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  4. 2016-2017
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  6. EL30HK: AMERICAN INSURRECTIONS: WRITING, SELF AND NATION, 1776-1865

EL30HK: AMERICAN INSURRECTIONS: WRITING, SELF AND NATION, 1776-1865 (2016-2017)

Last modified: 28 Jun 2018 10:27


Course Overview

This course follows the development of American literature in English from the printing of the Declaration of Independence, the defining document of the American Revolution, in 1776, to the end of the Civil War, in 1865. It focusing on the idea of America, both as the subject of American writing, and as the context in which that writing was produced. Among the authors studied in the course are: Benjamin Franklin, Charles Brockden Brown, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 3
Term First Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus Old Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Catherine Jones

Qualification Prerequisites

None.

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • English (EL)
  • Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)
  • Either Programme Level 3 or Programme Level 4

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

​This course follows the development of American literature in English from the printing of the Declaration of Independence, the defining document of the American Revolution, in 1776,  to the end of the Civil War, in 1865. It focuses on the idea of America, both as the subject of American writing, and as the context in which that writing was produced. Adopting a transatlantic perspective, the course seeks to develop an understanding of the ways in which the impulse to go beyond the conventions of British culture was crucial to the establishment of a distinct identity for American literature in the nineteenth century. Among the authors studied in the course are: Benjamin Franklin, Charles Brockden Brown, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.

Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

1st Attempt

  • Two 2500-word essays (40% each)
  • Oral presentation (10%)
  • Seminar assessment mark (10%)
Resit
  • One 2-hour examination (100%)

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Feedback

Students will receive prompt oral feedback in seminars, and will receive formal written feedback on essays within three weeks of submission.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.
 

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