English 130A

Other Readings and Media

Bradford, William: Plymouth Plantation; Rowlandson, Mary White: The Sovereignty and Goodness of God; Edwards, Johnathan: A Jonathan Edwards Reader; Jefferson, Thomas: Notes on the State of Virginia; Franklin, Benjamin: The Autobiography; Equiano, Olaudah: The Interesting Life and Other Writings; Some xeroxed poems and other short texts

Description

I will lecture on the struggle to alter traditional modes of cultural understanding to account for the extraordinary circumstances of New World life as it is reflected and expressed in these books, together with the gradual emergence of novel social and political paradigms and linked transformations in the conception of personal identity. Two seven-page midterm essays and a final exam will be required.

This course satisfies the pre-1800 requirement for the English major.