Sarah Shermyen
The Book Club
Welcome to the (Book) Club
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Welcome to the (Book) Club

Cycle 1, Episode 1: Syllabus

Outline of the Cycle

April 8: The End of the Frontier and a New America

May 13: My Antonia - Willa Cather

June 10: Passing - Nella Larsen

July 8: “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” and “The Leaning Tower” - Katherine Anne Porter (I find her collected stories to be the best edition of her work)

August 12: Our Southerners

September 9: The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

October 14: Paradise - Toni Morrison

November 11: “The View From Mrs. Thompson’s” - David Foster Wallace (from Consider the Lobster) + Confederate Memory

December 9: Sing, Unburied, Sing - Jesmyn Ward

From Today and Continued Reading:

Virgin Land - Henry Nash Smith (read from at 11:10-11:38, 12:10-13:42, 15:35-15:44, 17:12-17:32, 17:52-18:21, 18:49-18:57, 19:39-20:17)

Notes on the State of Virginia — Thomas Jefferson

Poems of Walt Whitman:

“I Sing the Body Electric”

“Song of Myself”

“To the Garden the World”

For Next Month:

To read: Willa Cather’s, My Antonia

To consider:

What is the frontier?

What is the value of nostalgia? The danger?

How would this story change if Antonia’s family were not immigrants?

Do you think that the rules that govern society are the same on the frontier as they would be in urban centers? Why or why not?

P. S. If you are really interested in a good overview of American literature, you might want to purchase the Norton Anthology of American literature Vol D (1914-1945). Our first three readings are available there.

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Sarah Shermyen
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