GROUP No. 1
Group Projects, Dr. Gates EH 201 Fall 2006
Draft, September 7,2006
The Native Americans the Puritans and the Colonizers
Among you, divide up the first 424 pages of the Norton Anthology (Note that Sewall and Bradstreet are covered in class and can be minimized; Rowlandson could be covered in another report, so if one of you plans to do just Rowlandson, make sure to check with those in the Cooper group and the early women's voices.).
At least one of you should view the William Bradford C-SPAN program.
At least one should survey the material at or found through the GonzagaUniversity and NAAL websites.
How does the Norton anthology presentation measure up to how Internet sites and secondary sources present the material?
One should take a look at the new book by Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower, and comment on the writing by Bradford and the King Phillip's War in relation to this. You might find a critical review at NewYorker.com.
Be aware that some Native American scholars consider the Creation tales influenced by first contact with Indians.
How does Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative in NAAL relate?
Note that this text may be covered by another group and might be omitted by this group.
A critical edition of Edward Taylor's poems is also available GATES PERSONAL COPY.
Alan Simpson on the Puritans might also be useful. GATES PERSONAL COPY
Benjamin Franklin and other Founding Fathers / Brothers* (and Mothers)**
MOST ALL should review the C-Span segment on Franklin, either on videotape or from the AmericanAuthors.org web site, using Real Video. (There are many other C-Span Programs which may be relevant)
ALL should read Norton's selections of the Franklin Autobiography (three parts).
There are important new biographies of Franklin, Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson.
Walter Isaacson's Benjamin Franklin should be covered GATES PERSONAL COPY
Joseph Ellis's Founding Brothers* might be consulted.
At least one should survey the material at or found through the GonzagaUniversity andNAAL websites.
1 could read and report on the remaining BF entry in Norton, the Way to Wealth.
A personal copy of the paperback volume on Franklin and his son could prove useful.
One could report on Thomas Paine (read more than assigned for the class)
One should report on Jefferson (read more than assigned for class)
OTHER OPTIONS:
One could read Sara Kemble Knight (teacher of BF) and the Adamses, John and Abigail.
One could read and report on Mercy Otis Warren, a contemporary of Franklin's, who wrote the play The Group, available on the web, or in NAAL, 4th edition
One should review and explore the Primary (authored by Franklin) documents on the web, providing a guide to their access, focusing on documents other than the biography.
One should investigate the sections of the biography omitted by Norton, analyzing what is skipped.
**Cokie Roberts' book of this title is by no means the first effort to bring attention to women of the Revolutionary era. (Note there are 2 separate biographies of Abigail Adams herself in the Recollected Used books shop on the Square.) Liberty's Daughters GATES PERSONAL COPY is an option.
Cooper
and perceptions of the Frontier.
At least one should view the C-Span segment on Cooper
All should read all Cooper documents in the text and 1 each be responsible for
Cooper's Town: the life of William Cooper GATES PERSONAL COPY
One should focus on Last of the Mohicans, text and film/s. At least the video version of Last of the Mohicans
Optional: The Deerslayer (and/or one other Cooper novel adapted to film)
Optional: Does Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative in NAAL relate?
Cherokee Removal / Indian Captivity
All read the Cherokee Removal documents in NAAL AND read from the supplemental paperback-- There is an expanded version of these in book form that I will lend out.
GATES PERSONAL COPY
A copy should later also be on reserve.
(As many as possible should look over this / subdivide its reading)
Subdivide so that the group's other tasks are covered.
One read in Nancy Swimmer: A Tale of the Chereokee Nation. GATES PERSONAL COPY; Library Reserve
One: J. Ellis's book, Walking the Trail, other research on the Cherokee removal, or a field trip to either Ross Landing in Chattanooga or the Nation capital in Georgia. GATES PERSONAL COPY; Library Reserve
At least one should survey the material at or found through the GonzagaUniversity and NAAL websites.
There are numerous academic books in the library under the subject "Cherokee Removal, 1838"
Moby Dick
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ALL should become familiar with the full text, at least in an on-line version. It is not expected that you read the entire novel, but use the summary of chapters available through Melville.org to survey the main action and target your essential reading. I can lend out one print copy, but would rather not.
(Note the websites I post where it is available on line.) Also go to and select Nantucket's Tried-OutMoby-Dick by di Curcio, and explore the way he presents the "79 core chapters"
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ALL should try to view both film versions, Gregory Peck and Patrick Stewart. These are available for sign out from me in DVD format (you should also be able to view them at AV, find them at rental stores or public libraries). It is okay if you pass the DVD directly to another member of the group at any convenient time other than the class hour. Keep track of who has each disk and report this to me at each class.
