Sarah Chinn                                                                        Office hours: M 1-2:30, Th 4-5:30

1209 Hunter West                                                            and by appointment

(212) 772-5178                                                                        sarah.chinn@hunter.cuny.edu

English 385.63: Heroic Masculinity in the United States Before the Civil War

Over the course of the first half of the nineteenth century in the United States, what it meant to be a man – a citizen, a father, a worker – changed dramatically.  As young men flooded into the cities, and the image of the American man shifted from farmer to clerk, factory worker, or business-owner; as the geographic boundaries of the country grew to include immense swaths of the Mid- and Southwest; as debates over slavery, alcohol, Westward expansion, and women’s rights obsessed Americans of all classes; manhood, manliness, and masculinity came under increased scrutiny.  In this course we’ll be exploring the ways in which models of what we might call “heroic masculinity” emerged in various attempts to salve the anxieties that suffused early-nineteenth-century men and women: adventurers, explorers, escaped slaves, rebels, preachers

Reading:   All texts are available at Shakespeare & Co. Some readings are electronic texts (either scanned or online) that can be read on the course BlackBoard site (these are indicated by a bb in the syllabus).

James Fenimore Cooper                        The Last of the Mohicans

Martin Delany                                    Blake, Or the Huts of America

Herman Melville                                    Moby-Dick

Francis Parkman                                    The Oregon Trail

Jeffrey Richards,ed.                         Early American Drama

John Rollin Ridge                        Joaquin Murieta

Harriet Beecher Stowe                        Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Henry David Thoreau                        Walden

Mason Locke Weems                        The Life of Washington

Walt Whitman                                     Leaves of Grass (1855 Edition)

Writing: Most of your grade will come from two essays.  The shorter (5-7 pages) will be due around the middle of the semester (see date in course schedule) will not require outside research; the longer (10-12 pages), due on the last day of class, will require research, using at least 4 outside sources.  I will provide suggested topics for both papers.  You may also come up with your own topic, but you must clear it with me first!  I will not accept papers on other topics that I have not approved.

I am always willing to look at papers in draft form before the due date.  If you are unhappy with a grade on your paper, you may meet with me and rewrite for a new grade within two weeks of getting the essay back.

You are also expected to participate at least once a week in a discussion board on the class BlackBoard site.  This counts as part of your participation grade. 

Students with Disabilities: If you have a physical, psychological, or learning disability that requires accommodation, you must first register with the Office for Access and Accommodation in Student Services.  Please feel free to meet with me to discuss your needs and how to register for support services.

Academic Integrity: Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (eg. plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The college is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Integrity Procedures.

Other stuff: I expect you to come to class prepared and ready to talk about the day’s reading.  I value and reward enthusiastic and intelligent discussion, and I expect everyone in the class to participate.  Poor attendance seriously affects your ability to participate: if you are absent inexcused more than 3 times, your grade will suffer; more than 5, you may fail.  If you know you will have to be absent, let me know in advance!

Grade Breakdown:

Short Essay                        30%

Long Essay                        50%

Participation                        20%

Schedule of Classes

Week 1

            Th 8/26                        Introduction

Setting the Terms           

Week 2

                                    M 8/30                        J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer (bb; read “Advertisement,” “Dedication” and Letters I, II, III, and IX)

                                    Th 9/2                        Benjamin Rush, “On the Mode of Education…” (bb); Royall Tyler, The Contrast, in Richards, Early American Drama.

Week 3

            M 9/6                        Labor Day: No Class

            Th 9/9                         Rosh Hashanah: No Class

Natural Men

Week 4

            M 9/13                        James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans

            Th 9/16                        Cooper

Week 5

            M 9/20                        John Augustus Stone, Metamora (in Richards, Early American Drama)

            Th 9/24                        Henry David Thoreau, Walden                       

Week 6

            M 9/27                        Thoreau

The Uses of the Past

            Th 9/30                        Mason Locke Weems, The Life of Washington; William Dunlap, Andre (in Richards)

Week 7

            M 10/4                        Robert Montgomery Bird, The Gladiator (in Richards)

Heroic Slaves

            Th 10/7                        Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin           

Week 8

            M 10/11                        Columbus Day: No Class

            Th 10/14            Stowe

Week 9

                                    M 10/18                        Stowe

            Th 10/21            Martin R. Delany, Blake, or the Huts of America

Week 10

            M 10/25                        Delany; Frederick Douglass, The Heroic Slave (bb);

Men on the Move

            Th 10/28            Francis Parkman, The Oregon Trail

Week 11

            M 11/1                        Parkman            

            Th 11/4                        Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

Week 12

            M 11/8                        Melville

            Th 11/11            Melville

Week 13

            M 11/15                        Melville

Bad Men

            Th 11/18            John Rollin Ridge, Joaquin Murieta

Week 14

            11/22                        Ridge

             11/25                        Thanksgiving: No Class

Week 15

            M11/29                        George Lippard, The Quaker City, excerpts (bb)

            Th 12/2                        Lippard; 19^th century brothel guides (bb)

Rethinking Masculinity

Week 16                       

            M 12/6                        Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” Leaves of Grass

            Th 12/9                        Whitman, rest of Leaves of Grass

Week 17

            M 12/13                        Wrap up

                                    Final essay due Friday, December 17

Plagiarism is...

• buying a paper from a research service or term paper mill.

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• having another person write a paper for you and turning it in as your work.

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• turning in another student's work as your own without the student's knowledge.

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• copying a paper or parts of a paper from a source text (including a website) without proper acknowledgement.

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• copying materials from a source text, supplying the proper acknowledgement, but not using quotation marks (if you’re using the “cut and paste” function without explicitly quoting, chances are you’re plagiarizing).

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• paraphrasing materials from a source text without using proper documentation.

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• turning in a paper from a "free term paper website."

Bottom line on plagiarism: It IS cheating.  It is stealing -- either information or other people’s ideas or a legitimate grade.  You might get away with it. More likely, I will catch you.  Getting caught will mean an F on the assignment, and could mean an F in the course or worse.

Before you are tempted to plagiarize, please come and see me for help.  Advising you on your work is a much better use of my time than tracking down cheating.

Adapted from the “What is Plagiarism” webpage, Ohio University (http://www-as.phy.ohiou.edu/~rouzie/fall153/final_projects/plagiarism/definition.html)