCE! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.
Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's heart,
Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?
How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise,
Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,
Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?
Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car?
And driven the Hamadryad from the wood
To seek a shelter in some happier star?
Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,
The Elfin from the green grass, and from me
The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?

Edgar Allen Poe

EL 266 Homework Reminder

I always enjoy meeting new students; it was also good to see familiar faces again.

While I won't always do this, I'm sending out a note to help you adjust to the online syllabus. Click on the link below to take you to what is probably the most important page, the outline.

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/DennisJerz/EL266/outline/

The syllabus is available here.

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/DennisJerz/EL266/syllabus/

On the syllabus, one page assembles the materials for each day. For instance, here is the link to the page for today's class, which includes vocabulary terms, the full lyrics to The Star Spangled Banner, and the two short poems I want you to compare.

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/DennisJerz/EL266/2005/08/30

This page contains links to the assigned texts for Thursday, as well as brief introductions to some of the material I plan to cover on that day.

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/DennisJerz/EL266/2005/09/01

Note that the last part of the URL is a date. You can go to any day on the syllabus by changing that URL, or just clicking on the links from the calendar.

For this week, read all the short poems that are posted to the August 30 and September 1 calendar dates. If you see "continue reading", be sure to click on it to see the contiunation of that part of the website.

In the future, I will ask you to bring a written reflection paper to each class, but I won't start that until next week. More about the reflection paper (which is the fourth "R" in the "RRRR" sequence) is available on this page:

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/DennisJerz/EL266/010375.php