One should explore the background material based on the Owen Chase narrative or on Philbrick's book taken from it (In the Heart of the Sea, Nathaniel Philbrick’s non-fiction account of The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, winner of the National Book Award. A Discovery-Channel type documentary was made from this book.)
Optional: One might investigate the creative use of Moby Dick as depicted in Sena Jeter Naslund's Ahab's Wife. The book is long, I recommend you first read my paper on Ahab's Wife, and reviews/ interviews on line. GATES PERSONAL COPY
There are numerous other ways to explore the importance of Moby Dick to American Literature. Book and article critical studies are preferable to over-simplified "study guides." Make sure you keep track of your sources. Present a range of approaches.
The new biography, Melville: His World and Work, by Andrew Delbanco, has been lauded for the chapters that deal with the composition of Moby Dick. One should report on this and reviews of Delbanco.
Women in New England
Some material overlaps other reports or writers the class has been assigned. However, there are two target areas that stand outside the NAAL text that should be central to your exploration and group discussion.
One sub group focus on:
A Midwife's Tale: The Diary of Martha Ballard by Ulrich. GATES PERSONAL COPY; Library Reserve
The book will also be placed on reserve. The PBS program on the life of Ballard, with Ulrich speaking as commentator, is available at AV
All should at least read the on-line transcript of the program
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Then, Select "The Film and More." Then, Select Transcript. GATES PERSONAL COPY
At least one of you should view the entire film at the AV center. See me if it is more convenient to watch here in StoneCenter after class. One of you should focus on the extra material at the web site, Interviews, Visuals, Timeline, Further Reading.
This group should look at all women in all of Volume A, those on and not on the syllabus, with an emphasis on what makes personal life story and what makes creative literature (fiction, poetry) How do you see Ballard's belief system as a personalization of Puritanism. Is she on her way to expressing something closer to Transcendentalism?
One sub group focus on:
The book by Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil's Snare. GATES PERSONAL COPY; Library ReserveIt is the newest study of the Salem Witch Trials and presents a broader and more historically accurate picture of the trials than, for instance, The Crucible. The writers who are concerned with or whose lives intersected with the Salem incidents included Samuel Sewell (the only judge who recanted), Cotton Mather, and, as a precursor, John Winthrop. Use Norton's book and consider what isn't covered in NAAL of this incident.
A report on Anne Hutchinson is important. She is marginalized if one only reads John Winthrop's account. A long article in the New Yorker profiles more of her influence
Hawthorne
ALL Should read and or view the C-Span on Hawthorne
There is an important new biography of Hawthorne, and reviewing the C-SPAN Booknotes program on it is important. Go to booknotes.org, Search archives for either Brenda Wineapple or Hawthorne: A Life, either read transcript or watch. It is the January 4, 2004 program. (and the University Library should hold the book (See first if it is on reserve.)
One can focus on the collected stories.
One on the relationship of the Custom House Prologue to Scarlet Letter,
one on text of Scarlet Letter.
Optional: Once could consider in your presentation an overview of Eric Eldrich's website on Hawthorne. <
What more is learned about Hawthorne and his works than how this was presented to you at an earlier time in your studies, for instance high school readings of The Scarlett Leter?, coverage of a few short stories? How important is Hawthorne's life in Concord but skepticism of Trancendentalists; his alliance with a pro-slavery president, his acquaintance with Melville?
Frederick Douglass and related other writers.
Most all should view the C-Span video. (Also available through Real Video at American Writers. org web site.
Most should, in addition to the Incidents in the Life of a Slave, Narrated by Himself (the 1835 text) become familiar with 1 or the other later versions of his autobiography. Rather than compare the early chapters (as NAAL invites, reprinting only the beginning of Bondage), focus on new material not in the 1835 text.
This group might be divided into two sub groups.
Women and abolition Group
1 should share the reading of the complete version of Harriet Jacobs (writing as Linda Brent), Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and Lydia Maria Child's endorsement of it. (Several different editions are on line.)
1 or 2 should explore the importance of Stowe and Uncle Tom's Cabin on the Abolitionist movement. Also view the C-Span video on Stowe. (Also available through Real Video at American Writers. org web site). A complete cultural site about Uncle Tom's Cabin is at < University of Virginia. Person working on this should be able to critique those chapters Norton includes as they relate to the larger document and its impact.
1 should explore the importance of Sojourner Truth. GATES PERSONAL COPYAlso view the C-Span video on Sojourner Truth (Also available through Real Video at American Writers. org web site.
