Readings
The public-domain texts for English 2327, American Literature I, each at its own link. Every paragraph and every fifth line of verse is numbered for citation.
Unit I: Discovery and Colonization
- What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?Frederick Douglass · 1852
- Native American Creation StoriesHaudenosaunee, Cherokee and Zuni traditions · 1827–1900
- The Creation of Heaven and Earth (Genesis 1–2)The Bible, King James Version · 1611
- Raven Steals the LightTlingit tradition, told by Dekināˊkǃᵘ and recorded by John R. Swanton · 1909
- Letter of Discovery (to Luis de Santángel)Christopher Columbus · 1493
- from the Second Letter to Charles VHernán Cortés · 1520
- from A Brief Account of the Destruction of the IndiesBartolomé de las Casas · 1552
- from The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer IslesJohn Smith · 1624
- A Model of Christian CharityJohn Winthrop · 1630
- PoemsAnne Bradstreet · 1650–1678
- A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary RowlandsonMary Rowlandson · 1682
- Sinners in the Hands of an Angry GodJonathan Edwards · 1741
Unit II: American Self-Fashioning and Revolution
- from The Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin · 1771–1784
- The Way to WealthBenjamin Franklin · 1758
- Information to Those Who Would Remove to AmericaBenjamin Franklin · 1784
- Remarks Concerning the Savages of North AmericaBenjamin Franklin · 1784
- from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by HimselfOlaudah Equiano · 1789
- PoemsPhillis Wheatley · 1773–1776
- The Difficult Miracle of Black Poetry in America, or Something Like a Sonnet for Phillis WheatleyJune Jordan · 1985 link
- from Common SenseThomas Paine · 1776
Unit III: American Identity, Crisis, and Conflict
- Rip Van WinkleWashington Irving · 1819
- The Legend of Sleepy HollowWashington Irving · 1820
- An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White ManWilliam Apess · 1833
- NatureRalph Waldo Emerson · 1836
- The American ScholarRalph Waldo Emerson · 1837
- The Divinity School AddressRalph Waldo Emerson · 1838
- Self-RelianceRalph Waldo Emerson · 1841
- The Over-SoulRalph Waldo Emerson · 1841
- ExperienceRalph Waldo Emerson · 1844
- from Woman in the Nineteenth CenturyMargaret Fuller · 1845
- Resistance to Civil Government (“Civil Disobedience”)Henry David Thoreau · 1849
- from Walden; or, Life in the WoodsHenry David Thoreau · 1854
- The Black CatEdgar Allan Poe · 1843
- The Tell-Tale HeartEdgar Allan Poe · 1843
- LigeiaEdgar Allan Poe · 1838
- The Fall of the House of UsherEdgar Allan Poe · 1839
- The Masque of the Red DeathEdgar Allan Poe · 1842
- The Pit and the PendulumEdgar Allan Poe · 1842
- The Cask of AmontilladoEdgar Allan Poe · 1846
- The Murders in the Rue MorgueEdgar Allan Poe · 1841
- The Purloined LetterEdgar Allan Poe · 1844
- The RavenEdgar Allan Poe · 1845
- Annabel LeeEdgar Allan Poe · 1849
- The Birth-MarkNathaniel Hawthorne · 1843
- Young Goodman BrownNathaniel Hawthorne · 1835
- My Kinsman, Major MolineuxNathaniel Hawthorne · 1832
- The Minister’s Black Veil: A ParableNathaniel Hawthorne · 1836
- Dr. Heidegger’s ExperimentNathaniel Hawthorne · 1837
- Rappaccini’s DaughterNathaniel Hawthorne · 1844
- Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-StreetHerman Melville · 1853
- Song of MyselfWalt Whitman · 1855; this text 1891–92
- Crossing Brooklyn FerryWalt Whitman · 1856; this text 1891–92
- PoemsEmily Dickinson · 1858–1872
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by HimselfFrederick Douglass · 1845
- from Incidents in the Life of a Slave GirlHarriet Jacobs · 1861
- “Ar’n’t I a Woman?”: Two Accounts of Sojourner Truth’s SpeechSojourner Truth · 1851
- PoemsFrances Ellen Watkins Harper · 1854–1872
- Life in the Iron-Mills; or, The Korl WomanRebecca Harding Davis · 1861
- The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras CountyMark Twain · 1865
