ENGH 202: Texts and Contexts

ENGH 202-010: VA Stories: Nat Turner
(Fall 2023)

10:30 AM to 11:45 AM T

Horizon Hall - Hybrid

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Section Information for Fall 2023

ENGH 202 - 010: VA Stories: Nat Turner

The 1831 insurrection in Southampton County, Virginia, led by Nat Turner, is one of the best-known examples of people enslaved in the United States seeking to obtain their freedom through armed resistance.  In the years since, Virginians and others have told and retold the story of the insurrection and other rebellions against slavery from a variety of perspectives and for a variety of purposes, reflecting in the process on the meanings of slavery, freedom, and individual and national identity.  This course will examine a selection of these narratives dating from the time of the insurrection to the early twentieth century.  Since this is a class that meets the literature requirement of the Mason Core, we will pay particular attention to the literary and rhetorical features that help to convey the authors’ messages to audiences situated in particular cultural, political, geographic, and other contexts.  The course also serves as an introduction to some of the genres in which Americans in general, and African Americans in particular, expressed themselves during the 19th century, including autobiographical and historical narratives, fiction, biography, and polemic speaking and writing.   

In this hybrid section, our consideration of each text will begin with virtual activities – reading and annotating the text – and continue with once a week in-person discussion of the texts we have read and annotated. In addition to these activities, there will be a take-home midterm and final. 

ENGH 202-010 is a hybrid section with face-to-face meetings and asynchronous online coursework.

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Studies literary texts within the framework of culture. Examines texts within such categories as history, gender, sexuality, religion, race, class, and nation. Notes: Builds on reading and writing skills taught in ENGH 101. May be repeated within the term.
Mason Core: Literature
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Recommended Prerequisite: 3 credits of 100-level English.
Schedule Type: Lec/Sem #1, Lec/Sem #2, Lec/Sem #3, Lec/Sem #4, Lec/Sem #5, Lec/Sem #6, Lec/Sem #7, Lec/Sem #8, Lec/Sem #9, Lecture, Sem/Lec #10, Sem/Lec #11, Sem/Lec #12, Sem/Lec #13, Sem/Lec #14, Sem/Lec #15, Sem/Lec #16, Sem/Lec #17, Sem/Lec #18
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.

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