ENL 3251: Victorian Literature

 

 

Course Objective and Description:

             This course will seek to define the contours of Victorian literature – its obsessions, tensions, particulars, and world views. Since literature reveals the workings of culture, we shall endeavor to create an ongoing conversation on the nature of those workings as we piece together the conversation in which the work itself participates through both in-class discussions and weekly written responses. We will focus on a number of issues that were vitally important to the Victorians and continue to be debated in our own time such as the Woman Question, class conflicts, Crisis of Faith, and degeneracy/decadence.

The goal of this course is encourage an understanding of each individual work within the larger context of English literature and, by doing so, learn how to read poetry, drama, and fiction critically. In order to communicate these interpretations, we will also focus on how to write about literature. Thus the goal in this endeavor is to construct essays that write about these genres in a thoughtful, convincing, and effective manner.

 

Achievement of Course Objectives:

 

• Classroom explanations and discussions will guide you through the reading and writing assignments.
• Keep up with reading and writing assignments. The following books are available at Wild Iris Books (located at 802 West University Avenue): (in order of use in class)
• Damrosch, David et. al. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Vol. IIB (The Victorians). 2^nd Edition.
• Dickens, Charles. Our Mutual Friend. Oxford University Press.
• Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Lady Audley's Secret. Ed. Natalie M. Houston. Broadview, 2003.
• Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ed. Norman Page Broadview, 1998.
• Moore, Allan. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Vol I. DC Comics.
• Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 5th ed. Bedford/St. Martin's. (or some other grammar handbook that has a section an MLA style guide)
• Do all assignments before a class session begins (by class, you should have read the text selections listed on the syllabus for that day).

• Participate in class. Bring texts to class and take notes.

 

 

Grade Breakdown:

 

Exam One	20%
Exam Two	20%
Exam Three	30%
Email Reponses, Quizzes	20%
Class Participation	10%
	100%

 

 

Class Policies and Requirements:

Attendance:

            Because class attendance is critical to your understanding of class material, you are allowed only two unexcused absences over the course of the semester. After two unexcused absences, your final grade average will be dropped five points for every day missed. An absence due to illness or family crisis may be excused if properly documented to my satisfaction. In addition, if you participate in a university-sponsored event (music, theater, field trip, or athletics), you must provide me with documentation from an appropriate authority. Whether or not an absence is excused, you are responsible for contacting a classmate or me to find out what material you missed and any work that was assigned. If work is due in class on the day of the absences, the work is due in my mailbox by 4pm that day.

            One or two tardies (arriving late in class or departing class early) will be excused if the reasons are acceptable and if there is valid documentation. Otherwise, tardiness is not acceptable because it is disruptive, and, beyond any excused tardies, class participation grade and overall grade will be affected (2 tardies = 1 absence).

 

Class Participation:

            In addition to attending class, you are also expected to contribute class discussions and participate in workshop sessions with your peers. Learning is not a solitary process, but one that necessarily involves others and I thus consider class participation a very important part of achieving this class’s goals.

 

Quizzes:

            If I think that the class is not doing the reading assignments, I will begin giving quizzes at the beginning of every class. If you are reading the texts as we progress though the semester, you should do fine. The quizzes will be pop-quizzes and will hence occur without warning.

 

Exams:

            We will have three exams throughout the semester. Each exam will include a take-home essay portion (see below) and an in-class portion. The in-class part of the exam will be made up of quotation identifications and short answer questions from the period being studied. The third and final exam will have the usual identifications and short answers, but the essay for this exam will be a long term research project. 

  

Essays:

            For the essay portion of the exam, I will give out three essay questions or prompts from which you may choose your topic. Before the first exam we will go over some sample questions so that you have an idea of what they will be like and what I will be expecting. If you look at the schedule, below you will notice that each exam falls on a Tuesday. I will give out the questions that Thursday and the essay will due on the following Tuesday of the exam. Each essay will be no less that 1,500 words.

 

Format:

            All work is due at the beginning of class on the day it is due. All major essays should be typed on only one side of 8 ½” x 11” white paper, MLA format, stapled, and be in Times New Roman font. On days when drafts are due (workshop days), you must bring two copies of your paper to class. These copies should be clean, typed papers (the same format as the final draft) and already well edited by you. I will not accept any papers that are not in this format.

 

Revisions:

You may revise any and/or all of the essays in this class. Revision does not simply mean fixing all of the errors that I have marked on your paper; rather, it entails make global changes to your essay in addition to correcting what I marked. To this end, you must first work on your essay on your own. Then you MUST make conference with me about the essay. I will not simply tell you what you should do with the essay but will instead answer any questions that you have. The revision of each essay is due on the peer review day of next essay.

 

Periodical Presentations:

            Each student will read an entire issue (front to back, including advertisements) of a Victorian periodical. Throughout the semester, students will present their issues to the class. These presentations will be at least fifteen minutes in length. We will discuss the particulars of this assignment after the first week of class. This assignment will be worth three quiz/response grades.

 

Bulletin Board Participation:

            At the beginning of the term, I will set up a class online bulletin board. Each student must post at least six original responses to an upcoming reading assignment and six responses to others’ responses. While these posts need not be polished pieces of writing, I do expect a certain amount critical thought. The idea here is raise issues about a particular reading or group of readings for the class to think about before we discuss. Responses will be graded out of ten, with a ten being equivalent to a check for completion. Each post will be no less than 200 words.

