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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "EN 231"
COURSE NAME: "English Literature II: The Enlightenment to Romanticism"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2014
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Shannon Russell
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 10:00 AM 11:15 AM
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:

SURVEY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE II:  FROM RESTORATION RAKES AND SLUTS TO ROMANTIC REVOLUTIONARIES 

This course is a continuation of the survey begun in EN 230, and provides students with an introduction to the literary work of British writers in the period 1660-1832. Approximately equal attention is devoted to writers of the Restoration (excluding Milton) and the 18th century and to writers of the Romantic movement, and a variety of genres are explored. The course aims to give students a good general knowledge of the literary landscape of the period and its historical context.  

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

A continuation of the survey begun in EN 230, this course deals with works by major British writers in the period 1660-1832. Approximately equal attention is devoted to writers of the Restoration (excluding Milton) and the 18th century period and to writers of the Romantic movement. The course may thus debate, in particular, the relative values of conservative and revolutionary impulses in relation to romantic and classical literary productions - eternal alternatives that underlie so much of man’s speculative and creative activity.  This period witnesses the restoration of the monarchy through to a return to the idea of revolution; a re-instatement of the rights of the king through to the formation of the rights of man -- and woman.  Attention is given to the particular ways in which this literature and its writers are embedded in and respond to the political, religious, economic and aesthetic interests of their cultural moment.  The course also charts the development and flourishing of a variety of literary genres including the rise of the novel. We end the course with a reading of a seminal text for both romanticism and modernism: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Students will gain a good basic grounding in the literature of the period from 1660 to 1832,  as well as the historical moment out of which it emerged. They will learn to be attentive to literature as a production of a particular set of cultural factors that they will be expected to understand. Students will be exposed to a variety of genres and will advance their knowledge of literary forms and figures through their readings. As ever, the development of critical faculties and sensitivities to language and its meanings, as well as the enhancement of their own writing skills will be an outcome of this course.

TEXTBOOK:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberCommentsFormatLocal BookstoreOnline Purchase
Broadview Anthology of English Literature The Restoration and The Eighteenth CentureBlack et. al.Broadview Press Second Edition978-1-55481-047-5     
Broadview Anthology of English Literature The Age of RomanticismBlack et. al.Broadview Press Second Edition978-1-55111-404-0     
FrankensteinMary ShelleyBroadview Press Third Edition978-1-55481-103-8     
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
2 Essays 25% each 8-10 pagesTwo typed essays of 8 to 10 pages conforming to MLA style.50%
Mid-Term Exam 15%
PresentationStudents will be assigned a topic related to the reading for the day. They will present their findings in the form of a powerpoint or other mode which will help the class to understand the context of the reading assignment.5%
ParticipationParticipation is mandatory. As part of the participation mark, reader response assignments may be given.10%
Final Exam 20%

-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 for the c
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.  At three absences your overall mark will be reduced by a grade point (e.g. A- will become B+).  Students who exceed five absences will be advised to drop the course.
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

COURSE SCHEDULE

WEEK 1

Tues. Sept. 2

Introduction to the Course and Requirements

Civil War and its fall-out -- viewing from Simon Schama's History of Britain series

Thurs. Sept. 4             Last Day to Add/Drop

Margaret Cavendish Poetry selections, Selection from The Description of a New World, call the Blazing World and The Convent of Pleasure pp. 3-31.
Samuel Pepys's Diary selections about the Great Fire of London pp. 112-23.

Note: Wherever available read Broadview’s “In Context” material
Background reading: Broadview Introduction to The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century

WEEK 2

Tues. Sept. 9    Sign-up for Presentations

John Bunyan selection from The Pilgrim’s Progress

Thurs. Sept. 11

John Dryden "Absolom and Achitophel"

1 Seminar: The Popish Plot and the meaning of the Biblical references in “Absalom and Achitophel”  

WEEK 3 

Tues. Sept. 16

Aphra Behn Orinoco

2 Seminar: Aphra Behn: Writer or Spy? 

Thurs. Sept. 18

William Wycherley
The Country Wife

Background Reading: “Print Culture, Stage Culture”

3 Seminar: The restoration of the Theatre and cultural attitudes to it. What was it like to attend a play? Who went? What went on off-stage as well as on-stage?   

WEEK 4 MAKEUP DAY ON FRIDAY

Tues.  Sept. 23  

Daniel Defoe Selections from Robinson Crusoe

4 Seminar:  Who was Friday in Robinson Crusoe (our excerpt doesn't have his story)?  Consider his racial, cultural and religious significance in light of British imperial attitudes.

Thurs. Sept. 25 Rakes and Sluts?

