Professor Johanna M Smith
Fall 2010, MW 2:30-3:50, SH 315
Office:Carlisle 609
Office Hrs:via email or by appointment
Email:
Voice Mail: (817) 272-2679 from off campus, X22679 from on campus
Eng. Dept. Phone:(817) 272-2692
Emergency Phone:(214) 559-2662
REQUIRED TEXTS:Gibaldi, Handbook for Writers of Research Papers,* 7th ed.
Schaffer, ed., Literature and Culture at the Fin de Siecle
Wharton, The House of Mirth
Chesnutt, The House behind the Cedars
Stevenson, Jekyll and Hyde
Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau
Marsh, The Beetle
Other materials (PDF)
INFORMATION
Course Description. This course will take an in-depth look at literary works and cultural obsessions of the 1890s. Using European and U.S. texts, we will explore the impact of Darwin and Social Darwinism, new literary/cultural movements such as Aesthetics and Decadence, new sciences such as sexology and criminology, the question of the New Woman, and anxieties of empire. Although our focus will be the 1890s, then, we will range far afield in our investigation of this fascinating fin-de-siècle decade.
Requirements:
- Attendance is required. If you must miss a class because of illness or emergency, please inform me before the class (by email is fine). Do not be tardy—if you are, that will factor into your course grade
- I allow only four absences before your grade suffers. I am sympathetic to illness and emergency, but I am less so to conflicts between work and school schedules when it is the school schedule that is allowed to suffer. In any event, the discussions we have in class are essential, and you will not pass the course unless you attend class regularly.
- All the materials listed above are required. You will not pass the course unless you purchase the assigned materials and read them.
- Participation is required. Thus students are required to do the assigned reading before class, bring their books to class, and contribute to discussion of the material. "Contribute" includes asking and answering questions as well as making statements or raising issues.
- In order to ensure participation, I'm requiring that each student keep a reading journal and bring it to class each day. You may use the journal for taking notes, but its main function is public not private. That is, use the journal to record questions or speculations about the reading. These should address something about the material that puzzles or interests you or otherwise engages your attention, something that you want the class to discuss. I will collect the journals periodically to review your entries. I won’t assign them a grade, but I will use them as an indicator of your intellectual engagement with the material and the course.
- Two writing assignments are required: a 5-pg paper of textual analysis, and a 10-12 page paper of research and textual analysis. All papers must be grammatically correct—errors in format and grammar will lower the paper grade—and conform to MLA format. For the research paper you must cite a minimum of ten secondary sources, articles as well as books; Works Cited and citations in the paper must follow MLA documentation format. All paper grades count toward your final grade. Most importantly, I do not accept late papers—there are no exceptions to this rule. I do give extensions in cases of illness or emergency, if the illness or emergency is documented and if the extension is requested in advance of the due date.
- Also required is an oral presentation on the process of your research—more info TBA.
Other things the University makes me tell you
Grading policy: I do not grade according to a percentage scale, because in my view that system does not adequately measure overall student performance. Since there will be no midterm or final exam, your course grade will be based on attendance, participation, reading journals, and writing assignments. I will issue progress reports at midterm. If at any time you want to know how you’re doing, ask me.
E-Culture Policy: The University of Texas at Arlington has adopted the University email address as an official means of communication with students, and so have I. It’s your responsibility to have a working UTA email address and to check your UTA email periodically for announcements about the course.
University statement on Academic Dishonesty: It is the philosophy of The University of Texas at Arlington that academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University. “Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts.” (Regents’ Rules and Regulations, part One, Chapter VI, Sec. 3, Subsec. 3.2, Subdivision 3.22)
Americans With Disabilities Act: The University of Texas at Arlington is on record as being committed to both the spirit and letter of federal equal opportunity legislation; reference Public Law 92-112--The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. With the passage of federal legislation entitled Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), pursuant to section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, there is renewed focus on providing this population with the same opportunities enjoyed by all citizens. As a faculty member, I am required by law to provide "reasonable accommodations" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability. Student responsibility primarily rests with informing faculty of the need for accommodation and in providing authorized documentation through designated administrative channels. Information regarding specific diagnostic criteria and policies for obtaining academic accommodations can be found at more information, visit the Office for Students with Disabilities in room 102 of University Hall or call them at (817) 272-3364.
Student Support Services Available: The University of Texas at Arlington supports a variety of student success programs, including learning assistance, developmental education, advising and mentoring, admission and transition, and federally funded programs. Students requiring academic, personal, or social assistance should contact the Office of Student Success Programs at 817-272-6107 for more information and appropriate referrals.
WEEKLY CLASS SCHEDULE
Aug 30Introduction to course
Sep 1TOPIC: evolution
READING: Darwin, chap. 21 of The Descent of Man – available at
Sep 6No class – Labor Day
Sep 8Wharton, House of Mirth: Introduction and Appendices A, E, and F
Sep 13Wharton, House of Mirth, Book I, chaps. I-IX
Sep 15Wharton, House of Mirth, Book I, chaps. X-XV
Sep 20 Wharton, House of Mirth, Book II, chaps. I-VIII
Sep 22 Wharton, House of Mirth, Book II, chap. IX-end
Sep 27 Chesnutt materials; Chesnutt, House behind Cedars, chaps. I-XIII
Sep 29 Chesnutt, House behind Cedars, chaps. IX-X
Oct 4 Chesnutt, House behind Cedars, chaps. XXI-end
Oct 6TOPIC: Aestheticism
READINGS (in Schaffer, Part I): Pater; Wilde, “The Decay of Lying” pp. 19-31; Beerbohm, “A Defence of Cosmetics”; Wilde, “Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray”; Symons, from The Decadent Movement in Literature; Gilbert, “If you’re anxious for to Shine”
Oct 11TOPIC: Aestheticism
READINGS (in Schaffer, Part I): poems by Dowson, Johnson, Symons, Douglas, Field, and Levy; fiction by Taylor
Oct 13Hermanns lecture series—attend a sessiontomorrow or Friday—details TBA
Oct 18 TOPIC: Degeneracy
READINGS: selections from Nordau and Shaw, also Hogarth, “Literary Degenerates”; selections from Ellis and Carpenter (all in Schaffer Part III)
Oct 20TOPIC: Degeneracy
READING: from Juysmans, A Rebours (PDF)
Oct 25 TOPIC: Degeneracy
READINGS: Galton, selections from Inquiries into Human Faculty and Hereditary Genius (in Schaffer Part III and PDF); selection from Kidd, Social Evolution (PDF); Appendix F in Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau
Oct 27 articles by Lombroso (PDF); Stevenson, Jekyll and Hyde
Nov 1articles by Lombroso (PDF); Stevenson, Jekyll and Hyde
Nov 3 Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau: Appendices D, E, and G
Nov 8Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau: Harris, Introduction; Wells, Island, Introduction and chaps.1-8
Nov 10 Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau chaps. 9-end
Nov 15 TOPIC: Socialism
READINGS: selections from Morris, Wilde, Shaw, Booth, and Stead (all in Schaffer Part III)
Nov 17 TOPIC: Empire
READINGS: Newbolt, Kipling, Labouchere, Stanley, Kingsley, and Lloyd George (all in Schaffer Part IV
Nov 22Presentations
Nov 24NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING
Nov 29 Marsh, The Beetle—Introduction; Book 1; Appendix, pp. 340-52
Dec 1Marsh, The Beetle—Book 2
Dec 6 TOPIC: New Woman
READINGS: Marsh, The Beetle—pp.187-258 and Grand, Ouida, Sykes, and Caird (in Schaffer Part II)
Dec 8Marsh, The Beetle—pp.258-end