U.S. Literature – Honors Course Overview and Curriculum Outline

Bernard Malamud – "The Magic Barrel"

Focus areas include characterization and dialect.

John Steinbeck – "Leader of the People"

Key literary elements: Characterization, Symbolism, and Theme.

John Smith – "The General History of Virginia"

The primary literary focus is Propaganda.

William Bradford – "Of Plymouth Plantation"

Key focus area: Irony of situation.

Anne Bradstreet – "To My Dear and Loving Husband" and "Upon the Burning of Our House"

Utilizes Hyperbole and Oxymoron.

Jonathan Edwards – "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

Central literary focus: Extended metaphor.

Benjamin Franklin – "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" and "Poor Richard’s Almanac"

Focus areas: Autobiography, Proverb, and Aphorism.

Patrick Henry – "Speech to the Virginia Convention"

Key literary technique: Rhetorical questions.

Nathaniel Hawthorne – "The Scarlet Letter", "Rappaccini’s Daughter", "The Minister’s Black Veil"

Focus areas: Symbol, Allusion, Romanticism, Theme, Characterization, and Parable.

Washington Irving – "The Devil and Tom Walker"

Focus areas: Symbol and Dramatic Irony.

James Fenimore Cooper – "The Rescue: from the Deerslayer"

Primary focus: Romanticism.

William Cullen Bryant – "Thanatopsis"

Key elements: Blank verse and Romanticism.

Edgar Allan Poe – Tales and Poems (e.g., "The Raven", "The Cask of Amontillado")

Focus areas: Rhyme, Alliteration, Meter, Mood, Gothic tales, and Irony.

Herman Melville – "Billy Budd", "Moby Dick"

Emphasis is placed on use of Allusion as a part of his style.

Ralph Waldo Emerson – "Fable", "Self-Reliance", "Concord Hymn"

Focus areas: Essay writing, themes, aphorisms, metaphors, meter, apostrophes, and alliteration.

Henry David Thoreau – Selections from "Walden"

Focus areas: Allusion, Aphorism, and Tone.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – "The Village Blacksmith", "A Psalm of Life"

Key elements: Imagery, alliteration, and narrative poem structure.

Robert Frost – Selected Poems (e.g., "Birches", "Fire and Ice")

Focus areas: Pun, symbol, vignette, metaphor, personification, rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration.