The place that would eventually become the United States was occupied by a remarkable range of selves: Puritan prisoner of war Mary Rowlandson; activist Mohegan minister Samson Occom; condemned criminals Esther Rogers and Joseph Hanno; formerly enslaved abolitionist slave Olaudah Equiano; and revolutionary printer Benjamin Franklin. This course considers not only a rich variety of selves, but the remarkable range of genres that emerged to document those selves, from the spiritual “confessions” of everyday Puritans seeking church membership, to Indian captivity narratives, to gallows literature and the slave narrative.

For those who declared in Fall 2023 or later, this course can fulfill one of two historical requirements for the English major:
-Literatures & Cultures 1500-1700
-Literatures & Cultures 1700-1900