American Literature

REQUIRED READINGS

 

Final Section of Winthrop's A Model of Christian Charity (City on a Hill)

Crevecouer's What is an American?

Franklin's Autobiography (only Parts 1 and 2 for class)

Irving's Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle

Emerson's Self Reliance(full text) (shortened version)

Emerson's Nature, Chapter 1

Emerson's "The Transcendentalist"

Thoreau's On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (full text) (shortened version)

Thoreau's Walden -- The Walden Express is enormously helpful.
Most instructors will have students read selections from the following options: chapter 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d and 2      
Find out from your instructor what your specific reading assignment is.

Poe's The Short Story   Never Bet the Devil Your Head  The Fall of the House of Usher   The Gold Bug   The Tell-Tale Heart   The Raven  Annabel Lee

Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown  The Birthmark

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Fanny Fern's novel Ruth Hall

A selection of Dickinson's poems

A selection of Whitman's poetry

Whitman's essay "Democratic Vistas," or at least a condensed version of it. For the full-length version, go here.

A selection of speeches from Native American Leaders

Readings from Gertrude Bonnin (Zitkala-sa)

Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson

Readings from Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Dorothy Canfield's story "The Bedquilt"

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper"        PDF version

Chopin's "The Story of an Hour"

Readings from Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

Cather's O! Pioneers

Poetry of Frost

Poetry of Sandburg

Norris' A Deal in Wheat

Jewett's A White Heron

Hughes' readings (poetry, essay, novel excerpt)

Contemporary Hispanic writers