Lecture, four hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Requisites: courses 10A and 10B, or 11 and 87. Broad survey of representative American writers across several centuries, designed to give concise account of broad narrative of American literary development, from origins through 19th century. Includes mainly works that have traditionally been identified as American classics and asks both what makes American literature distinctive and what its relations are to other literatures in English. P/NP or letter grading.