Syllabus
I Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), /The Scarlet Letter/
II Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), /Nature/, "The American Scholar", "The Over-Soul"
III Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), "Sonnet-To Science", "To Helen", "Annabel Lee", "Ligeia", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Man of the Crowd", "The Philosophy of Composition"
IV Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), /Walden/
V Walt Whitman (1819-1892), "Song of Myself"
VI Herman Melville (1819-1891), /Moby-Dick/
VII Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), /Norton/ selection (5th edition)
Annotation
LECTURE:
Colonial Period and the Revolution (Procházka, 8 weeks)
The course traces general tendencies in the process of establishing American literature. It combines historical and literary approaches with the main focus on the Puritan tradition and the literary achievements of the Revolution, and their most important representatives. The course also provides the students with elementary information about the political and historical aspects of American culture of 17th and 18th century.
SEMINAR:
OBJECTIVES
The course is focused on important texts in American literature from its beginnings to the end of the 19th century. While preference will be given to poems and short prose pieces all students will be expected to read at least two novels to allow the class to discuss them as a whole.
MATERIAL
Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography
James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Norton Anthology of American Literature
ASSESSMENT
Record of attendance will be kept. To receive their credits all students will be obliged to make oral presentations and to submit an essay of 2000-3000 words.