Eliza Haywood's Fantomina and excerpts from the works of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (Look at Rochester In Context on the website). Aphra Behn's "The Disappointment"

5 Seminar:  Reputation -- literary and sexual -- and the woman writer:  the case of Eliza Haywood

Fri. Sept. 26

Read the selections from Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea;  Mary Astell's "A Serious Proposal to the Ladies" and "Reflections Upon Marriage";  Lady Mary Wortley Montagu "The Reasons that Induced Dr. S to Write a Poem Called the Lady's Dressing Room"; Jonathan Swift's "The Lady's Dressing Room,""Epistle from Mrs. Yonge to her Husband," and "The Spectator No. 573".

6 Seminar: Coffee House Culture  


WEEK 5 FIRST ESSAY DUE  

Tues. Sept. 30  FIRST ESSAY DUE

Jonathan Swif
t Selection from Gulliver's Travels

7 Seminar:
Political references in Gulliver's Travels. Who was Walpole and how did he change English government?

Thurs. Oct. 2  First Essay Due

Selections from Samuel Johnson in The Rambler, The Idler and the Dictionary; and excerpt from James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson p. 135

8 Seminar: Hogarth and his pictures of life and human nature 

WEEK 6 

Tues. Oct. 7


Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (Restoration Anthology)
Mary Prince The History of Mary Prince A West Indian Slave Related by Herself
(Romantics Anthology)

Background reading: “Colonization and Slavery” on the Website and Contexts: The Abolition of Slavery in the next Anthology Age of Romanticism

9 Seminar:
Slavery and the Anti-Slavery Movement in Britain  

Thurs. Oct. 9

Alexander Pope "The Rape of the Lock"


WEEK 7 MID-TERM WEEK

Tues. Oct. 14

Horace Walpole The Castle of Otranto
Edmund Burke’s writings on the sublime 
Thomas Gray "Elegy on a  Country Churchyard"

10 Seminar: The eighteenth-century concept of the sublime   


Thurs. Oct. 16

The Labouring Class Poets: Read excerpts from Stephen Duck, Mary Collier, Mary Leapor and Elizabeth Hands
Robert Burns "To a Mouse," "A Man's a Man for A' That," "Robert Bruce's March to Bannockburn," A Red, Red Rose,""Auld Lang Syne"
Cowper
from The Task Book 1: The Sofa
Oliver Goldsmith "The Deserted Village"
Thomas Gray "Elegy on a Country Churchyard"


11 Seminar: What are Land Enclosures and what was their social impact on the changing social landscape of 18th century Britain?  

WEEK 8

Tues. Oct. 21 MID-TERM EXAM

Thurs. Oct. 23

William Blake "Songs of Innocence and Experience"

Background Reading: French Revolution and Napoleonic Era (Website)
View excerpt from Simon Schama's History of Britain series: Forces of Nature

WEEK 9

Tues. Oct. 28 

Read selections from Anna Laetitia Barbauld "The Rights of Women", "Washing Day," "Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, A Poem"; Charlotte Smith "Beachy Head"; Mary Wollstonecraft "Maria or the Wrongs of Women"; Felicia Hemans "The Homes of England," "Women and Fame"; Mary Robinson "A Letter to the Women of England," "The Negro Girl"; Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L.E.L.) "Love's Last Lesson".

Background reading: Women and Society p. 100ff


Thurs. Oct. 30  

Coleridge "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and Shelley's "Adonais" 

WEEK 10

Tues. Nov. 4 

Wordsworth "Tintern Abbey," "Michael," "I wandered lonely as a Cloud," "Ode: Intimations of Immortality," "My heart leaps up".


Thurs. Nov. 6 

De Quincey's Confessions of an Opium Eater


Read In Context: “India and the Orient”
12 Seminar: Drug-taking in the early nineteenth century and British attitudes to the Orient 

WEEK 11

Tues. Nov. 11

Read Selections from John Keats: "La Belle Dame San Merci" "Eve of St. Agnes" "Ode on a Grecian Urn" "Ode to a Nightingale" "To Autumn""Ode on Melancholy"


Thurs. Nov. 13

Percy Bysshe Shelley "Mask of Anarchy" "Adonais"

13 Seminar: The Peterloo Massacre and what it meant in terms of shifting political and class relations
 

WEEK 12  SECOND ESSAY DUE THIS WEEK

Tues. Nov. 18   Deflating romantic pretensions   SECOND ESSAY DUE TODAY

Lord Byron -- selection from Don Juan

Thurs. Nov. 20

Mary Shelley
Frankenstein  

14 Seminar:  Scientific theories informing Frankenstein  

WEEK 13

Tues. Nov. 25

TRIP TO KEATS SHELLEY HOUSE
  

Thurs. Nov. 28 NO CLASS THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY 


WEEK 14

Tues. Dec. 2

Mary Shelley Frankenstein


Thurs. Dec. 4

Mary Shelley Frankenstein 
Summing Up and Review

Final Exams