“This course introduces students to the array of literatures produced in what is now the United States from the early American (pre-Colonial) period to the mid-19th century. Students examine the craft and function of narrative (both oral and written) as it has been used to establish, explore, and contest particular notions- of community, nation, selfhood, and identity. The course focuses on a number of themes that were important in both the public and the private realms: origin myths, writing and literacy, revolution and liberty, formation of a national literature, American selfhood, and American traditions of resistance. Students are invited to discover the pleasure of reading for its own sake, as well as to gain a deeper understanding of U.S. culture through exploring how people used literary texts to negotiate social, political, sexual, and economic relationships in their everyday lives. Readings will include work by Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, Thomas Paine, Elias Boudinot, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and Frederick Douglass.” – UNE course catalog