AL 311.
01
Survey of American Literature from the 17th to 19th Century
Fall 2023
Dr. Cihan Yurdaün
[email protected]
Office: TB 425
Office Hours: Wednesday, Firaday 14:00-15:00
Course Description
This is the first leg of a survey course and covers North American literature written
mainly between the mid-16th and the mid-19th centuries. In this course, we are
going to mostly read selections from canonical figures of American Literature and
study significant topics and themes underlined by those authors in their historical
context. Our primary aim is to learn the unique aspects of American literature as it
develops over time and explore some of the prominent questions it raises.
Class Structure & Requirements
• Although there will be occasional lectures, the class will be based on our
discussions of texts, which will require your participation. So, please read the
assigned material for each week, including the documents uploaded to Moodle,
and come to class prepared. You can find all the primary texts in your course
packet.
• Attendance is required. Students must attend 80 % of all classes. You can miss
class 5 times at most. If you fail to meet this attendance requirement, you will
not be admitted to the Final Exam. If you don’t take the final exam, you can’t
pass.
• %10 of the final grade is attendance. Each day you miss means -%2 from your
total grade. You cannot exceed %10.
• There are going to be five quizzes on the prose works in your syllabus.
• I will count the highest four of your four quizzes and take their average as part
of your final grade. It basically means that you can skip or miss one quiz.
Quizzes will constitute %20 of your final grade.
• All the necessary materials for class will be available on Moodle.
• There will be a Midterm %30 and a Final exam %40. You cannot skip any of
these. You’ll automatically fail.
• Participation in class discussions is a significant part of this course and might
boost your final grade up to %3.
• Letter Grade Layout: AA (100-90), BA (89-85), BB (84-80), CB (79-75), CC (74-70),
DC (69-65), DD (64-60), (fail) F (59-0)
Out-of-Class Communication Policy
• If you have questions about any aspect of class, you can always email me;
please do not hesitate. Office hours are for you. Please use them.
Weekly Schedule
Week 1 (September 27, 29) Introduction, American History
*
Week 2 (October 4,6) Native American Stories
*
Week 3 (October 11,13) Columbus, John Smith, W. Bradford, Cotton Mather
Quiz 1
*
Week 4 (October 18,20) Anne Bradstreet
*
Week 5 (October 25,27) Benjamin Franklin, T. Jefferson, Washington Irving
Quiz 2
*
Week 6 (November 1,3) R.W. Emerson, H. Thoreau
*
Week 7 (November 8,10) E.A. Poe
Midterm Week
*
Week 8 (November 15,17) N. Hawthorne
Quiz 3
*
Week 9 (November 22,24) Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass
*
Week 10 (November 29, December 1) H. Melville
Quiz 4
*
Week 11 (December 6,8) E.Dickinson
*
Week 12 (December 13,15) Dickinson & Whitman
Quiz 5
*
Week 13 (December 20,22) W. Whitman
*
