Spring 2007

E 340 • The American Novel Before 1920

Course Description

We will read seven novels this semester: three from "early" American literature; one from the American Renaissance; one from the historical rubric known as American Realism; two from the turn of the 20th century. Our main purpose is to trace the understanding of lived experience in America represented by the trajectory of these texts.

Grading Policy

Three Take-Home Essay Examinations, each roughly 4-6 pages in length.

Texts

Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans
Brown, Wieland, or The Transformation
Foster, The Coquette
Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance
Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Wharton, The Age of Innocence
James, The Bostonians

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