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DAILY HOMEWORK

Note: bulleted items are due on the date immediately above them. References to page numbers that start with “BA” indicate the reading is in The Broadview Anthology of American Literature. BA readings start with a biography of the author that should be included in the marking of the text.

Thursday, September 3, 2026

• First day of class.

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

• Read the instructions and complete the Contact Information handout (See Handouts page).
• Read the instructions and complete the Student Contract handout (See Handouts page).
• Read and mark "How to Really Read This Book" (Download from the Readings section of the Canvas web page)
• Read and mark “A Special Note on Taking Separate Notes on Readings Rather Than Marking Text” (online: print or copy into MS Word to electronically annotate)
• Read and mark “How to Prepare for Dr. Halbert’s Midterm and Final Exams” (online: print or copy into MS Word to electronically annotate)
• Read and mark in the Broadview Anthology (noted as BA) the following:
  • “Indigenous North American Cultures and Literatures” (BA 1-5).
  •  “Contact, and the Literature of Contact” (BA 5-15).
  • "Lenni Lenape (Delaware) Accounts of the Arrival of the Whites) oral tradition (BA 116-119, stop when you get to Thomas Harriot)
• Read and mark the following documents found in the Readings section of the Canvas course site in this order:
  • "In Focus: America in the World/The World in America" (background essay that sets up the following additional excerpts from much larger works)
    • from Utopia (Thomas More)
    • from Of Cannibals (Michel de Montaigne)
    • America (Painting)
    • from New Atlantis (Francis Bacon)
• “from Christopher Columbus with Bartolomé de las Casas, Journal of the First Voyage to America” (BA 90-94).
• “Chrisopher Columbus, Letter of Columbus to Varous Persons Describing the Results of His First Voyage and Written on the Return Journey” (BA 94-97).

Wednesday, September 9, 2026

• NO CLASS: We do not meet on Wednesdays.
• Last Day to Add

Thursday, September 10, 2026

• Read and mark “Requermiento” by Palacios Rubios (See Readings section of Canvas page).
• Read and mark “from Bartolomé de las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies” (BA 99-103).
• Read and mark “New Mexico: The Pueblo Revolt” (BA 104-105).
• Read and mark “Antonio de Otermín, letter on the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, 8 September 1680” (BA 105-11)

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

• Read and mark all of the selections by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (BA 137-144).
• Read and mark all of the John Smith section (BA 146-163)
• Read and mark all of Richard Frethorne (See Reading section of Canvas page).

Thursday, September 17, 2026

• Read and mark the entire William Bradford section (BA 165-181).

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

• Read and mark the entire “John Winthrop” section (BA 187-197).
• Read and mark the following from the Anne Bradstreet section:
• “Anne Bradstreet” Bio (BA 213-215).
• “Prologue” (include the title page reproduction) (BA 215-217).
• “The Flesh and the Spirit” (BA 221-223).
• “To My Dear and Loving Husband” (BA 234).
• “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment” (BA 234).
• "In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet, Who Deceased August, 1665, Being a Year and Half Old" (BA 225).
• "On My Dear Grandchild Simon Bradstreet, Who Died on 16 November, 1669, being but a Month, and One Day Old" (BA 235).
• “For Deliverance from a Fever” (BA 235-236).
• “To My Dear Children” (BA 227-29).
• Read the following from Cotton Mather:
• “Cotton Mather” Bio (273-274).
• from Wonders of the Invisible World (BA 275-279).
• The Negro Christianized (available in the Readings section of our Canvas site).
• Last Day to Drop.

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

• NO CLASS: We do not meet on Wednesdays.
• First day of Withdrawal Period without signature.

Thursday, September 24, 2026

• Read the following from Jonathan Edwards:
• “Jonathan Edwards” Bio (BA 284-286).
• Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (BA 286-295).

