British Literature Survey 2: 1789 1966(ish)
Science, Empire, and Urban Space in British Culture

Engl. 262, Spring 2004
Tues./Thurs. 11 :30-12:45
Jane V. Rago
Stansbury 156
Office Hours: T/TR 10:00–11 :30, and by appointment
Jvrago5@aol.com

Required Texts: ~The Longman AntholocY of British Literature Volume 2, (2nd Edition)
~Rhys, Jean. Wide SarYasso Sea. Norton: New York, 1966.
~Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein; Or. the Modern Prometheus. 1818 Text. Oxford Classics: Oxford, 1969.

Overview: This course offers a broad survey of British Literature, 1789- 1966(ish). While we fillfill the requirements of a survey class, we will also focus on several themes. This course will explore the increasing intersections between science and literature, and how science can inform how writers see the world, and how literature has influenced various disciplines of science, particularly geography. In this respect, we will attempt to explole how literature approaches different spaces (cit.v/country, England/Ireland, etc.). We will also trace the rise of London as a cultural, financial, and metaphorical entity within England's concept of itself as a nation. The representation of the Cit~Y iS a vital facet of the pastoral idealism of the Romantics, new scientific explorations in the Victorian era, and as the metropolis through which Modernism takes it shape.

This course is basically divided into three major time frames: Romantic (178 -1825), Victorian (1830-1910), and Modern (1910–1950). We will read a variety of texts, both literary and cultural, from each of these 'sections.' Therefore, this course focuses on a cultural studies approach to British Literature. We will critically engage with and challenge our readings by continually exploring their contexts, actions, and reactions to each other, politics, and society at large. Finally, this class also provides students with an introduction to the critical vocabulary associated with the study of literature, as well as some theoretical readings to supplement the literary works we will read.

Course Requirements: 4 short essays (4-5 pages), ten response papers, and class participation. No exams.

Grading: Papers will each count for 20% of your final grade (80% total). Essays are to be typed, double-spaced, and have standard one inch margins.-Your papers should reflect careful thinking, critical engagement, and a close reading of your topic. Do not summarize the plot of a work or rephrase class notes in your paper. Please hand in your papers on time: unexcused late subrnissions will receive a lower grade (a fraction of a letter grade for each day it is late, ex. B to B- for one day late).

Responses and participation comprise the remaining 20% of your total grade. Responses are short critical writings on the reading They are informal, may be creative (i.e. an unitation), and should not exceed two pages. You are free to address any topic that sparks your interest about the text in the responses. I also expect that you come to class prepared and ready to discuss the reading for that day.

Plagiarism: I assume I will never have to doubt your honesty. However, if you are caught plagiarizing you will immediately receive an F for the semester and be asked to leave the class at once. Plagiarism, as defined by your Undergraduate Catalogue: "To take or pass off as one's own the ideas, writings, artistic products, etc. of someone else; for example, submitting, without appropriate acknowledgement, a report, notebook, speech, outline theme, thesis, dissertation, or other written, visual, or oral material that has been knowingly obtained or copied in whole or in part, from the works of others, whether such source is published, including (but not limited to) another individual's academic composition, compilation, or other product, or commercially prepared paper" (52). If you have any questions about plagiarism or related issues, please ask.

Attendance: Attendance will be taken at the beginning of every class, so come to class on time!! You are granted a maximum of three absences over the course of the semester. If you exceed this limit, your final grade will be lowered accordingly (one fraction of a letter grade for each additional absence).

Social Justice: West Virginia University is committed to social justice. I concur with that commitment and expect to foster a nurturing environment based upon open communication, mutual respect, and non-discrimination. Our university does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, disability, veteran status, religion, sexual orientation, color or national origin. Any suggestions as to how to further such a positive and open envirOnment in this class will be appreciated and given serious consideration. If you are a person with a disability and anticipate needing any type of aecommodation in order to participate in this class, please advise me and make appropriate arrangements with Disability Services–293. 6700.

