The content, assignments, and assessments for American Literature I are aligned to the following learning outcomes.

Module 1: Reading and Interpreting Literary Texts

• Identify the key features of prose
• Identify the key features of poetry
• Identify and describe the major critical approaches to literary interpretation: New Criticism/Formalism, Reader-Response, Feminism, and Marxism

Module 2: Early American and Puritan Literature (1650–1750)

• Describe the major historical and cultural developments of colonial America; explain key concepts
• Describe the major conventions, tropes, and themes of Puritan and early American literature; identify and discuss those features with regard to individual works

Module 3: Enlightenment Literature (1760–1820)

• Describe the major historical and cultural developments of the Enlightenment; explain key concepts
• Describe the major conventions, tropes, and themes of Enlightenment literature; identify and discuss those features with regard to individual authors/works

Module 4: Romantic Literature (1820–1860)

• Describe the major historical and cultural developments of the Romantic period; explain key concepts and terms (e.g., the sentimental)
• Describe the major conventions, tropes, and themes of Romantic literature; identify and discuss those features with regard to individual authors/works
• Describe the major conventions, tropes, and themes of Gothic literature; identify and discuss those features with regard to individual authors/works
• Describe the major conventions, tropes, and themes of transcendental literature; identify and discuss those features with regard to individual authors/works
• Describe the major conventions, tropes, and themes of abolitionist literature and slave narratives; identify and discuss those features with regard to individual authors/works

Module 5: Writing About Literature