EN 202 - HUM American Literature and Culture I: Beginnings – 1865

4.00 credits.

(Humanities Core Course)
The first section of our two-part American Literature and Culture Survey Sequence, this course encompasses formative works created prior to and during the Civil War. Beginning with pre-Columbian Indigenous storytelling, the course moves through Colonial, Revolutionary, early National, and American Renaissance texts. By studying the works’ literary devices, themes, genres, structures, and contexts, students will develop their broad and close reading skills. They will also expand and deepen their understanding and appreciation of foundational literatures and cultures of North America and the United States. (The texts and themes explored in the course are shaped by the instructor’s specializations and interests: for details about materials covered during a particular semester, see the English Department’s website.) Fall semester. *Students in the English Literature Concentration should take this course during the fall of their First Year.