Syllabus (subject to change)

Week 1: Introduction/Romantics

1/13 T Introduction; read "The Romantics and Their Contemporaries" (pp. 3-29)

1/15 Th Lecture on Romantics; read Vol~ne 1 (1818 Preface and Chapt. 1-7) of Frankenstein

Week 2: Frankenstein

1/20 T Frankenstein; read Vol. 2 (Chapt. 8-16) of Frankenstein

1/22 Th Frankenstein; finish Frankenstein (Vol. 3: Chapt. 17-23)

Week 3: Romantic Poetry

1/27 T Frankenstein, Response 1 due, read William Wordsworth, Lines Written in Early Spring p. 342, Song fShe Dwelt Among...) p. 364, London, 1802 p. 387, I Wandered... p.453, Immanuel Kant, Definition of the term 'sublime ' p. 514; Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kubla Khan, p. 545.

1/29 Th Discuss poetry and role of art and the artist; read Lord Byron, Vision of

Judgment, p. 653, On This Day... p. 746; Percy Shelley, Sonnet (England in 1819) p. 761, Oz,vmandias, p. 760, Ode to West Wind, p. 771

Week 4: Romantic Revolutions

2/3 T Paper 1 due; discuss Byron & Shelley; read Thomas Paine, Doctrine of Egual Rights, p. 89; Mary Wollstonecraft, Introduction from A Vindication of the Rights of Women, p. 231; John Newton, Amazing Grace, p. 180.

2/5 Th Discuss political and sexual revolutions; read William Blake, All Religions Are One, There Is No Natural Religion, parts a & b, pp. 114-1 18, Infant Joy, p. 124,1nfantSorrow, p. 133; JohnKeats,Sonnet: WhenIHave Fears, p. 865, Ode on Melancholy, p. 885, To Autumn, p. 886.

Week 5: Victorian Industrialism. Moralitv. and Manners

2/10 T Finish Romantics; read "The Victorian Age" pp. 1008-1031.

2/12 Th. Lecture on Victorians; read Isabella Beeton, p. 1538; Queen Victoria's letters and journal entries pp. 1540-1545; Thomas Carlyle, from Labour p. 1039, Charles Dickens, from Sunday Under Three Heads p. 1275.

Week 6: Poetry: The Pre-Raphaelites and Others

2/17 T Discuss morality, manners, and didactics; read Alfred, Lord Tennyson Lady of Shalott pp. 1141-1146; Robert Browing, My Last Duchess p. 1311; Gerard Hopkins, As Kingfisher Catch Fire p. 163.

2/19 Th Discuss poetry, look at William Holman Hunt's painting, lecture on Pre-Raphaelites; read Algernon Charles Swinburne The Leper p. 1652; Dante Dante Rossetti TBA; Christina Rossetti TBA; "A Case Study: Elizabeth Siddall" by Elisabeth Bronfen, hand-out

Week 7: Urban Decay and Social Reform .

2/24 T Discuss Rossetti & Siddall; read excerpts from Lord Arthur J. Munby's diaries (hand-out); Henry Mayhew from London Labour & London Poor p. 1068;MatthewArnold EastLondon p. 1566;excerptstrom Charles Booth (hand-out), Olive Schreiner (Salvation Arrny, hand-out).

2/26 Th Discuss urban space, reform, and voyeurism; read Judith Walkowitz "Urban Spectatorship" from City of Dreadful Delight (hand-out, pp.l5-40; Jack the Ripper, TBA from www.casebook.org

Week 8: The Science of Degeneration .

3/2 T Paper # 2due; discuss Jack the Ripper and East End London, read Charles Darwin, from On Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, pp. 1254-1258; Thomas Henry Huxley, from Evolution & Ethics, pp. 1295-1300; excerpts from Lombroso on crinunality (hand-out).

