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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY
COURSE CODE: "EN 232"
COURSE NAME: "English Literature III: The Victorians to the Modernists"
SEMESTER & YEAR:
Spring 2026
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SYLLABUS
INSTRUCTOR:
Alessandra Grego
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS:
TTH 3:00 PM 4:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS:
45
CREDITS:
3
PREREQUISITES:
Prerequisite: EN 110 with a grade of C or above
OFFICE HOURS:
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COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Considering major British and Irish writers since 1832, this course deals with, among other concerns, the various ways in which the Victorians and selected writers of the first half of the 20th century responded to the inheritance of Romanticism.
This is a reading and writing intensive course. Students in 200-level literature classes are required to produce 4-5,000 words of critical writing.
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SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
Gender, class, technology are ideas that become central in the British
19th century and the literature of the period is intensely involved in representing the social and ethical conditions of the time, shaping them and changing them. With the turn of the 20th literature gives voice to the anxieties and complexity of the age, its doubts and fears wile also distancing itself from the literary market-place and easy cultural consumption. A very exciting period in English literary history.
This course is a continuation of the Survey EN 231. Students will engage with a broad selection of nineteenth and early twentieth centuries texts and will be encouraged to establish connections between literature and the historical and cultural changes occurring.
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LEARNING OUTCOMES:
On completing this course students will have the ability to identify the key authors and genres of the Victorian age and early 20th century, they will be familiar with the principal historical events, social and political changes and the cultural ideas of the period, and they will have practiced their critical and close reading skills as well as their ability to write papers of academic quality.
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TEXTBOOK:
| Book Title | Author | Publisher | ISBN number | Library Call Number | Comments | Format | Local Bookstore | Online Purchase |
| The Cambridge history of twentieth-century English literature | Laura Marcus and Peter Nicholls editors | Cambridge University Press | 9781139053884 | | Available from the Frohring Library | Ebook | | |
| The Cambridge History of Victorian LIterature | Kate Flint editor | Cambridge University Press | 9781139029155 | | Available from the Frohring Library | Ebook | | |
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REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
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GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
| Assignment | Guidelines | Weight |
| 2 research papers | 2000 word research paper | 45% |
| Midterm exam | in class exam: close reading of texts | 20% |
| Group Presentations | group presentations on assigned topics | 10% |
| Final exam | In class exam: close reading of the texts | 25% |
-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required fo
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Attendance is mandatory. You are allowed 4 absences per term, beyond which your final grade will be affected. Three late arrivals will be counted as one absence. You are considered late if you come to class after attendance has been taken. There is no distinction between excused and unexcused absences: consider you have a total of 4 absences per term and plan accordingly.
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ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic
dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred.
In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment,
may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of
academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student
who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from
the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation
to the President, who will make the final decision.
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STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap.
Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning
of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
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SCHEDULE
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Session
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Session Focus
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Reading Assignment
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Other Assignment
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Week 1
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Introduction to the course. Methodology; what is a survey, how is it useful to study literature chronologically. Time-line: relevant historical and cultural events between 1830 and 1945.
The Victorian Age; Thomas Carlyle
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Victorian Web
www.victorianweb.org
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Week 2
Jan 25-27
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Thomas Carlyle continued
Evolutionism: Charles Darwin
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Read Carlyle "The Everlasting No", "The Everlasting Yea"
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Week 3
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Industrialization.
The Condition of England Novel: Charles Dickens, Mary Gaskell, Charles Kingsley
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1st close reading excercise
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Week 4
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Gender Issues: The Victorian Gentleman & the Angel in the House
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Read extracts from Charles Dickens "David Copperfield"; Coventry Patmore "The Angel in the House";
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Week 5
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Victorian poetry
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Read poems by Barrett Browning, Tennyson, Robert Browning,Christina Rossetti, Swinbourne, Hopkins
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workshop for 1st paper
1st research paper due
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Week 6
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Empire, “Englishness” and colonialism
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Read Rudyard Kipling "The White Man's Burden"; extracts from Charlotte Bronte "Jane Eyre"; Charles Dickens "Great Expectations"; George Eliot "Daniel Deronda"
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2nd close reading excercise |
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Week 7
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The Sensation Novel: Gothic, horror, crime
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Read R.L. Stevenson "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"
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Week 8
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Late Victorians: Dandies and Aesthetes
Viewing: Oscar Wilde, "The Importance of Being Earnest" |
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Mid Term Exam
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Week 9
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Turn of the century: Modernist poetry
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Read T.S. Eliot "The Waste Land"
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Week 10
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Modernist Novel: Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, James Joyce |
Read Virginia Woolf "Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Brown"
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Week 11
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Utopia and Dystopia: H.G. Wells, Aldus Huxley, George Orwell
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Week 12
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World War II poets: W.H. Auden
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3rd close reading excercise
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Week 13
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The Theatre of the Absurd |
Read Samuel Beckett "Waiting for Godot"
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Week 14
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Revision and conclusion
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workshop for second paper
2nd Research paper due
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