Teaching the Literatures of Early America

by Mulford, Carla

• ISBN13: 9780873523592
• ISBN10: 0873523598
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-01-01
• Publisher: Modern Language Assn of Amer

Summary

In this era of shifting geopolitical boundaries, numerous books and articles question what "American" literature is, what "the literary" is, and how what is called early American literature can best be taught. This fifteenth volume of the MLA series Options for Teaching examines these issues and offers approaches and methods to help teachers and their students reconceptualize early American literatures as a complex body of multifaceted works rather than as merely an offshoot of British culture or a putatively American past.Part 1 consists of both multidisciplinary approaches and more narrowly framed investigations. Some essays discuss the rewards of teaching early American materials from groups not considered dominant--Native Americans, African Americans, women, French and Spanish colonials. Others treat English and Anglo-American writings, including those of the Puritans, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, and American Enlightenment thinkers. Four essays on genre studies focus on early poetry, fiction, drama, autobiography, and captivity narratives.In part 2, five teachers describe courses they have taught and give detailed syllabi. Completing the book is a bibliographic essay that reviews existing literature in the areas covered and provides a quick survey of secondary materials.Designed for teachers at the undergraduate and graduate levels,Teaching the Literatures of Early Americashows the rigorous, invigorating, and innovative ways in which scholars and teachers have been addressing the richness and variety of early materials.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(10)
Carla Mulford
Part I: Issues, Themes, Methods
Beyond the Boundaries of the Americas
The Old Wisdom: Introducing Native American Materials	11	(16)
James Ruppert
Diversity and Difference in African American Writings	27	(21)
Amy E. Winans
Early Women's Texts	48	(15)
Sharon M. Harris
Figuring Multicultural Practice in Early American Literature Classrooms	63	(12)
Pattie Cowell
Resisting Colonialism	75	(22)
Carla Mulford
Spanish and French Colonial Writings
Colonial Spanish Writings	97	(15)
E. Thomson Shields, Jr.
Dana D. Nelson
Early French North American Writings	112	(17)
Rosalie Murphy Baum
British Colonial and Postcolonial Writings
The Literature of England's Staple Colonies	129	(14)
David S. Shields
The Literature of Colonial English Puritanism	143	(12)
Philip F. Gura
The American Enlightenment and Endless Emancipation	155	(15)
Frank Shuffelton
Federalism and Conflict	170	(17)
Nicholas D. Rombes
Genre Studies
Early Anglo-American Poetry: Genre, Voice, Art, and Representation	187	(13)
William J. Scheick
Early American Prose Fiction and the Anxieties of Affluence	200	(13)
Joseph Fichtelberg
Early American Drama and Theater	213	(16)
Jeffrey H. Richards
American Self-Fashioning and the Problems of Autobiography	229	(14)
Gregory Eiselein
Captivity Narratives	243	(16)
Kathryn Zabelle Derounian-Stodola
Part II: Selected Courses
The Early American Literature Survey	259	(13)
Russell Reising
Gender, Genre, and Culture: A Two-Quarter Graduate Seminar	272	(25)
Karen E. Rowe
Common Ground on Different Borders: A Comparative Study of Chicano/a and Puritan Writers	297	(12)
Jose F. Aranda, Jr.
From ``The Melting Pot'' to Multiculturalism	309	(12)
Dennis D. Moore
New Worlds, 1450-1750: A Historian's Perspective on the Study of Colonial America	321	(17)
Gary L. Hewitt
Part III: Resources
Resources for Early American Studies: A Selective Guide	338	(49)
Edward J. Gallagher
Notes on Contributors	387	(6)
Index	393