3/4 Th Discuss evolution, degeneration, and criminal deviance; read excerpts from Krafh-Ebbing on sexuality (hand-out); read excerpts from Sarah Grand Ellis on rational reproduction, eugenics and the New Woman (hand-out).

Week 9: Fin de Siecle & Decadence

3/9 T Discuss sexuality, New Woman, and eugenics; read Max Nordeau, from Degeneration (hand-out); Oscar Wilde, from Preface to Picture of Dorian Gray pp. 1883-84, Aphorisms pp. 1924-26; "The Decadent Movement in Literature"pp. 1958-59.

3/11 Th Discuss Decadence, degeneration, & Wilde; read Lord Alfred Douglas Two Loves p. 1966; Arthur Symons White Heliotrope pp. 1957-58; H. Montgomery Hyde, from The Trials of Oscar Wilde pp. 1933-38.

Week 10: Spring Break 3/16 T no class 3/19 Th no class

Week 11: Of Modernism & Manifestos: A New Languace

3/23 T Discuss Wilde trials; read "The Twentieth Century" pp. 1991 -2013.

3/26 Th Last Day to Drop. Lecture on Modernism; read Blast pp. 2167-83, Proclamation of Irish Republic p. 2237; Eavan Boland Mis Eire p.2940.

Week 12: Modernism & Space: the city and the nation

3/30 T Paper 3 due. Discuss art, language, and politics; read William Butler Yeats Second Coming p. 2251; Virginia Woolf, from Orlando pp. 2552-57

4/1 Th Discuss Woolf& Yeats. read T.S. Eliot The Wasteland pp. 2357-69

Week 13: The Science of the Self
4/6 T Discuss The Wasteland; read Samuel Beckett, firom Texts for Nothing part 4, pp. 2777-78; Sylvia Plath Lady Lazarus pp. 2812-14; Eavan Boland Anorexic p. 2934.

4/8 Th Discuss being and nothingness; read Dylan Thomas Do Not Go Gently... p. 2762; Philip Larkin, High Windows p. 2807; Stevie Smith The New Age p. 2804.

Week 14: The Empire & Post-Colonialism

4/13 T Discuss death and art; begin The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.

4/15 Th Discuss Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre; continue reading WSS.

Week 15: The Wide Sargasso Sea 4/20 T Discuss WSS; finish reading WSS

4/22 Th Discuss WSS.

Week 16: This is the End

4/27 T Paper 4 Due; finish discussing WSS; evaluations

4/29 Th the "tie it all together' discussion, celebrate.

No exam

Grading Criteria A (100-9O) Excellent work; the assignment has been completed in a professional and timely manner. The wntten assignments are clearly organized, choose compelling evidence to substantiate the analysis, and demonstrate critical thought and sophistication in an original, creative, and thought-provoking manner. Written work requires no substantive or stylistic revision.

B (89-80) Good work; the assignment has been completed in a professional and timely manner. The written assignment shows intellectual engagement with the subject, but the analysis may be partially incomplete, use weak evidence, or manifest some organizational difficulty. Written work requires mostly substantive revisions, perhaps a few stylistic ones.

C (79-70) - Average work; the assignment has been completed, but not necessarily in a professional or timely manner. The written assignment shows effort, but the analysis may be incomplete, lack critical engagement with the subject, lack supporting evidence (or use inappropriate evidence), or show difficulties with organizing ideas into writing. Written work requires significant substantive and/or stylistic revision.

D (69-60) - Less than average work; the assignment has not been completed in a timelv or professional manner. Written work shows a lack of effort and a lack of engagement with the subject. Written assignment lacks analysis, evidence, critical organization, and organization extensive revision necessary.

F (59>) - Inadequate work. assignment has not been completed. Written assignment, when submitted. shows a significant lack of effon and a significant lack of enlagement with the assignment and with the subject. "F' work is marked by the absence of analysis. evidence and olganization–engagement with the course material is needed before extensive revisions are even possible. Plagiarized work is also considered "F" work