ENG 89: American Literature and the Democratic Imaginary
Continental Democracy
Monday, 16 November
Today we dive more deeply into Ruiz de Burton’s Who Would Have Thought It?. We follow the plot developments as the nation becomes enmeshed in the Civil War. We track the characters’ various exploits and evaluate the novel’s satirical targets.
For Wednesday (11/18):
- Read Ruiz de Burton, Who Would Have Thought It?, pages 231-305
Wednesday, 18 November
Today we conclude our discussions of Who Would Have Thought It? by working through the complicated renderings of various political figures, Abraham Lincoln included. We focus especially on the depiction of political affinities on display in the United States and in Mexico to gain a stronger understanding of political tendencies across the continent. We likewise work through the concluding remarks regarding Cacklism vs. Grantism and determine the novel’s contributions to the postwar democratic imaginary.
For Monday (11/23):
- Read Whitman, “Democratic Vistas”
- Read James, The Bostonians, Chapters 1-9 (pages 5-55)
- Work on Think-Piece #4. Submit by the end of the day on Monday.
For Monday (11/16):
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• Read Ruiz de Burton, Who Would Have Thought It?, Chapters XXIII-L (pages 88-230)
Image: “Firing on the ‘Star of the West’ on January 10, 1861” Harper’s Weekly (January 26, 1861).
POSTED: Thursday, November 19, 2015
Week 12: 16-20 November
