English 285: 19Th and 20Th Century British Literature
English 285: 19th and 20th Century British Literature
Spring 2010
Instructor: Karen
TTh 2:20-3:45 pmHome EC 114
Office: Lit and Lang 131Office Hours MW 12:30-1:30, T & TH 4-5
and by appointment
Course Description: We have the impossible task of covering over 200 years of literature and hundreds of influential writers in the span of 16 weeks; a ridiculous task I know but one that is well worth the effort. British literature has a bad rap; not only are most of the works 500 pages are longer, it is also seen as dry, humorless, difficult to read, insanely self-conscious, and, the ultimate sin for Americans, (gasp) sexually repressed. And while on the page the British may appear “dull,” the last two centuries witnessed some of the most exciting technological, geographical, philosophical, sexual, spiritual and political crises that still haunt the world today. What makes British literature of the last two centuries interesting, at least to me, is that it was frequently a barometer of the changes in beliefs and power systems of the time. Although there will be an occasional “How to read a poem” lecture, for the most part, this class will focus on the interrelationship between literary works (poetry, painting, films, novels, short stories, belle lettres), the quickly evolving British culture, and the shifting of power relations (at times this class will seem a bit philosophical). Because I’m weird, the course will be partially organized chronologically and semi-thematically. Each Unit will focus on a significant time period, and within each time period we will discuss three or more major themes. Each class period will be devoted to a specific theme: class, colonialism, individuality, morality, sexuality, gender, war, rebellion, nationalism, and identity. To some of you these topics may seem titillating, and to others disturbing (and to others boring). Regardless of your personal investment in the topics, I will expect you to engage with each topic maturely, intellectually, and respectfully. Failure to respect the class and its discussion will warrant my wrath.
One last note about the class: this will be an intense course—I expect you to contribute as much as I do by discussing topics, raising questions, and performing your own analyses of texts. As with all classes, if you want to learn, you need to work, so do the reading and the homework BEFORE every class. I will not tolerate people who feed off of their fellow class members and will either humiliate parasites or expel them. If you stay in this class, you are committing to being active and engaged, and your promise on the queen mum’ to never whine, bitch, or complain about the work load.
On to Business. . .
Learning Outcomes:
Students who complete this course will be able to:
1. Identify the defining traits, such as literary themes and techniques, of British literary
works after 1800.
- Explain significant historical, philosophical, cultural, and aesthetic influences of British
literature after 1800.
- Write analytical arguments about the works of British writers of the 19th and 20th
century.
What you NEED:
Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas
DeQuincey
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Prime of Miss Jean Brody by Muriel Spark
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
The Longman Anthology of British Literature (the Compact edition) Vol B (ISBN 0321202392)
What you need to DO:
Assignments: (subject to modification)
- Study Questions (100 points)
- 2 Exams (300 points)
- 1 long paper (150 points)
- 2 short analyses (25 points each)
- Reading quizzes (200 points)
- Attendance and Participation (100 points)
Grading: There are 900 points possible for the course, and your final grade will be the sum of the points you have earned. There are only two caveats to this policy:
1)4 or more absences—excused or not-- will result in an “F” for the course.
2)If you are caught plagiarizing any work you submit for a grade, you will not only fail this course, you also get a file set up with the dean of students, and a note on your transcript declaring your academic dishonesty.
Plagiarism:
What is it? Plagiarism takes many forms; there are obvious forms such as copying sentences or phrases from books, essays, or web-pages into your paper and not quoting them; resubmitting another student’s paper; having someone other than yourself write your paper for you; using a paper you wrote for another class and submitting it to me for a grade. There are less obvious forms of plagiarism: taking an idea you read about or heard and presenting it as your own; changing one or two words in someone else’s sentence and saying it is yours; having someone else rewrite your rough draft for you.
*** Plagiarism also applies to reading cliff notes, spark notes, IN PLACE OF reading the actual work. When you are tested on material or when you write about it, you are claiming to have read the work; reading spark notes and online synopses are reading another person’s ideas and presenting them as your own. I might also add that most of the time the notes will only give you the plot, something we will only loosely be concerned with.
