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Course Descriptions

ENG 203 - American Literature to 1865

3 Credits

A survey of American literature from the Encounter to the Civil War. Readings and discussion focus on writers such as Columbus, Wheatley, Hawthorne, Apess, Emerson, Douglass, Jacobs, Whitman, and Dickinson. Students will reflect critically on literature, evaluate and acknowledge the possibilities and limitations of the authors’ worldviews, and construct arguments about the texts using evidence from primary and secondary sources.

Prerequisite(s): English 101 with a C or better, placement into English 200, or instructor permission.

New SUNY General Education: SUNY - Critical Thinking and Reasoning Competency, SUNY - Humanities

Retiring SUNY General Education: SUNY-H - Humanities (SHUM)

MCC General Education: MCC-AH - Arts and Humanities (MAH)

Course Learning Outcomes
1. Analyze American literature from the Encounter through 1865.
2. Describe the relationship between various movements (such as Puritanism, the Age of Reason, and/or Romanticism) and the literature of the period.
3. Interpret literature as it relates to its historical, cultural, and/or political context.
4. Explain the complex social and cultural interactions of gender, sexuality, religion, race, and/or class represented in American literature.
5. Interpret literary works using critical perspectives.
6. Write a thesis-driven essay using primary and secondary sources.
7. Apply the appropriate formal conventions when writing about literature.

Course Offered Fall

Use links below to see if this course is offered:
Fall Semester 2024
Spring Semester 2024
Summer Session 2024