- A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard ItMark Twain · 1874
- The Man That Corrupted HadleyburgMark Twain · 1899
- Letter of Discovery (to Luis de Santángel)Christopher Columbus · 1493
- from the Second Letter to Charles VHernán Cortés · 1520
- from A Brief Account of the Destruction of the IndiesBartolomé de las Casas · 1552
- The Creation of Heaven and Earth (Genesis 1–2)The Bible, King James Version · 1611
- from The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer IslesJohn Smith · 1624
- A Model of Christian CharityJohn Winthrop · 1630
- PoemsAnne Bradstreet · 1650–1678
- A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary RowlandsonMary Rowlandson · 1682
- Sinners in the Hands of an Angry GodJonathan Edwards · 1741
- The Way to WealthBenjamin Franklin · 1758
- from The Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin · 1771–1784
- PoemsPhillis Wheatley · 1773–1776
- from Common SenseThomas Paine · 1776
- Information to Those Who Would Remove to AmericaBenjamin Franklin · 1784
- Remarks Concerning the Savages of North AmericaBenjamin Franklin · 1784
- from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by HimselfOlaudah Equiano · 1789
- Rip Van WinkleWashington Irving · 1819
- The Legend of Sleepy HollowWashington Irving · 1820
- Native American Creation StoriesHaudenosaunee, Cherokee and Zuni traditions · 1827–1900
- My Kinsman, Major MolineuxNathaniel Hawthorne · 1832
- An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White ManWilliam Apess · 1833
- Young Goodman BrownNathaniel Hawthorne · 1835
- The Minister’s Black Veil: A ParableNathaniel Hawthorne · 1836
- NatureRalph Waldo Emerson · 1836
- Dr. Heidegger’s ExperimentNathaniel Hawthorne · 1837
- The American ScholarRalph Waldo Emerson · 1837
- LigeiaEdgar Allan Poe · 1838
- The Divinity School AddressRalph Waldo Emerson · 1838
- The Fall of the House of UsherEdgar Allan Poe · 1839
- The Murders in the Rue MorgueEdgar Allan Poe · 1841
- Self-RelianceRalph Waldo Emerson · 1841
- The Over-SoulRalph Waldo Emerson · 1841
- The Masque of the Red DeathEdgar Allan Poe · 1842
- The Pit and the PendulumEdgar Allan Poe · 1842
- The Black CatEdgar Allan Poe · 1843
- The Tell-Tale HeartEdgar Allan Poe · 1843
- The Birth-MarkNathaniel Hawthorne · 1843
- The Purloined LetterEdgar Allan Poe · 1844
- Rappaccini’s DaughterNathaniel Hawthorne · 1844
- ExperienceRalph Waldo Emerson · 1844
- The RavenEdgar Allan Poe · 1845
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by HimselfFrederick Douglass · 1845
- from Woman in the Nineteenth CenturyMargaret Fuller · 1845
- The Cask of AmontilladoEdgar Allan Poe · 1846
- Annabel LeeEdgar Allan Poe · 1849
- Resistance to Civil Government (“Civil Disobedience”)Henry David Thoreau · 1849
- “Ar’n’t I a Woman?”: Two Accounts of Sojourner Truth’s SpeechSojourner Truth · 1851
- What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?Frederick Douglass · 1852
- Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-StreetHerman Melville · 1853
- PoemsFrances Ellen Watkins Harper · 1854–1872
- from Walden; or, Life in the WoodsHenry David Thoreau · 1854
- Song of MyselfWalt Whitman · 1855; this text 1891–92
- Crossing Brooklyn FerryWalt Whitman · 1856; this text 1891–92
- PoemsEmily Dickinson · 1858–1872
- from Incidents in the Life of a Slave GirlHarriet Jacobs · 1861
- Life in the Iron-Mills; or, The Korl WomanRebecca Harding Davis · 1861
- The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras CountyMark Twain · 1865
- A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard ItMark Twain · 1874
- The Man That Corrupted HadleyburgMark Twain · 1899
- Raven Steals the LightTlingit tradition, told by Dekināˊkǃᵘ and recorded by John R. Swanton · 1909
- The Difficult Miracle of Black Poetry in America, or Something Like a Sonnet for Phillis WheatleyJune Jordan · 1985 link