What are the consequences? OCC has a strict plagiarism policy. If you are caught, an academic dishonesty report is filed with the dean of students and you are forbidden to attend class until you have met with the Dean of Students. You will receive an automatic “F” for the assignment, and may receive a “disciplinary F” that will remain on your transcript (i.e. you cannot remove it by retaking the course. Depending on how severe the act of plagiarism and how many times, you may be expelled from the school.
In short, don’t do it!
I am always willing to discuss a grade with you, if my comments are not clear.
- I will only discuss grades during office hours or appointments.
- I will not discuss a grade the second, or even the day I hand it back to you. You will first need to review your assignment and ask yourself honestly what you did for it and what you think you deserve, and then you should comb through my comments, before even thinking about coming to see me.
- Do not expect me to change a grade simply because you had a personal problem, or because you did not understand the assignment, or because you weren’t feeling well, etc. In order to avoid this problem altogether, I recommend that you ask many questions in class and that you come and see me before an assignment is due so that you are not always backtracking with your grade.
Being British. . . .
Deportment:
- Respect me, yourself, and the other students in this classroom by behaving appropriately. You should listen when others are talking, wait your turn to speak, and stay focused on what is happening in the room. Those doing other work, writing notes, talking with others, in general, wasting my and other students’ time will be asked to leave.
- Come on time. Late entrances disrupt the class and are quite rude. You will also find that lates will detract from your grade. If you happen to be late, do not disrupt the class by bothering your neighbor or by interrupting me in my lecture. I know you need to be informed, and I will get to you when it is convenient and not a distraction.
Attendance and Participation:
- I expect you to come to every class with your reading and writing assignments completed, prepared to participate in class discussion. Don’t waste my time and yours by not coming prepared. Unprepared students may be asked to leave the class.
- You are allowed two absences (no questions asked) during the course. Any absences beyond that will affect your grade, and may result in your being asked to drop the course (see above). You will not be allowed to make up missed work, unless you show responsibility by contacting me before the day you miss class (this does not mean leaving a message 5 minutes before class starts).
- You are always responsible for work done in and outside class, even when you are absent. It is your responsibility to contact another member of the class or me as soon as possible, so that you may return to class prepared.
Managing your time:
- This class requires you to read anywhere from 100 to 200 pages a week. GASP! I know for most of you this is SHOCKING.And right now you are thinking “what else can I take to meet this requirement?” If you manage your time well, this class is very doable. Read 15-25 pages a day, a whopping hour a day will keep you caught up in this class. Also, I promise you will learn a ton in this class and you won’t regret staying in it.
- Don’t read Cliff notes or Literary Websites in place of doing the actual reading. Not only will you screw yourself by earning Neanderthal scores on the quizzes, but you will be committing a form of academic dishonesty: claiming you have done work you haven’t done and claiming someone else’s ideas as your own.
Queen Karen:
- I encourage you to take advantage of my office hours (see front page). You can use my office hours to discuss any aspect of the class: one of the readings, your paper ideas, grades, writing issues, etc. If you cannot make my office hours, feel free to make an appointment with me.
- If you need to reach me, you may email me. I would also like you to be sure to give me your phone number and email address so that I may call you at 6 in the morning.
Tentative Reading Schedule
Unit 1: Sex, Drugs, and Poetry: The Romantics (1790-1832)
Week 1: Hegemony, 10 minutes of the 18th century, 1st Generation Romantics
T 2/2:Syllabus, analysis basics, very very brief recap of 18th Century and Age of
Enlightenment
Th 2/4:Read in Longman: Blake both “Chimney Sweeper”s, “The Sick Rose,” “London”:
Wordsworth: “Composed upon WestminsterBridge,” “London 1802” and “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood”: Coleridge “The Eolian Harp”
Week 2: The Sublime and the Beautiful
T 2/9: Read in Longman: Edmund Burke “A Philosophical
Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the
Sublime and the Beautiful” 302-308 and Keats “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”435-436, Shelley’s “Mont Blanc” 393-397
Th 2/11: Read: Confessions of an English Opium Eater
Week 3: The Sublime Orient
T 2/16: Read: Byron’s “The Giaour” in handout
Th 2/18: Read: in Longman Coleridge “Kubla Khan” 341-
343, and Hemans “The Wife of Asdrubal” 406-408.
