DAILY ASSIGNMENTS

Note: the bulleted items immediately below a date are due on that date.

Thursday, January 21, 2021

• First Class.

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

• Read the instructions and complete the Contact Information handout (See Handouts page).
• Read the instructions and complete the Student Contract handout (See Handouts page).
• Read the instructions and complete the "Introduce Yourself" assignment (See Assignments page).
• Read "How to Really Read This Book" (Download from the Course Materials section of the class web page)
• Read and mark the following documents in this order (if you don't have the text yet, you can download these from Course Materials):
• "Creation of the Whites" (Yuchi myth; Heath Vol. A, 77)
• "The Arrival of the Whites" (Lenape-Delaware oral tradition; Heath Vol. A, 78-84)
• "In Focus: America in the World/The World in America" (background essay; Heath 107-109) (please note this section is called "Cluster: America in the European Imagination" if printed from Course Materials)
• from Utopia (Thomas More; Heath 110)
• from Of Cannibals (Michel de Montaigne; Heath 110-111)
• America (Painting, Heath 111)
• from New Atlantis (Francis Bacon; Heath 113)
• "Requerimiento" (Palacios Rubios; boxed text Heath 117-118)
• "Christopher Columbus" (background essay; Heath 122-123)
• Excerpt from The Diario of Christopher Columbus's First Voyage to America 1492-1493; Handout.
• "Cluster: Aesthetics and Criticism—Paradigms of Cultural Encounters" (136-146)
• Last day to add a course without faculty signature.

Thursday, January 28, 2021

• Read and mark the following Selections from the Heath Vol. A:
• from Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabez de Vaca (147-161)
• "History of the Miraculous Apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531" (231-240)
• "The Coming of the Spanish and the Pueblo Revolt" (259-263)

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

• Read and mark the following Selections from the Heath Vol. A:
• All of the selections by John Smith (Vol A. 315-329)
• From Richard Frethorne, to His Parents (Virginia, 1623) (Vol A. 330-334)
• Read and mark "New England" (overview; Vol A. 359-364)

Thursday, February 4, 2021

• Read and mark the entire William Bradford section (Vol A. 397--421)

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

• Read and mark the entire Thomas Morton section (Vol. A 364-378)
• Read and mark the following selections from Anne Bradstreet:
• "Anne Bradstreet 1612?-1672" (Vol A. 437-438)
• "The Prologue [To Her Book]" (Vol A. 439-441)
• "The Author to Her Book" (Vol A. 445)
• "The Flesh and the Spirit" (Vol A. 446-448)
• "Before the Birth of One of Her Children" (Vol A. 448-449)
• "To My Dear and Loving Husband" (Vol A 449)
• "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment" (Vol A. 449-450)
• "In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet, Who Deceased August, 1665, Being a Year and Half Old" (Vol A. 450-451)
• "On My Dear Grandchild Simon Bradstreet, Who Died on 16 November, 1669, being but a Month, and One Day Old" (Vol A. 451)
• "Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666" (Vol A.451-452)
• "To My Dear Children" (Vol A.452-455)
• We will discuss the in-class Last day to Drop the course
• Last day to drop the course before withdrawal period starts.

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

• NO CLASS: We do not meet on Wednesdays.
• Withdrawal without faculty signature period starts.

Thursday, February 11, 2021

• Read and mark the following selections from Cotton Mather:
• "Cotton Mather 1663-1728" (Vol A. 552--554)
• from The Wonders of the Invisible World (Vol A. 555-560)
• from The Negro Christianized (Vol A. 573-578)
• from Bonifacius . . . With Humble Proposals . . . to Do Good in the World (Vol A. 579-580)
• There will be a test on The Negro Christianized: you will need to write an essay (with quotes) that discusses if the text is a pro-slavery message or a means of undermining the validity of slavery.  Everyone is required to take this exam.  See handout on exam card preparation.
• You will need to copy and paste your exam card into the actual test, so make sure it is in an MS Word file format prior to the start of the exam.

