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Program of American Culture and Literature (English)

ACL343

ORIGINS OF AMERICAN POETRY

Course Code
ACL343
Semester
Fifth Term (Fall)
Theory+Practice
3 + 0
ECTS
4
Course TypeCompulsory Course
Course LevelBachelor's Degree
Year of Study3
SemesterFifth Term (Fall)
ECTS4
Name of Lecturer(s)
Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, the students;

  1. Acquire theoretical and critical knowledge on American poetry from the early colonial times to the end of the nineteenth century.
  2. Analyze and discusses the contribution that each poet of the period made to the development of American poetry.
  3. Become fully familiar with the social, cultural, political, intellectual, historical, and literary context of colonial and post-colonial American poetry.
  4. Are able to conduct further research on colonial and post-colonial American poetry.
  5. Critically analyze and discuss American social values and ways of life as represented in early American poetry.
Mode of DeliveryFace to face
PrerequisitesNo
Recommended Optional Programme Components
Course DescriptionThis course introduces the origins of American poetry and surveys the historical developments in the American poetry tradition from the 17th century to the end of the 19th century. The course aims to teach different forms and styles of poetry major American poets employed and the characteristics of the main literary movements that influenced them. By situating American poetry in the literary context of world poetry, this course offers a comprehensive exploration of the multicultural character of American literature.
Course Contents
WEEK TOPICS
1st Week General introduction: Early colonial America; life and society in Puritan New England: colonization, culture, religion, politics, and literature.
2nd Week Puritan poetry and Anne Bradstreet (1612?-1672): poetry of spirituality and meditation; lyrics; study of Bradstreet's "The Prologue," "Contemplations" and "To My Dear and Loving Husband."
3rd Week Study of Michael Wigglesworth's "The Day of Doom" (1662) and Edward Taylor's "Preparatory Meditations" (c. 1682 and after).
4th Week Samples of early American women's poetry: Jane Colman Turell (1708-1735); study of her poem "To My Muse;"
5th Week Representation of American Slavery in poetry: Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784); study of her "On Being Brought from Africa to America;" Sarah Wentworth Morton (1759-1846); study of her "The African Chief;"
6th Week Early American romantic poetry: Philip Freneau (1752-1832); study of his poem "The Indian Burying Ground.", Lydia Howard Huntley Sigourney (1791-1865); study of her poem "Indian Names."
7th Week Midterm
8th Week William Cullen Bryant(1794-1878); study of his poem "To A Waterfowl." , Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and transcendentalism; study of his poems "The Snow Storm" and "Brahma." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882); study of his poems "The Day Is Done" and "The Slave Singing at Midnight."
9th Week (Continued),
10th Week Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) and Gothic romanticism; study of his poems "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee."
11th Week A new voice in early American poetry: Walt Whitman (1819-1892) and American identity; Study of his poems "One's Self I Sing," and "Song of Myself" (Sections 1 and 2).
12th Week (Continued).
13th Week Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) and subjectivity; as samples, study of her poems numbered 39, 122, 194, 260, 269, 409, 519, and 764.
14th Week (Continued)
15th Week (Continued); Wrap-up.
Recommended or Required ReadingEmerson, Everett. Major Writers of Early American Literature. U of Wisconsin P, 1976.
Tyler, Moses Coit. A History of American Literature 1607-1765. Collier Books, 1962.
Spurr, John, English Puritanism, 1603-1689. St Martin's, 1998.
Lamont, William. Puritanism and Historical Controversy. UCL 1996.
Knight, Janice. Orthodoxies in Massachusetts: Rereading American Puritanism. Harvard UP, 1994.
Ward, Harry M. Colonial America, 1607-1763. Prentice Hall, 1991.
Umunç, Himmet. "Land of Plenty and Freedom: The Changing Vision of America in the Early Colonial Period."
Interactions: Ege Journal of British and American Studies, 27/1-2 (Spring-Fall 2018): pp. 145-152.
Olwell, Robert. Cultures and Identities in Colonial British America. Johns Hopkins UP, 2006.
Bradstreet, Anne. The Works of Anne Bradstreet. The Belknap Press, 1967.
Hammond, Jeffrey. Sinful Self, Saintly Self: The Puritan Experience of Poetry. U of Georgia P, 1993.
Hammond, Jeffrey. Edward Taylor: Fifty Years of Scholarship. Camden House, 1993.
Shields, David S. Oracles of Empire: Poetry, Politics, Commerce in British America, 1690-1750. U of Chicago P, 1990.
Wood, Betty. The Origins of American Slavery: Freedom and Bondage in the English Colonies. Hill and Wang, 1997.
Draper, Theodore. A Struggle for Power: the American Revolution. Time Books, 1996.
Rosenheim, Shawn. The American Face of Edgar Allen Poe. John Hopkins UP, 1995.
Erkkila, Betsy. Whitman the Political Poet. Oxford UP, 1989.
Folsom, Ed. Walt Whitman's Native Representations. Cambridge UP, 1996.
Folsom, Ed. Walt Whitman: the Centennial Essays. U of Iowa P, 1994.
Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography. Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.
Klammer, Martin. Whitman, Slavery, and the Emergence of Leaves of Grass. Pennsylvania State UP,1995.
Salska, Agnieszka. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson: Poetry of the Central Consciousness. U of Pennsylvania P, 1985.
Parker, Hershel. Walt Whitman Emily Dickinson. Norton, 1994.
Pritchard, William H. Talking Back to Emily Dickinson and Other Essays. U of Massachusetts P, 1998.
Smith, Martha Nell. Rowing in Eden: Rereading Emily Dickinson. U of Texas P, 1992.
Longsworth, Polly. The World of Emily Dickinson. Norton, 1990.
Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods
  • Lecture
  • Discussion
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Quantity Percentage (%)
Mid-term 1 35
Assignment 1 10
Presentation of Article 1 15
Total(%) 60
Contribution of In-term Studies to Overall Grade(%) 60
Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade(%) 40
Total(%) 100
ECTS Allocated Based on Student Workload
Activities Quantity Duration (Hour) Total Workload (Hour)
Midterm exam 1 2 2
Preparation for Quiz
Individual or group work 14 3 42
Preparation for Final exam 1 10 10
Course hours 14 3 42
Preparation for Midterm exam 1 10 10
Laboratory (including preparation)
Final exam 1 2 2
Homework 1 6 6
Article Presentation 1 6 6
Total Work Load120
Total Work Load / 30 (h)4
ECTS Credit of the Course4
Language of InstructionEnglish
Work Placement(s)No

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