 

Our Mutual Friend Character Reports

            We will be reading Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend throughout the semester. At the beginning of the term, I will assign everyone in the class to follow a particular character very closely as we make our way through the book. Everyone will then be expected to report on their character’s doings on a rotating basis (there will be a sign up sheet). Every report will count as one quiz/response grade.

 

 

University and Departmental Policies

 

Gordon Rule:

All work must be completed for a grade since the work assigned fulfills the Gordon Rule, which stipulates that students are to write a minimum of 6000 words that receive feedback, are graded, and give experience in various types of writing important in disciplines, workplace, and civic areas.

 

Plagiarism:

Unless the work assigned is specifically designed to be completed in groups, all work must be individual. Evidence of collusion (working with another student or tutor not connected with class), multiple submissions (turning the same work in two courses), plagiarism (use of another’s ideas, data, and/or statements without acknowledgement or with only minimal acknowledgement) will lead to the procedures set up by the university for academic dishonestly in the Honor Court.

 

Classroom Dynamics:

Because class participation relies heavily on individuals feeling comfortable expressing their opinions, you must always show respect for the diversity of opinions expressed in this class. You must also demonstrate respect for gender, racial, class, and ethnic differences among your colleagues and instructor.

 

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:

Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation.

 

Challenging a Grade:

Any complaints about separate assignments should be addressed to me and not to the English Department. If you have any complaints on the final grade, you may see me at the beginning of the next term. If you find that you still have complaints after our meeting, you may express your complaints on a form in the English Department Office (4012 Turlington). The form and accompanying course material will be given to the Director of Writing Program Administration for further action. A review committee may decide to raise, lower, or keep the originally assigned grade. This decision is final. The material submitted will remain on file in the English Department Office.

  

Overview of Assignments:

These assignments are due in class on the dates indicated. There will be NO LATE assignments accepted. Also, there will be additional assignments and materials not indicated on this sheet (I will announce them in class), and both this schedule and individual assignments are subject to change. All readings are in the anthology  unless otherwise noted.

 Introduction

Week 1

T, Jan. 6 – Introduction to the course

R, Jan. 8 – “The Victorian Age” (1008-1031); “Political and Religious Orders” (xxviii-xxxiii)

Week 2

T, Jan. 13 – The introduction to Charles Dickens (1355-1357); Installment 1 of Our Mutual Friend

R, Jan. 15 – “Perspectives: The Industrial Landscape” (1047-1072)

Week 3

T, Jan. 20 – Excerpts from Thomas Carlyle’s Past and Present (1033-1046); Excepts from John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty” (1073-1086)

R, Jan. 22 – “Perspectives: Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen” (1515-1547) Installments 2 and 3 of Our Mutual Friend

Week 4

T, Jan. 27 – No Class (Instructor at Conference)

R, Jan. 29 – Elizabeth Barrett Browning selections (1105-1136)

Week 5

T, Feb. 3 – Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret

R, Feb. 5 – Lady Audley’s Secret contd.; Installments 4 and 5 of Our Mutual Friend

Week 6

T, Feb. 10 – Essay One Due; Exam One

R, Feb. 12 – “Perspectives: Religion and Science” (1273-1305); Installment 6 and 7 of Our Mutual Friend

Week 7

T, Feb. 17 – Lord Alfred Tennyson selections (1136-1156); Robert Browning’s “Fra Lippo Lippi” (1328-1336) and “Caliban Upon Setebos” (1348-1354)

R, Feb. 19 – Excerpts from John Ruskin’s Modern Painters (1473-1476); Excerpts from Matthew Arnold’s “The Function of Criticism at the Present Time” and Culture and Anarchy (1573-1599); Installment 8 and 9 of Our Mutual Friend

Week 8

T, Feb. 24 – Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” (1618-1630) and “‘No, Thank you, John’” (1630)

R, Feb. 26 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s “The Blessed Damozel”; Algernon Charles Swinburne’s “Hymn to Proserpine” (1658-1661); William Morris’s “The Defence of Guenevere” (1634-1641); Installments 10 and 11 of Our Mutual Friend

Week 9

T, March 2 – Walter Pater selections (1663-1677)

R, March 4 – “Perspectives: Travel and Empire”; Installments 12 and 13 of Our Mutual Friend

 Week 10

T, March 9 – Spring Break

R, March 11 – Spring Break

Week 11                                                                                

T, March 16 – “Perspectives: Imagining Childhood” (1705-1747)

R, March 18 – Installments 14 and 15 of Our Mutual Friend (catch up on character reports)

Week 12

T, March 23 – Essay Two Due; Exam Two

R, March 25 – No Class (Instructor at Conference)

Week 13

T, March 30 – “Perspectives: Aestheticism, Decadence, and the Fin De Siécle” (1939-1989)

R, April 1 – Picture of Dorian Gray; Installments 16 and 17 of Our Mutual Friend

Week 14

T, April 6 – Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (11819-1860)  

R, April 8 – Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; Installments 18 and 19 of Our Mutual Friend

Week 15

T, April 13 – Periodical Presentations

R, April 15 – Periodical Presentations; Installment 20 of Our Mutual Friend

Week 16

T, April 20 – Review

R, April 22 – No Class (Reading Day)

Week 17 – Final Exam