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

• READING CHECK #1: Please see Assignments section for instructions.
• Read and mark the following from Jonathan Edwards:
• "Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758" (Vol. A 700-702)
• from Images of Divine Things (Vol A. 702-704)
• "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (Vol A. 723-735)

Thursday, February 18, 2021

• Paper #1 Prewriting Due. Post a copy in the "Paper #1: Prewriting" forum on the discussion board.
• Two-Minute Presentations on Paper Topic
• Exam Quote Assignment #1 Due.  Submit your quotation assignment to the Blackboard Drop Box by the start of class.

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

• NO CLASS: Dr. Halbert will be in an all-day meeting.
• Draft of Paper #1 Due.  Post a copy to the discussion board in the "Paper #1: Draft" forum.  (5 points for posting.
• You must post the draft by the start of class. The draft is worth up to 20 points. The draft will be assessed according to the following scale: 20 points for a full draft with works cited, 15 for 4 pages without a works cited, 10 for 3 pages, 5 for 2 pages, and 2 for 1 page. If the paper is not posted by the start of class, only half the points you would have otherwise been given will be assigned.
• Complete the online peer review of your assigned paper by 11:59PM. See the Assignments page for more information on the requirements and the name of the person whose paper you need to review.

Thursday, February 25, 2021

• Read and mark all of the selections of William Byrd II (Vol A. 662-687)
• We will go over the midterm exam, the quotation guide, and how to prepare an exam card.

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

• NO CLASS.  Final Draft Paper #1 Due.  See checklist for details.

Thursday, March 4, 2021

• Midterm Exam. Make sure you have prepared your exam card.

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

• Read and mark the entire Thomas Paine section (Vol A 1045-1065)

Thursday, March 11, 2021

• Read and mark in Volume A the following essays by Benjamin Franklin:
• "The Way to Wealth" (913-919)
• "A Witch Trial at Mount Holly" (919-920)
• "The Speech of Polly Baker" (920-922)
• "Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America" (927-931)
• "On the Slave Trade" (931-933)
• "Speech in the Convention" (933-935)

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

• No Class: Spring Break

Thursday, March 18, 2021

• No Class: Spring Break

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

• Read the following selections by Phillis Wheatley:
• "Phillis Wheatley 1753-1784 (Vol A 1349-1350)
• "To MÏcenas" (Vol A 1350-1351)
• "To the Right Honoruable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for North-America, &c" (Vol A 1352-1353)
• "On Being Brought from Africa to America" (Vol A 1357)
• "To the University of Cambridge, in New England" (Vol A 1359)
• "To His Excellency General Washington" (Vol A 1361-1362)
• "Liberty and Peace, A Poem by Phillis Peters" (Vol A 1363-1364)

Thursday, March 25, 2021

• Read and mark Chapters 1-9 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, (Vol. B. 2163- 2199).

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

• Finish reading and marking Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, (Vol. B. 2199-2234)
• Withdrawal without faculty signature period ends.

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

• NO CLASS. We do not meet on Wednesdays.
• Withdrawal with faculty signature period starts.

Thursday, April 1, 2021

• READING CHECK #2: Please see Assignments section for instructions.
• Read and mark Vol A, pages 1065-1073 on John and Abigail Adams
• Read and mark all the selections by Sarah Moore Grimke and by Angelina Grimke (VOL B. 2444-2454)
• Read and mark "Declaration of Sentiments" (Vol B. 2477-2479
• Read and mark the entire Fanny Fern Section (Vol B. 2462-2473)

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

• Read and mark the following selections from Washington Irving:
• "Washington Irving" (Vol B. 2505-2506)
• from A History of New York, Chapter 5 (Handout in Course Materials)
• Read the following selections from In Focus: Humor of the Old Southwest:
• introduction (Vol B.2484-2487, including the ad)
• All of the selections by Davy Crockett (Vol B. 2488-2491)
• All of the selections by Mike Fink (Vol B. 2491-2492)

Thursday, April 8, 2021

• Read and mark the following selections by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "Ralph Waldo Emerson" (Vol B. 1822-1825)
• "Chapter I: Nature" (Vol B. 1826-1828)
• "Chapter III: Beauty" (Vol. B. 1829-1833)
• Self-Reliance (Vol B. 1868-1887)

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

• Read and mark the following the following by Henry David Thoreau:
• "Henry David Thoreau" (Vol B. 1978-1979)
• "Resistance to Civil Government" (Vol B. 1979-1995)

