ENG-350 Poets, Pirates and Patriots
An exploration of how national identity was created and contested in writing by figures on the margins and at the center of early American experience. Readings and discussions will focus on the development of poetic voice within a restrictive Puritan culture, the negotiation of freedom on frontiers of land and sea, and the literary work of national belonging, personal success, and interracial collaboration. Readings will include poetry, memoirs, and fiction by Donne, Cabeza de Vaca, Winthrop, Bradstreet, Occom, de Crevecoeur, Equiano, Wheatley, Jefferson, Franklin, Sedgwick, and others.