EN 235 - Early American Literature

This survey of “Early American Literature” takes as one of its aims the scrutiny of each of the terms in the course title. Should “early” refer to the literature by the first European explorers and settlers to come to the continent, and/or should it refer to native oral literature that predated Europeans’ arrival by centuries? Can the term “American” appropriately be used to describe literature that predated the American Revolution? Is “American” a state to be achieved or aspired to, or is it simply a descriptor for those living on the continent or, after 1776, in the new nation? Major figures from the Puritan settlement to the era of the new republic, including John Winthrop, Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur, and Benjamin Franklin, with attention to the oral literature of Native Americans.

Note: Meets Aesthetic and Creative Engagement Learning Outcome (AEST)

Four credits.