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

• Scholarly Article Analysis Project Due (20 points).  First, read and mark "’Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God’: Some Unfinished Business” by Edward J. Gallagher. Present marked essay in class and post written response in the “Academic Article Activity” Assignment.  See Assignment description for specific details. (Marked text=5 points; Activity=20 points)

Thursday, October 1, 2026

• Read the following Franklin essays in the Broadview Anthology:
• “Benjamin Franklin” Bio (BA 303-305)
• “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” (BA 305-308).
• “On the Slave Trade” (BA 308-310).
• Read and mark the following short piece by Benjamin Franklin found on the open web:
• “The Way to Wealth”
• “A Witch Trial at Mount Holly”
• “The Speech of Polly Baker”
• “Speech in the Convention”
• Quotation Assignment #1 Due. Submit to the “Quotation Assignment #1” Assignment. This assignment will not be accepted late (20 points).

Tuesday, October 6, 2026

• Draft of Paper #1 due.  Post a copy in the "Paper #1: Draft" Discussion Board topic. Posting is worth five points.
• We will have a workshop on your drafts today worth 20 points. You must attend class with a completed draft printed for a partner to read to get those points. Incomplete drafts will be prorated, but it is better to come with a partial draft than to skip class.
• If you had an accommodations letter sent to me, please send me an email to remind me that you will need extra time on the midterm exam so I can make arrangements.

Thursday, October 8, 2026

• Read and mark the following texts by or about Thomas Paine:
• “Thomas Paine” Bio (BA 391-393).
• from Common Sense (BA 395-400).
• “The American Crisis” (available online).
• From The Age of Reason (available in the “Readings” section of Canvas)

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

• Final draft of Paper #1 due in the “Paper 1: Final Draft (Graded copy)” in Assignments (for up to 200 points) and the “Paper 1: Final Draft (Discussion Board)” option (for 5 points).  See checklist for details.
• We will prepare for the midterm essays today in class.

Thursday, October 15, 2026

• Midterm exam. Remember to prepare an exam card for the essay question (available on the Graded Tasks page) to get ready for the exam. Historically, students who choose not to do an exam card do very poorly on the exam.

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

• Read and mark the entire Thomas Jefferson section (BA 403-415).
• Read and mark the entire Federalist section (BA 416-423).

Thursday, October 22, 2026

• Read and mark the following in the J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur Letters from an American Farmer section of BA:
• “J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur” Biography (BA 371-374)
• From Letter 3: What Is an American? (BA 374-382)
• From Letter 9: Description of Charles-Town (BA 382-388)

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

• Read the following from Washington Irving:
• “Washington Irving” (Bio: BA 534-536)
• “Rip Van Winkle” (BA 536-546)
• “From the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty by Diedrich Knickerbocker: Book 1, Chapter 5” (Readings on Canvas).

Thursday, October 29, 2026

• Read and mark the following by or about Phillis Wheatley:
• "Phillis Wheatley” bio (BA 514-515).
• "To MÏcenas" (BA 515-16).
• "To the University of Cambridge, in New England" (BA 516)
• "On Being Brought from Africa to America" (BA 517)
• “On Imagination” (BA 517-18).
• "To His Excellency General Washington" (BA 519-20).)
• “In-Context: Preface to Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral” (BA 523-24)
• Letter to Samson Occom (Available online)

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

• NO CLASS: Today is election day, and Dr. Halbert will be at the polls.
• Please consider voting today, regardless of you political affiliation.

Wednesday, November 4, 2026

• NO CLASS: We do not meet on Wednesdays.
• Last day of Withdrawal Period without signature.

Thursday, November 5, 2026

• Read and mark the following from the Frederick Douglass section:
• “Frederick Douglass”  (BA1068-1072)
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Written by Himself  (BA 1072-1093, Preface through the end of Chapter 7)
• First day of Withdrawal Period with faculty signature.

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

• Read and mark the rest of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Written by Himself  (BA 1093-1121; stop at “My Old Master,” which is not part of the book).

Thursday, November 12, 2026

• Read and mark the follow texts about women’s rights in America:
• Letters between Abigail and John Adams (Readings on Canvas).
• The Entire Sarah Moore Grimké section (BA 701-706).
• Sojourner Truth: “Speech at the Akron, Ohio Women’s Rights Convention, 1851” (BA 911-917: read both version and review photos).
• Fanny Fern selections (Readings on Canvas).
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton: “Declaration of Sentiments” (Readings on Canvas).

