COURSE DESCRIPTION:

During the middle of the nineteenth century, a group of prominent American writers formed the first major American literary magazine, The Atlantic Monthly. Through the interactions of its writers and editors and through the pages of the magazine, The A tlantic Monthly contributed to the development of American Realism, local color and regional literature, and the very idea of an American literature distinct from and equal to British literature.

In this course, we will study both the life of the magazine and the lives and works of some of its authors. Among the central questions for this course will be the following:

• Why was The Atlantic Monthly so successful, both in terms of popularity and in terms of its lasting contribution to American letters?
• What was the effect of the social and business connections between Atlantic writers?
• What themes and styles grew out of the Atlantic, and why?

To answer these questions, we will examine the writers and the work that appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, and we'll consider who and what was missing from the magazine's pages. We'll use bound volumes of the magazine, from 1857 to 1892, as primary res earch materials which will provide a context for individual works, historical materials related to the magazine and its cultural context, including both secondary work on literary and cultural history and primary documents, such as letters.

TEXTS:

Rediscoveries: American Short Stories by Women, 1832-1916, Barbara H. Solomon, ed.

Selections from The Portable Mark Twain, Bernard de Voto, ed. You should be able to find these pieces in other anthologies, so you may not need to buy this book.

A Hazard of New Fortunes, William Dean Howells

Portrait of a Lady, Henry James, Jr.

Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, Oliver Wendell Holmes. Check this out from Maag Library or the public library.

Course packet, also available at the bookstore under this course title.

RESERVE LIST:

A History of the Atlantic Monthly: 1857-1909, Ellery Sedgwick

I have a copy of this book in my office, so you can use the library copy or borrow mine, but in either case, you should make a xerox of the Introduction and Ch. 1.

American Realism, Jane Benardete

I also have a copy of the selections we're reading from this book in my office. You may borrow mine to make your own copy, or use the library copy.

ASSIGNMENTS:

1. Year reports 25%

Examine one volume of The Atlantic Monthly and do some research on the cultural history of that year. Then write a paper and prepare a presentation for the class analyzing your volume and explaining how it reflects American culture of the same year. I have arranged for selected bound volumes to be on reserve in the periodical section of Maag Library, and I will give you a handout of sources for the cultural history. Several students will work on each volume, and you should coordinate the presen tation so that you don't simply repeat each other's findings. You may write your paper collaboratively if you wish. Due dates for these will be scattered throughout the quarter.

2. Missing persons paper 30%

Why were some writers left out of The Atlantic Monthly? Study one writer's life and work and offer your own explanation for his/her absence from the magazine. I will give you more explicit instructions on this later, including a list of authors and wor ks to choose from. You'll also give a presentation telling the rest of the class about your writer, his/her work, and your explanation of why s/he did not publish in The Atlantic Monthly. Reports will be given March 3 and 5, and the papers will be due Mar ch 5.

3. Take home final essay exam 35%

On March 10, I will give you several essay questions to choose from for this final paper/exam. Your final will be due March 17.

The final 10% of your grade will be based on attendance and class participation. This class relies on your ideas, and in order for it to work, you must be in class, be prepared for class, and join in small group and full class discussions. If you miss class regularly, you will earn a failing grade for participation. If you attend regularly but don't actually join in discussion, you will earn a C. If you participate in discussion and attend class, you will earn a B or A. 

READING SCHEDULE:

Note that the readings are not divided evenly across the quarter. Both novels are due in the last few weeks of the course. It would be wise to start reading these early on.

CP = course packet

1/13: History of the Atlantic Monthly, Introduction and Ch. 1 (ON RESERVE)

1/15: Lowell, "Fable for Critics" (CP)

Holmes, Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, Ch. 1

 

1/22: Emerson, "The Poet" (CP)

Longfellow poems, handout

 

1/27: Year reports 1857-8 and 1862

Davis in Rediscoveries

1/29: Spofford and Stoddard in Rediscoveries

Year reports: 1867, 1872, and 1877

 

2/3: Phelps and Cooke in Rediscoveries

2/5: Jewett stories in Rediscoveries

Correspondence between Jewett and Annie Fields, handout

 

2/10: Whittier poems (CP)

Dodge, "My Garden" (CP)

2/12: Harte, "Tennessee's Partner" -- handout

Twain: "Old Times" and "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses"

 

2/17: Howells, pp. 92-108; Rollins, pp. 112-121; Twain, pp. 122-130 -- all in American Realism

Howells, excerpt from "Criticism and Fiction" (CP)

Year reports: 1882, 1887, 1892

2/19: Howells, Hazard

 

2/24: Realism handout

2/26: Chesnutt, "Goophered Grapevine" (CP)

 

3/3: Missing persons reports

3/5: Missing persons reports

Missing persons papers due

 

3/10: James, Portrait of a Lady