ENG-322 Gardens of American Literature 3 credits
Prerequisites: ENG-299T
Vita Sackville-West once said, "The more one gardens, the more one learns." If this is the case, then a number of American authors must have been very wise individuals, since they were avid gardeners. In this course, we will consider the relationship between gardening, expression, and American literature. We will read a range of texts, including herbaria, records of natural phenomena, and "traditional" literature such as poetry and prose. We will also read scholarship devoted to literature and gardening. Authors may include Nathaniel Hawthorne, Susan Fenimore Cooper, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, Celia Thaxter, and Alice Walker.