ENG BC3180y
Spring 2007
Gordis

READING THE CHEROKEE MEMORIALS

First, for background on these texts, read the introduction to them in the Norton Anthology. (Note: I expect you to do this for any text in the anthology, but I think that you’ll find this introduction particularly useful.)

As you read these texts, consider their rhetorical strategies. What techniques do these writers use to make their points? How do the memorial of the Cherokee citizens and that of the Cherokee Council differ? How do considerations of audience seem to shape these texts? How do they draw on history? How do they relate to American institutions? How do they exploit and/or challenge Jacksonian rhetoric about Native Americans?

You’ll also want to compare these texts with Apess’s Eulogy on King Philip. How similar are The Cherokee Memorials and Apess’s Eulogy in rhetorical strategy? Do they exploit materials from the Revolutionary Period in similar ways, or do they differ significantly in their use of these materials? How similar is their sense of what it means to be a Native American in the United States? Do they reflect similar ideas about national identity, and how do these ideas shape these texts?

Additional documents about Indian Removal are available on the course website on the schedule of readings page.