Unit 2: The Victorians and Social Diseases (1832-1901)
Week 4: Class and the problem of parents
T 2/23: Read: Chadwick handout, Carlyle 477-486, Engels 500-508, and Mayhew 508-
512.
First Short Analyses Due
Th 2/25: Read: Mill on the Floss Book 1 “Boy and Girl” in my version pages 1-130
Week 5: Victorian Sex and Marriage
T 3/2:Read: In Longman 557-560, 564-567, 574-581 (on Victorian
womanhood—yes, I actually used that word)
Mill on the Floss Books 2-4 “School-time” “The Downfall” and “The
Valley of Humiliation”
Th 3/4:Read: Mill on the Floss Book 5 “Wheat and Tares”
“Andrea De Sarto” 684-689, Newman on 563
Week 6: The Individual?
T 3/9: Read: Mill on the Floss Finish “The Great Temptation” and “The Final
Rescue”
Th 3/11:Read: In Longman JS Mill “On Liberty” 515-520, M. Arnold “Culture
and Anarchy” 752-756, “The Lady of Shallot” 588-592
Second Short Analyses Due
Week 7: Decadence and Decay
T 3/16:Read: Dorian Gray
Th 3/18:Read: Dorian Gray
Week 8: Midterm
T 3/23: Identifications, short answers, explication
Th 3/25:Essays
Spring Break No class Tuesday
3/30 Thursday 4/1
Unit 3: The Moderns: Mourning, Meaning, and Emasculation
Week 9: Failure and the Colonial Enterprise
T 4/6:Read: Heart of Darkness 948-1001
Th 4/8:Read: Heart continued
Week 10: Alienation and Writing the Self
T 4/13:Read: “The Dead” 1138-1163
Th 4/15:Read (perhaps re-read) “The Dead”
Week 11: Sex and Death Or “there ain’t no escapin’ Freud”
T 4/20:Read: Freud Handout and Lawrence Short Story “The Horse Dealer’s
Daughter”
Th 4/22:Read: “The Blind Man”
Week 12: Youth Corrupted
T 4/27: Read: The Prime of Miss Jean Brody
Th 4/29:Read: The Prime of Miss Jean Brody
“Church Going” in handout
Unit 4: Postmodernity and the blank years
Week 13: Existentialism, “My Heroin!”
T 5/4:Read: in handout Philip Larkin poems; in
Trainspotting “The Skag boys, Jean-
Claude Van Damme and Mother Superior,” “The First day of the Edinburgh Festival, ”In Overdrive,” and “Speedy Recruitment”
Th 5/6: Read: In Trainspotting “Growing up in Public,”
“Scotland Takes Drugs in Psychic Defence,” “Grieving and Mourning in Port Sunshine,” “Inter Shitty.”
Week 14: Manky contents
T 5/11: Read: In Trainspotting “Courting Disaster,” “Searching for the Inner
Man,” “Bang to Rites,” “Bad Blood,” and “ There is a Light that Never
Goes Out.”
Th 5/13:Read: in Trainspotting “Feeling Free,” “Eating Out,” “Winter in West
Granton,” and “Station to Station.”
Week 15: Thatcher Loves the Colonies
T 5/18:Watch The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover
Th 5/20:Read: “Outside the Whale” by Rushdie in handout (I may change this)
Week 16:
T 5/25: Final Exam—ids, short answer, analysis Final Paper Due
Th 5/27: Final Exam—essays