Thursday, April 15, 2021

• Read and mark the following selections from Edgar Allen Poe:
• "Edgar Allen Poe" (Vol B. 2691-2693)
• "The Fall of the House of Usher" (Vol B. 2706-2720)
• "The Tell-Tale Heart" (Vol B. 2727-2731)
• "The Purloined Letter" (Vol B.  2731-2745)
• "The Raven" (Vol B. 2764-2767)
• "Annabel Lee" (Vol B. 2767-2768)
• Withdrawal with faculty signature period ends. All requests to withdraw after today will require approval from the Office of Academic Affairs.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

• Library Orientation.
• Complete and post to the "Paper #2 Prewriting" discussion board forum your prewriting assignments. See the Assignments page.

Thursday, April 22, 2021

• Annotated Bibliography Due. See instructions and a sample bibliography in the Assignments section. This annotated bibliography should present research related to your intended second paper topic. You will need to post this to the "Annotated Bibliography" dropbox and to the discussion board in the "Research Bank" discussion board forum. Be sure you give a specific topic in the subject line so that your classmates will know what your research is on in case they want to look at it. The research for this project should be on your Paper #2 Topic and should be used in the second paper.
• Two-minute presentations on your topic for the second paper. See Assignments Section.

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

• Draft of Paper #2 Due. Post a copy by the start of class in the "Paper #2: Draft" Discussion board forum. 20 points for a complete draft with a works cited; prorated for less than that. Zero if not completed. Half credit if posted in the 24 hours after the class starts.

Thursday, April 29, 2021

• Read and mark the following from Emily Dickinson:
• "Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886" (Vol. B. 3343-3347)
• "Success is counted sweetest" (Vol. B 3349)
• "I like a look of Agony" (Vol. B 3350)
• "Wild Nights---Wild Nights!" (Vol. B 33 51)
• "There's a certain Slant of light" (Vol. B 3351-52)
• "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain" (Vol. B 3352)
• "The Soul selects her own Society" (Vol. B 3353)
• "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church" (Vol. B 3354)
• "After a great pain, a formal feeling comes" (Vol. B 3356)
• "This is my letter to the World" (Vol. B 3358)
• "I showed her Heights she never saw" (Vol. B 3358)
• "I heard a Fly buzz---when I died" (Vol. B 3359)
• "The World is not Conclusion" (Vol. B 3360)
• "I cannot live with You" (Vol. B 3364-65)
• "I dwell in Possibility" (Vol. B 3366)
• "Publication---is the Auction" (Vol. B 3367)
• "Because I could not stop for Death" (Vol. B 3368)
• "A narrow Fellow in the Grass" (Vol. b 3371)

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

• Complete quote assignment #2
• Read and mark the following from Walt Whitman:
• "Walt Whitman 1819-1892" biography (Vol B. 3218-3222)
• "Ethiopia Saluting the Colors" (Vol. B 3311)
• "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" (Vol. B 3312-3319)
• "Prayer of Columbus" (handout in Course Materials)
• "To a Locomotive in Winter" (Vol. B 3321)
• Last class day for this section of the course.

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

• NO CLASS.
• Paper #2 Due by noon. See Checklist for submission locations.

Thursday, May 6, 2021

• American Lit 1 Final Exam: 8AM to 10AM.

Monday, May 10, 2021

• NO CLASS.
• Major Paper Rewrite Option due by noon if you choose to do so. Review Major Paper Rewrite expectations in the Assignments section and submit to the Major Paper Rewrite Option dropbox. Email Dr. Halbert when you do so.

Thursday, May 13, 2021

• NO CLASS.
• Faculty must submit final grades by 11:59PM tonight. If I get it done earlier, I will email the class stating that they have been posted.

END OF SEMESTER INFORMATION:

• Final Grades are due May 13, 2021 by 11:59PM. If I complete them before the deadline, I will email the class. Please do not email me directly without checking to see if I have announced that Final Grades have been posted.
• Please check your Montco email every day after our last class until I announce that the Final Grades are posted: if there is an issue with your grades, I will email you to try and resolve it, and your prompt response would be helpful to both you and me.
• I strongly urge all students to attend the final class meeting of not just this course but all your courses.