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COURSE UNIT TITLECOURSE UNIT CODESEMESTERTHEORY + PRACTICE (Hour)ECTS
ORIGINS OF AMERICAN POETRY ACL343 Fifth Term (Fall) 3 + 0 4

TYPE OF COURSE UNITCompulsory Course
LEVEL OF COURSE UNITBachelor's Degree
YEAR OF STUDY3
SEMESTERFifth Term (Fall)
NUMBER OF ECTS CREDITS ALLOCATED4
NAME OF LECTURER(S)Assistant Professor Seda Şen
LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THE COURSE UNIT 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
PRE-REQUISITES OF THE COURSENo
RECOMMENDED OPTIONAL PROGRAMME COMPONENT
COURSE DEFINITIONThis 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
WEEKTOPICS
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;" Eliza Bleecker (1752-1783); study of her poem "On the Immensity of Creation;"
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;" Early American romantic poetry: Philip Freneau (1752-1832); study of his poem "The Indian Burying Ground."
6th Week Lydia Howard Huntley Sigourney (1791-1865); study of her poem "Indian Names." William Cullen Bryant(1794-1878); study of his poem "To A Waterfowl."
7th Week Midterm Examination
8th Week 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 Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) and Gothic romanticism; study of his poems "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee."
10th 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).
11th Week Whitman (Continued).
12th Week Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) and subjectivity; as samples, study of her poems numbered 39, 122, 194, 260, 269, 409, 519, and 764.
13th Week (Continued)
14th Week (Continued); Wrap-up.
RECOMENDED 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 METHODSLecture,Discussion
ASSESSMENT METHODS AND CRITERIA
 QuantityPercentage(%)
Mid-term130
Assignment115
Presentation of Article115
Total(%)60
Contribution of In-term Studies to Overall Grade(%)60
Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade(%)40
Total(%)100
ECTS WORKLOAD
Activities Number Hours Workload
Midterm exam122
Preparation for Quiz
Individual or group work14342
Preparation for Final exam11010
Course hours14342
Preparation for Midterm exam11010
Laboratory (including preparation)
Final exam122
Homework166
Article Presentation166
Total Workload120
Total Workload / 304
ECTS Credits of the Course4
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTIONEnglish
WORK PLACEMENT(S)No
  

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