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Other narratives and the political context. Sub Group:
One should study the complete diary of John Woolman, available on line at Renascence Editions.
< Consider the importance of Quakerism's position against slavery as it contributes to a growing anti-slavery movement.
1 or 2 should study the complete text of Equiano's slave narrative. GATES PERSONAL COPY
1 could report on the PBS series (available as videotape, Africans in America, and its companion website).
1 could explore the relationship between Lincoln and his attitude towards emancipation and blacks in service and Douglass's influence upon his views. What else of Lincoln is there besides what is presented in NAAL?
1 could use the Garrison material available and explore the Douglass relationship. GATES PERSONAL COPY
1 could explore the John Brown events, read Henry Thoreau's essay on John Brown, and explore more thoroughly the false charge that Douglass was a conspirator with Brown. Historina Stephen Oates has a volume on John Brown, and PBS did a program on him.
1 could review the Amistad case. This will require more than the Spielberg movie, but you may consult it. Additional scholarly and background reading is also advised.
Dickinson in the context of other women (after 1820)
Particularly the major critical biographies
Strongly recommended: My Wars AreLlaid Away in Books : the Life of Emily Dickinson by Alfred Habegger in the University Library. The Library does not own the Franklin Fascicles edition, but there are some
internet sources that highlight interpretation of the fascicles.
Other writers:
Example: Study the writings of and influence of Fanny Fern and contrast compare to Margaret Fuller. Fanny Fern's Fern Leaves can be be read in an on line version.
The first of Fanny Fern's Portfolios is complete on line at
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One important site for Fuller's Woman in the 19th Century is
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There is also a critical work on Fuller, GATES PERSONAL COPY
One could view the play/s on Dickinson if available (The Belle of Amherst with Julie Harris), or a text of Susan Gaspell's Allison's House.
Various Additional Writers
4 or more students.
One focus might be Washington Irving in light of other Dutch writers not previously included in Norton Anthology. (Study a previous edition of the anthology for what gets added in the area of Dutch authors, especially).
More on Walt Whitman and Lincoln may be possibilities.
Other writers TBA.
Each will meet with me to plan an appropriate report. There may be occasions to put the three of you in a group when I am giving a class assignment or ask each of you to join a different group.
Appoint a Report typist (or 2 working together, or subdividing the job) to prepare a handout.
Appoint a moderator or co-moderator to lead a panel discussion that presents findings to the whole class.
General Guidelines. Although these are group projects, your planning should keep in mind that each individual student is doing a separate report, both a presentation and a handout.
Each student should have (unless pre-approved by me, more than a single source). There are ample suggestions, and you should plan creatively so that individuals get in touch with me, consider library and internet sources, and in some cases, overlap your coverage. When instructions say "all should read" you have the option of splitting up how you are going to cover that work.
All handouts should have a clear documentation of sources, at the top. MLA style is preferred. If it is a web site I lead you to, just its name, address, and steps for clicking to get to the document are acceptable.
Courtesy and academic professionalism are expected. It is your responsibility to respect others, yet know how to get in contact with each other if needed. Typed handout should not be a long narrative. Bulleted outline or sections highlighted is better. This is what the whole class has in front of them when you are speaking. I recommend that you work out a system of delivering (perhaps by e-mail or on disk) to the designated typist those parts that are individually contributed, so one person isn't left with the entire task.
A single sheet, two sides, is ideal. You are responsible for making enough copies. You will turn up, compose, find, much MORE than you can reasonable trim to this length, so it will be a challenge to arrange and lay out the overview. All handouts should have names of participants of group. You may list all at the top OR label those parts that are contributed individually.
Expect one individual grade and one group grade. If there is a problem with a member's participation, or a group member assigned to a task drops the class, pleas inform me.
There will be some Class Tasks and Discussions that you will be performing in the group that is the same as the group you are in for the group report. This is for the purpose of facilitating your communication with each other about the progress of the preparation for the report. There of course will be some discussion exercises where you might be rearranged and put with others in the class. None of the assignments to these in-class discussions and tasks, for instance on reading Emerson essays or reporting on Walden, are part of your Group Report Grade, but may lead to a quiz level grade.
Unless a specific web site is designated in the instructions:
Start with the three that are at the top of the depart/english/gates/201/
page: Or check through blackboard's class page.
C-Span's American Writers.
GonzagaUniversity's American Lit. site,
the companion site for the Anthology, Norton's NAAL site.
Group Projects
EH 201, Dr. Gates Fall 2006.
EH 201, page 1