We'll read and discuss an assortment of novels, stories, poems and memoirs by American authors in the period preceding the Civil War. Students will be expected to attend class regularly, keep up with reading assignments, and take part in open discussion. Written work will consist entirely of between five and ten brief in-class essays done in response to study questions handed out in advance. Texts: THE NORTON ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE, Volume B, seventh edition; Harriet Beecher Stowe, UNCLE TOM'S CABIN; Herman Melville, MOBY-DICK; and James Fenimore Cooper, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.