Tuesday, November 17, 2026

• Read the following by or about Edgar Allan Poe:
• “Edgar Allan Poe” bio (BA 805-807).
• “The Fall of the House of Usher” (BA 817-27).
• “The Tell-Tale Heart” (BA 827-29).
• “The Raven” (BA 835-37).
• “Annabel Lee” (BA 840-41).

Thursday, November 19, 2026

• Read and mark the following by or about Ralph Waldo Emerson:
• “Ralph Waldo Emerson” bio (BA 706-709).
• selections from Nature (BA 709-711).
• “Self-reliance” (BA 714-728)
• Last day of Withdrawal Period with faculty signature.

Friday, November 20, 2026

• NO CLASS: We do not meet on Fridays.
• All withdrawals after today require administrative approval and documentation.

Tuesday, November 24, 2026

• Library Orientation. We will meet in the library: check announcements for specific location.
• Post a half-page description of one or two topics you are considering for Paper #2 that requires library research. Indicate the author, text, and overall topic about the text. Copy and paste AND attach the description to the “Research Paper Topics” Discussion Board Topic.
• Attendance counts double today.

Thursday, November 26, 2026

• NO CLASS: Thanksgiving Break.

Tuesday, December 1, 2026

• Read and mark the following by or about Henry David Thoreau:
• “Henry David Thoreau” bio (BA 994-997).
• “Resistance to Civil Government” (BA 998-1010).

Thursday, December 3, 2026

• Read and mark the following texts by or about Nathaniel Hawthorne:
• “Nathaniel Hawthorne” bio (BA 755-57).
• “Young Goodman Brown” (BA 758-65).
• “The Black Veil” (BA 765-71)

• Quotation Assignment #2 Due. Submit to the “Quotation Assignment #2” Assignment. This assignment will not be accepted late (20 points).

Tuesday, December 8, 2026

• Draft of Paper #2 Due. Post a copy in the "Paper #2: Draft" Discussion Board topic. Posting is worth five points.
• We will have a workshop on your drafts today worth 20 points. You must attend class with a completed draft printed for a partner to read to get those points. Incomplete drafts will be prorated, but it is better to come with a partial draft than to skip class.

Thursday, December 10, 2026

• Read and mark the following texts by or about Walt Whitman:

• “Walt Whitman” bio (BA 1144-48).
• “I Sing the Body Electric” (BA 1212-18).
• “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” (BA 1230-36).
• “To a Locomotive in Winter” (available on the Internet).

• If you had an accommodations letter sent to me, please send me an email to remind me that you will need extra time on the final exam so I can make arrangements.
• LAST CLASS MEETING.
• It is always a good idea to go to the last class.

Thursday, December 17, 2026

• American Lit Exam (12:40pm – 2:40pm in our normal classroom).

Friday, December 18, 2026

• NO CLASS: this is exam week.
• Final Draft of Paper #2 due by noon. Post to “Paper #2 Final Draft: Discussion Board” (for 5 points) and to “Paper #2 Final Draft: Graded Copy” (for up to 200 points). See checklist for details.

Monday, December 21, 2026

• OPTIONAL Major Paper Rewrite of Paper #1 due by noon. Please post a copy in the “Optional Major Paper Rewrite” Assignment and email a copy to Dr. Halbert at hhalbert@mc3.edu with the subject line “ENG 245 Major Paper Rewrite. Make sure you read the instructions first.

End of Semester Reminders

• It is a good idea to go the final meeting of all your classes. Professors often give key information for final projects, final exams, and other issues on the final day. Small class sizes also mean they generally notice who came to the final class (and who did not).

• Check your Montco email and Canvas announcements every day until Dr. Halbert says the grades are posted.
• Don’t email Dr. Halbert to see if the grades are done: he will announce when he is done.

• Do check your gradebook on Canvas during exam week to see individual assignment grades as they are entered.
• If there is a problem with a graded assignment, please email Dr. Halbert immediately.
• Final grades due Wednesday, December 23, 2026, at 11:59 PM. I will post an announcement when the grades are finalized. Please do not email me to see if grades are done early: wait for the announcement.

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Date site created: August 24, 2026