2024 Fall
ENGLISH 130A 001 - LEC 001
American Literature: Before 1800
Kathleen Donegan
Aug 28, 2024 - Dec 13, 2024
Tu, Th
12:30 pm - 01:59 pm
Social Sciences Building 60
Class #:31412
Units: 4
Instruction Mode:
In-Person Instruction
Offered through
English
Current Enrollment
Total Open Seats:
-3
Enrolled: 68
Waitlisted: 0
Capacity: 65
Waitlist Max: 10
No Reserved Seats
Hours & Workload
2 to 3 hours of instructor presentation of course materials per week, 9 hours of outside work hours per week, and 1 to 0 hours of the exchange of opinions or questions on course material per week.
Final Exam
FRI, DECEMBER 20TH
08:00 am - 11:00 am
Social Sciences Building 60
Course Catalog Description
Lectures on and discussion of the major writers of the early American period.
Class Description
This course will survey the literatures of early America, from the tracts that envisioned British colonization to the novels that measured the after-shocks of the American Revolution. Although our focus is on Anglophone texts, we will consider colonial America as a place of encounter – a place where diversity was a given, negotiation was a necessity, and transformation was inescapable. Lectures will explore the role of writing in contact and settlement; in captivity and slavery; in religious and social formations; in approaching the natural world; and in imagining a new republic. Throughout, we will pay special attention to how writing operated to forge new models of the self that could withstand and absorb the tumult of colonial life. Authors will include Bradford, Rowlandson, Franklin, Equiano, Jefferson, and the early American novelists Charles Brockden Brown and Hannah Webster Foster.
This class satisfies the "pre-1800" requirement for the English major.
Class Notes
Book List
Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation; Williams, A Key into the Language of America; Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God; Franklin, The Autobiography; Equiano, The Interesting Narrative; Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia;
Crevecoeur, Letters from an Ameri.. show more
Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation; Williams, A Key into the Language of America; Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God; Franklin, The Autobiography; Equiano, The Interesting Narrative; Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia;
Crevecoeur, Letters from an Ameri.. show more
Book List
Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation; Williams, A Key into the Language of America; Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God; Franklin, The Autobiography; Equiano, The Interesting Narrative; Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia;
Crevecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer; Brown, Wieland, or The Transformation;
Foster, The Coquette show less
Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation; Williams, A Key into the Language of America; Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God; Franklin, The Autobiography; Equiano, The Interesting Narrative; Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia;
Crevecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer; Brown, Wieland, or The Transformation;
Foster, The Coquette show less
Rules & Requirements
Repeat Rules
Course is not repeatable for credit.
Requirements class fulfills
Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth
Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
Reserved Seats
Current Enrollment
No Reserved Seats
Textbooks & Materials
See class syllabus or https://calstudentstore.berkeley.edu/textbooks for the most current information.
Guide to Open, Free, & Affordable Course Materials
Associated Sections
None