Required Texts
Hawthorn, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter [1850]. New York, NY: Penguin Classics, 2002. ISBN: 9780142437261. The e-text is available at Project Gutenberg.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom’s Cabin [1852]. New York, NY: Wordsworth Editions, Ltd., 1999. ISBN: 9781840224023. The e-text is available at Project Gutenberg.
James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw [1898]. Clayton, DE: Prestwick House, Inc., 2006. ISBN: 9781580491617. The e-text is available at Project Gutenberg.
Faulkner, William. Absalom, Absalom! [1936]. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1991. ISBN: 9780679732181.
Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior [1976]. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1989. ISBN: 9780072435191.
McCarthy, Cormac. Blood Meridian [1985]. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2002. ISBN: 9780679721888.
Morrison, Toni. Beloved [1987]. New York, NY: Plume, 1998. ISBN: 9780452280625.
Erdrich, Louise. Tracks [1988]. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2004. ISBN: 9780060972455.
Roth, Philip. American Pastoral [1997]. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2004. ISBN: 9780099771814.
Jones, Edward P. The Known World [2003]. New York, NY: Amistad, 2006. ISBN: 9780061159176.
Readings by Session
| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | (no readings) |
| 2 | Nathaniel Hawthorne | Scarlet Letter, chapters 1-20. |
| 3 | Scarlet Letter, chapter 21-end. | |
| 4 | Harriet Beecher Stowe | Uncle Tom’s Cabin, chapters 1-28. |
| 5 | Uncle Tom’s Cabin, chapter 29-end. | |
| 6 | William Faulkner | Absalom, Absalom!, chapters 1-3. |
| 7 | Absalom, Absalom!, chapters 4-6. | |
| 8 | Absalom, Absalom!, chapters 7-9. | |
| 9 | Henry James | Turn of the Screw (read all). |
| 10 | Maxine Hong Kingston | Woman Warrior. Read “No Name Woman.” |
| 11 | Woman Warrior. Read “White Tigers”; “Shaman”; “At the Western Place.” | |
| 12 | Woman Warrior. Read “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe.” | |
| 13 | Cormac McCarthy | Blood Meridian, chapters 1-4. |
| 14 | Blood Meridian, chapters 5-13. | |
| 15 | Blood Meridian, chapter 14-end. | |
| 16 | Toni Morrison | Beloved, pp. 1-117. |
| 17 | Beloved, pp. 118-165. | |
| 18 | Beloved, pp. 170-end. | |
| 19 | Louise Erdrich | Tracks, chapters 1-4. |
| 20 | Tracks, chapters 5-7. | |
| 21 | Tracks, chapter 8-end. | |
| 22 | Philip Roth | American Pastoral, chapters 1-3. |
| 23 | American Pastoral, chapters 4-5. | |
| 24 | Edward P. Jones | The Known World, pp. 1-177 (chapters 1-5). |
| 25 | The Known World, pp. 179-end (chapters 6-12). | |
| 26 | The Known World (final discussion). |
