ENGL 350:Q1 19th-Century British Literature and Culture

Romantic Texts

Autumn term 2011; Thur 1830-2120

David S. Miall / David.Miall (at) Ualberta.Ca
Office hours: HC 4.27, Tuesdays 3:30-4:15; Fridays 3:00-4:00 (not Sept 16; Nov 11)

  

Schedule

Assignments

Internet resources

Policies

The British Romantic writers lived through a period of rapid social change and the violent political upheavals of the French Revolution and its aftermath, and responded fully to these changes in their writing. We will focus on a selection of the poetry and prose written during this period, from the Fall of the Bastille (1789) to the Reform Act (1832). We will consider the various ways in which early nineteenth-century writers responded to the historical and cultural changes of their time, as we examine a range of texts from lyrics to narratives, confessions to criticism, Gothic novels to political manifestos. An important concern of the course will be Romanticism as a cultural phenomenon: what is Romanticism and English Romanticism in particular? What subjects and styles link the diverse poetry and fiction being written during this period? How are we heirs of romantic thinking not only in art but in basic social attitudes?

Course website: http://www.ualberta.ca/~dmiall/Romanticism/

TEXTS:
The Age of Romanticism, 2nd edition (Broadwood). + www.broadviewpress.com/BABL (enter access code)
Ann Radcliffe, The Italian (Oxford Classics).
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein 1818, ed. M. Butler (Oxford Classics).

Schedule

The page numbers below refer to our Broadwood Anthology, except where web resources are indicated, as follows: "online 47 /9" means the online resource shown in the Table of Contents following p. 47; the text itself will be found in the pdf file at p. 9.

Week Readings Information, projects, links
Sept 8 Introduction  
Sept 15 Political context: Price, from A Discourse on the Love of Our Country (online 47 /9); Burke, from Reflections (online /3); Williams, from Letters (online 372 /10); Wollstonecraft, from Vindication of the Rights of Woman (102);
Conversation Poems: Coleridge, "The Eolian Harp" (409)		 Burke extract
Summary of Vindication
Political readings
Sept 22 Coleridge, "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison" (425), "Frost at Midnight" (412); Wordsworth, "Tintern Abbey" (221). Tintern notes; Coleridge notes "Frost" website
"Tintern" commentaries; Geography
Sept 29 Wordsworth, from Lyrical Ballads: "We Are Seven" (215), "Lines Written in Early Spring" (216), "The Thorn" (216), Advertisement (214); Lucy poems: "Song", "A Slumber" (232); Ballads; examples

Lyrical Ballads online
Oct 6 Blake, from Songs of Innocence and Experience: "The Echoing Green" (64), "Nurse's Song" (67); "The Chimney Sweeper" (66/69); "Holy Thursday" (67/69); "The Sick Rose" (69), "The Garden of Love" (71), "London" (71); from The Marriage (72-75) Blake Archive
Oct 13 Burke, from The Sublime and Beautiful (366-370); Williams, from A Tour in Switzerland (373-375); Radcliffe, The Italian

Essay 1, due Oct 13
Williams; views
On Radcliffe (Miall); Freud on the uncanny
Radcliffe on terror

Oct 20 Coleridge, "Kubla Khan" (438); "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" 1798/1817 (413) Schneider on "Kubla Khan" (1953)
Coleridge's Albatross (Miall); Mariner abstracts
Project: Artistic Media: Ioana, Jeffrey, Kent, Becca
Oct 27 Wordsworth, from The Prelude: "The Two-Part Prelude" (263), "Crossing the Alps" (in part, 282), "Ascent of Snowdon" (285) Crossing the Alps, notes
Project: Two-Part Prelude: Robyn, Lauren H., Lauren R.
Nov 3 Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto 3 (online 637 /1), "Darkness" (638); Shelley, "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty" (734); "Mont Blanc" (732) Byron's Swiss Tour (1816); Shelleys at Chamonix; Bourrit and Ramond on Glaciers
Project: Byron's "Darkness": Tamara, Janelle, Zoe, Ann, Amanda
Project: "Women's role": Sarah, Muna, Karsten, Erin
Nov 10 November 11: Remembrance Day, no class
 .
Nov 17 Mary Shelley, Frankenstein 1818;
Shelley, "Ozymandias" (735); "Ode to the West Wind" (736); from Defence of Poetry (760); 		Essay 2, due Nov 17
Frankenstein file / Frankenstein bibliography
Defence: notes
Projects: Frankenstein: 1. Amanda, Emily, Elise, Jimmy, Sarah; 2. Lauren, Katrina, Charis
Nov 24 Keats, "The Eve of St Agnes" (818); "Ode to a Nightingale" (827), Letters (848-860); Wrapup.

Coleridge on Shakespeare and Milton
Project: Keats "Ode to a Nightingale": Ian, Christian, Rebecca L., Jen, Rebecca I.
Dec 1 In-class Examination (2 hours).

Assignments

Class presentation, group grade (10%). Students, working in groups of 3 or 4, will present an introduction and critical approach to one of the texts on the schedule. The presentation should take approximately 15-20 minutes (no longer!). A summary or copy of the presentation should be handed to the instructor that day or at the following session. Presentations may take the form of a Powerpoint, webpage, dramatization, or verbal presentation.

Presentations: suggestions, examples

Essay 1, due October 13 (1500 words; 20%). Either (a) Choose one of the poems by Coleridge, Wordsworth, or Blake that is not listed on this outline. Paying attention to structure, diction, and speaker as appropriate, show in what way the poem exemplifies Romantic themes and concerns. Or (b) Explore one of the psychological, philosophical, political, or literary critical issues that have arisen during the course so far. Discuss it in relation to at least two of the poetry or prose texts you have studied up to now.

Essay 2, due November 17 (2500 words; 40%). Choose one of the longer poems or extracts (100 lines or more) by Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron, or Keats. Discuss the poem in the light of (1) the main Romantic techniques and ideas discussed during the course, and (2) one or more of the theoretical statements by these poets or their contemporaries (thus, may extend beyond those we have considered in class).

Examination, December 1 (30%). In class examination (2 hours); to cover work done during the whole term.

Internet resources

Policies

Note that all course work must be completed prior to sitting the Final exam, unless urgent medical or personal reasons are provided prior to the date on which the exam is held.

Late submission of essays will not be accepted without compelling medical or personal reason. Essays must be handed to the instructor at the beginning of the class session at which they are due. They must not a) be given to another student to submit, b) put under the instructor's office door, or c) faxed or otherwise attempted to be submitted through the English Department office. An essay submitted in this or any other unauthorized way will be considered as having not been submitted and will receive no grade.

Class attendance and participation are expected and encouraged. Classes will begin promptly at the scheduled time. If you have to miss a class, please contact a class mate (not the instructor) before the next class to find out what you missed. If the instructor is not present within ten minutes of the beginning of class you are expected to carry out the scheduled work to the best of your ability within the allotted class time.

Note that essay writing must be your own work. A student in whose work plagiarism is detected will face serious penalties, as outlined in the code of student conduct (see further below).

You will not be able to make up a missed exam unless you provide a medical certificate or some other compelling personal reason for absence.

Final Examination Appeals. Any request for reappraisal of the Final Examination must be made in writing to the Office of the Registrar, not to the Department of English and Film Studies.

Policy about course outlines can be found in Section 23.4(2) of the University Calendar. (GFC 29 SEP 2003) The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University. (GFC 29 SEP 2003)

Miall home page

Document created May 9th 2008 / Updated October 31st 2011