American Lit to 1800
Instructor: Michele Tarter
There was so much happening in early America, and yet so very few people know about it. In the last few decades, scholars have unearthed tomes of manuscripts dating back to colonial times, and what they’ve found is both fascinating and disturbing. Join us as we look at life and culture in the colonies. We’ll begin with cross-cultural encounters, particularly when the Native American Indians welcomed European explorers and Puritan settlers to what is controversially called “The New World.” We’ll then turn to all forms of dissent literature evolving from this multicultural time period: Indian captivity narratives; witchcraft trial records; slave narratives; Quakers’ travel logs; women’s manuscript diaries and commonplace books; and newly developed female seduction novels at the heart of Revolutionary America. This body of material forms the foundation of any study on American culture, thought, and identity formation. It will take you very far…