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English 3700  American Literature: 1450 to 1800

The literature of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century America represents one of the most remarkable of all colonial literatures. We will read a variety of texts written by those who colonized: poetry, religious writings, histories, autobiographies, and political writings. We will also read texts by groups who represented the "colonized": Native Americans and African/American slaves. Finally, we will consider works written by "outsiders" about the colonial experience. Our critical approach will vary; we will try to focus on these texts in terms of their literary value and their significance to later American literature and culture.

Requirements: close reading, participation, 3 short papers, final exam. (Group 3A)