This course is a survey of some of the important texts of mid-19 th century America. It is intensive and fast-paced. We will at least briefly consider such major intellectual movements as Transcendentalism and such writings as Emerson’s and Thoreau’s essays; novels by Stowe and Hawthorne; tales by Poe and Melville; poetry by Whitman and Dickinson; and Frederick Douglass’s Narrative. Finall grades will be based on two examinations and two papers.