ENGL 358T(F) Sounding Concord (W)

Sounding Concord explores how that village shaped the social imagination of Thoreau, and of his fellow townsmen R. W. Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, and Bronson and Louisa May Alcott. We'll look at the models of individual autonomy and social compact fostered by village life. We'll also listen for the characteristic sound of Yankee culture, in the hope of discovering how the "scandalous poverty" of the provincial town became the terrain in which these writers learned to speak American.
Readings will include Emerson's Essays: First Series; Thoreau's Walden, "Slavery in Massachusetts," and selections from the journals; Louisa May Alcott, Little Women and "Transcendental Wild Oats"; Bronson Alcott, How Like An Angel Came I Down and Concord Days; Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance, The Scarlett Letter, selected stories; and William Billings, The New England Psalm-Singer.
Format: tutorial. Requirements: Students will meet in pairs with the instructor once a week; one student will present a short analytical paper on the texts covered that week, and the other will write a response paper and join the instructor in a discussion of both papers. Evaluation will be based on the quality of written work, discussions and oral presentations.
Prerequisites: a 100-level English course, except for 150. Some prior experience with the period is recommended. Enrollment limit: 10 (expected: 10). Preference given to junior and senior English majors, with a secondary preference to declared majors in Philosophy.
(1700-1900)

Tutorial meetings to be arranged. ROSENHEIM