Course Description
The American Civil War provoked a broad array of literary responses: novels, songs, poems, plays, speeches, letters, essays, memoirs, histories, and picture books. This course examines these assorted texts and considers what they teach us about the war and about American literature. Students will read authors such as Mary Chesnut, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Keckley, Abraham Lincoln, Herman Melville, Sarah Piatt, Edward Pollard, and Walt Whitman.
Athena Title
Literature and the Civil War
Prerequisite
Two 2000-level ENGL courses or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 3000-level ENGL course) or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 2000-level CMLT course)
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will have a deeper knowledge of the Civil War and its important role in American history, culture, and politics. Having read a substantial body of literature, they will be able to discuss and write about the Civil War—as well as nineteenth-century American culture more broadly—with a considerable degree of critical sophistication. By juxtaposing writings from a multitude of regional, political, and philosophical perspectives, the course will also significantly enhance students’ critical thinking skills. And by teaching students how to navigate the war’s complex cultural archive, the course will also provide advanced training in humanities-based research skills.
Topical Outline
The American Civil War provoked a voluminous and eclectic range of literary responses, from novels and poems to songs, plays, speeches, letters, memoirs, histories, and picture books. This course examines these various texts and considers what they teach us about the war and about American literature more broadly. Students will study authors such as Emily Dickinson, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Keckley, Abraham Lincoln, Herman Melville, Sarah Piatt, Edward Pollard, William T. Sherman, Henry Timrod, and Walt Whitman. Possible areas of focus include: African American representations of the war; Exchanges between Northern and Southern culture; Debates about romanticism and realism; The media networks of the Civil War era; The relationship between literature and history; and/or the politics of commemoration.