Abbreviations used in the syllabus:

EAR - Early American Reader, ed. J.A. Leo Lamay, (publ. by USIA, Washington D.C. 1988)

19CAR - 19th c. American Reader, ed. T. Inge (publ. by USIA, Washington D.C. 1988)

The Makings of America..., vol. I – D. C. Heath and Co.: The Makings of America: The United States and the World. Vol. II: To 1865. Lexington, D. C. Heath and Co. 1993.

Basic Readings in US Democracy – Melvin I. Urofsky, Basic Readings in US Democracy, Washington D.C.: United States Information Agency, 1995

Heath; Norton – Heath and Norton Anthologies of American Literature

Ant. –J. Jařab, E. Masnerová, R. Nenadál: Antologie americké literatury, Praha, SPN 1985.

Syllabus:

1.Two early English settlements in North America: Jamestown; New England.

READING:

The Mayflower Compact (1620), in Ant.

Anne Bradstreet: O Bubble blast,… (from the poem „Upon a Fit of Sickness“, 1632), accessible on internet

TIPS FOR PROJECTS: Pocahontas; Thanksgiving (http://www.pilgrimhall.org/pdf/TG_What_Happened_in_1621.pdf )

2. Rationalist influence upon the society. Development towards the statehood.

READING: Benjamin Franklin: “The Speech of Sidi Mehemet Ibraham” (In: EAR)

TIPS FOR PROJECTS: American Dream; Self-improvement by Benjamin Franklin (on the basis of a part of his Autobiography, in EAR 105-115). The Declaration of Sentiments from Seneca Falls, 1848.

3. (April 11 – group 2, April 25 – group 1) American Revolution, and those who were not liberated.

READING: “The Declaration of Independence”, in EAR

TIPS FOR PROJECTS: “A Kind of Revolution”, In: Howard Zinn, A People´s History of the United States, 2003, p. 77-102. ON RESERVE WITH THE LIBRARIAN. (two people may split it between themselves). R.W. Emerson: 'Self-Reliance' (In: 19CAR: 104-108)

4. (April 26, 1 p.m., room 204: BOTH GROUPS) The West

TIP FOR PROJECT (FOR April 26): “ The Indian Question.”, IN R. Takkaki: A Different Mirror. PP. 228-246. ON RESERVE WITH THE LIBRARIAN. Also In the PPT “the Indian Question” on the INtRANET.

5. (May 2 – group 2, May 9 – group 1) A vein of American romanticism: transcendentalism.

READING: H.D. Thoreau: “Resistance to Civil Government” (in: 19CAR as “On Civil Disobedience”).

TIPS FOR PROJECTS: What did the Progressive Era mean?; What did the New Deal mean? (with regard to your personal interests); Sources: The United States becoming a world power. Vol. 2 / Leon F. Litwack, Winthrop D. Jordan ... [et al.] (Knihovna ÚTRL); my text on the Progressive Era – on the intranet; my text on the American Modernist Progressive Era IN: POKUSY O RENESANCI ZÁPADU, EDS. Housková, A. – V. Svatoň, Praha: Filozofická fakulta UK, 2016.. S. 213-242 ("Dlouhá cesta k modernismu v USA")

6. (May 3, BOTH GROUPS) Beginning literary reflections upon American society in imaginative literature.

READING: W. Irving: “Rip Van Winkle” (a short story, In: EAR, and other anthologies)

TIPS FOR PROJECTS: Frederick Douglass, “Slavery from the Slave´s Point of View”, extract from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, 1845 (slave narrative), in: The American Scene 1660-1860: 375-385.ON RESERVE WITH THE LIBRARIAN

7. (May 10, BOTH GROUPS) The South and the Civil War.

READING: William Faulkner: “Rose for Emily”, 1930, a short story (In: Ant.)

THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE AN ORAL PRESENTATION IN THE COURSE, WILL WRITE A SHORT ESSAY OF 2 STANDARD PAGES ON THE SYMBOLISM IN “ROSE FOR EMILY”, INCLUDING THE LIST OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES. PLEASE, WRITE IT AFTER WE DISCUSS the story in the seminar. To be submitted 3 days before the date when you take the exam.

8. (May 16 – BOTH GROUPS) The Progressive Era. The Great Depression. The New Deal.

READING: J. Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath. All will read extracts in the original and Czech translation – posted on the intranet.

TIPS FOR PROJECTS to be PRESENTED IN THE SESSION OF BOTH GROUPS ON MAY 23: Any research in any aspects of any modern presidential era from those that are covered on May 23).

9. (May 23, BOTH GROUPS) American modern history through the presidencies of F. D. Roosevelt, H. Truman, D. Eisenhower, J.F. Kennedy.

ReadinG: Introduction to The Kennedy tapes: inside the White House during the Cuban missile crisis (Belknap Press 1997), in the original and Czech translation (see SIS, bakalářská práce 2014, Katrin Hřibová).