Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "EN 232"
COURSE NAME: "English Literature III: The Victorians to the Modernists"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring Semester 2012

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Grego Alessandra
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 8:30-9:45
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: EN 110 with a grade of C or above
OFFICE HOURS: by appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The changes that occurred in Britain between the time Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1832 and the end of the Second World War were profound and continue to haunt and influence us today. A continuation of English 231, this course offers a rapid survey of some of these influences as revealed in a selection of the creative writing of the period. Students should gain an introductory knowledge of the most significant characteristics of the literature of the Victorian and early twentieth-century periods. Poetry, prose, plays and novellas will be studied and a particular focus of the course will be a charting of the evolutions in theories on gender, class, race and culture, as Britain underwent industrialization, the rise and fall of its empire and two world wars.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
This course is a continuation of the Survey EN 231. Students will have exposure to a range of the writing of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and will be encouraged to view this writing in relation to the historical and cultural changes occurring during this period

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Textual familiarity, critical and close reading, intellectual awareness and the fostering of literary judgment

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments	Format	Local Bookstore	Online Purchase
Norton Anthology of English Literature Volume E: The Victorian Age	Greenblatt et al.	Norton	978-0393925326
Norton Anthology of English Literature Volume F: The Twentieth Century and Beyond	Greenblatt et al.	Norton	978-0393927221

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
2 Home papers	Each home paper, from 8 to 10 pages in length, excluding a works cited page, will account for 25 % of the final grade	50%
Class participation	Top grades for class participation will be given to student who complete the scheduled readings and contribute to class discussion. Silent attendance of class does not count as class participation.	25%
Final Exam		25%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:

Assessment Guidelines for assigning main letter grades: A, B, C,D, and F.

A: Work of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensiveknowledge 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 for the course.

B: This 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.

C: This is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.

D: This 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.

F: This 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:
Students are expected to attend regularly and four or more unexcused absences will automatically affect final grades. Two late entrances count as one absence. Participation grades are not given for silent attendance of classes

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.

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.

SCHEDULE

	Sess.	focus	reading assignment	assignment due
1	January Mon 16	Introduction to Course and Requirements .
1	Wed 18	Introduction
2	January Mon 23	The Victorian Sage: Carlyle	Thomas Carlyle Read selections from “Past and Present”: from Democracy,and Captains of Industry
2	Wed 25	John Stuart Mill	Read extracts from “On Liberty”: Chap.3 Of Individuality
3	January Mon 30	Industrial Revolution: Work and Poverty in Victorian England	Read p. 1556: Industrialism: progress or decline. E.B. Browning: “The Cry of the Children”
	February Wed 1		F.Engels, from The Great Towns (p.1565). Charles Kingsley, from “Alton Lockke” (p.1572)
	Fri 3	The Idea of the Gentleman: Victorian Earnestness	Charles Dickens: extract from Great Expectations (handout). J.H.Cardinal Newman, from Discourse 8, p. 1041
4	February Mon 6	The concept of love and the Woman Question	E.B Browning: Sonnets from the Portuguese. Tennyson: “The Lady of Shalott” and “The Woman’s cause is man’s”. Robert Browning “My Last Duchess”, “Porphyria’s Lover” J. S. Mill from “The Subjection of Women” pp. 1061-1070
4	Wed 8		Read The Woman Question, pp. 1581-83. Coventry Patmore, from “The Angel in the House” p. 1586; John Ruskin, from “Of Queens’ Gardens”, p. 1587. Mona Caird, “On Marriage”, p.1602.1
5	February Mon 13	Evolution and Religion	Charles Darwin, from “The Origin of the Species”, Recapitulation and Conclusion, p. 1541-45; from “The Descent of Man”, Natural Selection and Sexual Selection, p. 1546-49.
5	Wed 15		Matthew Arnold, from “Culture and Anarchy”, pp. 1398-99 and 1402-04.
6	February Mon 20	Pre-Raphaelites	Illustrations pp.1396. D.G. Rossetti, “The Blessed Damozel”, p.1447.
6	Wed 22		Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market”, p.1466
7	February Mon 27	Narrative and the novel	Read Elizabeth Gaskell: The Old Nurse’s Story
7	Wed 29		George Eliot: first Chapter of “Middlemarch” (read online)	Fri March 1: First Home Paper due.
8	March Mon 5	Empire	Read: Empire and National Identity, pp. 1607-1609. Tennyson, Opening of the Indian... p. 1626.N.Mukharji, “From A Visit to Europe, p. 1627-1630
	Wed 7		Read p.1635-1637
	Fri 9	Light Verse	Edward Lear, “The Jumblies”, p. 1528. Lewis Carroll, “Jabberwocky”, p. 1530-31. “The White Knight’s Song”, p. 1532. W.S. Gilbert “If You’re Anxious for to Shine in the High Aesthetic Line”p. 1534
9	March Mon 12	Late Victorians Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw – the Rebirth of the stage.	The Importance of Being Earnest	mid term warnings
9	Wed 14		viewing The importance of being Earnest
Spring Break March 19-23
10	March Mon 26	Turn of the Century
10	Wed 28		Thomas Hardy, “On the Western Circuit”, pp. 1852-66;
11	April Mon 2	The War Poets	Rupert Brooke, “The Soldier”, p. 1955; S. Sassoon, “from memoirs of an Infantry Officer”, p. 1963; W. Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est”, p. 1974. Robert Graves, from “Goodbye to All That”, p. 1985.
11	Wed 4	Modernism	T.E. Hulme, from “Romanticism and Classicism”, p. 1998. An Imainist Cluster, pp 2007-2009. “Blast”pp. 2009-2015. Mina Loy, “Feminist Manifesto”, p. 2016.	Fri 6 April 2^nd Home Paper Due
12	April Mon 9		W.B.Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium”, p. 2040; “Byzantium”, p.2044. Virginia Woolf, “Modern Fiction,” p. 2087
12	Wed 11		D.H. Lawrence, “Why the Novel Matterns”, p. 2269.
13	April Mon 16		T.S. Eliot, “The Waste Land”, ‘The Burial of the Dead’, pp. 2295-2298
13	Wed 18	Samuel Beckett and the theatre of the Absurd	Read Endgame p. 2394
	Mon 23
	Wed 25