ENG 253 - American Lit - Colonial

4 Credit(s)

Prerequisite(s):

WR 115 or designated placement.

WR 115Q as required.

Course Description: Provides a survey of literary works from the Colonial, Enlightenment, and Romantic periods, and includes such diverse forms as essays, journals, sermons, political documents, poetry and fiction.

Course Learning Outcomes:

CLO#1: Explain the ways in which social, philosophical, and political currents influence literary expression.
CLO#2: Describe similarities and differences in Colonial, Enlightenment, and Romantic thinking regarding wilderness, religion, artistic expression, rights of Native Americans, attitudes toward family, and community morals and customs. (ILO: Communication)
CLO#3: Explain how race, gender, time, and place shape a given text.
CLO#4: Explain changes in the prevailing American philosophies during the time period covered in the course.

Typical Course Content:

The Colonial Period

William Bradford [Of Plimouth Plantation in its entirety]

Anne Bradstreet

Jonathan Edwards

Samuel Sewall

Mary Rowlandson

Sarah Kemble Knight

Selections from John Winthrop, Roger Williams, Cotton Mather

The Age of Enlightenment

Benjamin Franklin [The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin in its entirety]

Thomas Paine

Thomas Jefferson

J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur [Letters from an American Farmer in its entirety]

Passages from Phyllis Wheatley

The Romantic Period

Washington Irving

James Fennimore Cooper [one of his novels in its entirety]

Nathaniel Hawthorne [one of his novels in its entirety]

Edgar Allan Poe

(The particular works under each major heading are typical examples of required reading. They are not necessarily all included in one term’s work.)

ACTI Code and Course Type
100 Lower Division Collegiate

Length of Course:
A required state minimum of (40) and a standard RCC delivery of (44) lecture hours per term, not to exceed (48) hours per term.