English 281
Survey of British Literature II
MW 130-245
Jeffrey W. Timmons, Ph.D.
Graybeal Hall G6
jtimmons@vwc.edu
www.vwc.edu/~jtimmons
757.455. 3390
Office Hours: M 300-430, TTH 1200-330, and by appt.
Course
Description:As a Survey course,
English 281 is not a comprehensive look at literary history but a selective
overview of authors, works, genres, and movements from the end of the
eighteenth century through the present.
As an overview of 200 years, the course cannot possibly be inclusive in
any sufficient manner, yet it does strive to introduce students to a working
knowledge of themes and texts relevant to this period.
Required
Text: Damrosch, David, Ed. The Longman Anthology of British
Literature. Volume Two. New York: Longman, 2003.
Course
Principles and Goals: 1) engage
students in discussion of works considered important to British literary
history; 2) provide students opportunities to explore the
significance–personal, historic, aesthetic–of British literature; 3) develop
student abilities to write and speak critically about British literature (and
by extension, other areas of life); 4) hone student skills in “close-reading”
and, then, harnessing those skills in “larger claim” arguments; 5) facilitate
students’ awareness of critical terminology; 6) foster an appreciation for
literature as literature; and 7) have fun, if at all possible.
Course
Requirements:
500pts Essays:
1. Two Short Essays
(3-5pgs)
a. Romanticism (75pts)
b. Victorian (75pts)
2. One Semester Essay (200pts)
3. Five In Class Writing Assignments (125pts)
275pts Exams:
1. Mid-Term Exams:
a. Romantic (75pts)
b. Victorian (75pts)
2. Five Quizzes (50pts)
3. Final: 20th Century/Comprehensive (150pts)
100pts Semester Essay Draft Workshop
75pts Attendance:
Just Showing Up, On Time
75pts Class
Participation: Prepared, Engaged, Verbalize, Assist
Attendance: You cannot miss more than five classes, for any reason,
and pass this course. Chronic lateness
and/or early departures can constitute absences. Although I take attendance everyday, you can
miss up to two (2) classes before absences are counted against you. At
three (3) missed classes, however, your attendance grade is determined
by the total number of classes missed: C-
= 3 missed classes, D = 4, D- = 5
missed classes, and F = 6 or more missed classes. You are responsible for any material and/or
assignments missed during an absence.
Quizzes: These are given
during the first five minutes of class to those students who are present in
class. They can not be made up nor are
they given to students who arrive late to class.
Grading
Scale for Final Grades: A = 900pts; A‑
= 850; B+ = 830; B = 800; B‑ = 750; C+ = 730; C = 700; C‑ = 650; D+
= 630; D = 600; D‑ = 550; and F = anything below the D‑ grade.
Late
Work: All assignments must be
completed by their respective due dates.
Assignments submitted late suffer penalties, and they are not guaranteed
to be read or graded. Plus, it’s really tacky.
Plagiarism: Representing someone else’s work as your own constitutes
grounds for failing this course.
Accommodations: Any student needing accommodations should speak with the
Fayne Pearson in the Learning Resource Center.
Accommodations must be arranged in advance.
Course
Policies: You are responsible for knowing
the course polices as they are stated in this syllabus. The instructor reserves the right to revise
the policies, schedules and assignments contained herein. Any changes are announced in advance, and
with timely notice.
Completion: All assignments must be completed to pass this course.
|
Date |
Discussion
Topic |
Discussion
Reading |
Contextual
Reading |
Due |
|
1.26 |
Course Introduction, Structure,
and Assignments Essay Format, MLA Citation
Style, Online Examples Revolution
and Writing |
|
www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/humanities/english.html “The
Rights of Man and the Revolution Controversy”:56-112 |
|
|
1.28 |
“What is British Literature?” Blake, “All Religions Are
One,” “There Is No Natural
Religion,” “Songs of Innocence
and of
Experience”:“Introduction,” “The Chimney Sweeper,” “Holy Thursday,” “The Chimney Sweeper,” “The Garden of Love,” “London” Barbauld,
“The Mouse’s Petition to Dr.
Priestly,” Inscription for an Ice-House,”
“To a Little Invisible Being Who
Is Expected Soon to Become
Visible” |
xliv 112-119, 122-23, 130,132 31-34 |
|
|
|
2.2 |
“The Romantics and Their Contemporaries” Blake, The Marriage of
Heaven and Hell (and all the color plates for this work on the Blake Archive) |
2-29 135-48 |
www.blakearchive.org/main.html (see Works in Archive) |
|
|
2.4 |
Meter/Scansion Wordsworth, “Lyrical Ballads,”“Simon Lee,” “We are Seven,” “Resolution and Independence,” “I wandered lonely as a cloud” |
2980-81 336-42,
450-54 |
|
Short
Essay #1 |
|
2.9 |
Wordsworth, “Lines Written a Few
Miles above Tintern Abbey,” “Ode Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood” |
352-56, 454-60 |
“The
Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade” 159-213 |
|
|
2.11 |
Wordsworth, Preface to Lyrical
Ballads |
356-62 |
|
|
|
2.16 |
Wordsworth Shelley,
Frankenstein |
7-121 |
|
|
|
2.18 |
Shelley,
Frankenstein |
|
|
|
|
2.23 |
Shelley,
Frankenstein |
121-86 |
|
|
|
2.25 |
Shelley Romantic Exam |
|
“The
Wollstonecraft Controversy and the Rights of Women”: 269-308 |
|
|
3.1 |
“The Victorian Age” Tennyson,
“In Memorium A.H.H.” |
1008-31 1136-39,1165-94 |
|
|
|
3.3 |
Tennyson Darwin, On The Origin of
Species, The Descent of Man Rosetti,
“Goblin Market” |
1243-45,1245-65 1611-12,
1618-30 |
“Religion
and Science”:1273-1304 |
|
|
3.8 |
Wilde, Preface to The Picture
of Dorian Gray,” The Importance of Being Earnest |
1860-62,
1883-1924 |
|
|
|
3.10 |
Wilde, The Importance of
Being Earnest |
|
|
|
|
3.22 |
Wilde, De Profundis |
1926-33 |
|
Short
Essay #2 |
|
3.24 |
Victorian
Exam |
|
“Victorian
Ladies and Gentlemen”:1515-47 |
|
|
3.29 |
“The Twentieth Century” Conrad,
Heart of Darkness |
1990-2014 2015-17,
2020-74 |
|
|
|
3.31 |
Conrad,
Heart of Darkness |
|
|
|
|
4.5 |
Conrad,
Heart of Darkness |
|
|
|
|
4.7 |
Conrad, Heart of Darkness Hardy, “Hap,” “Neutral Tones,” “Wessex Heights,” “The Darkling Thrush,” “On the Departure Platform,” “The Convergence of the Twain,” “And There Was a Great Calm” |
2154-59,
2161-62 |
“The
Great War: Confronting the Modern”:2167-2232 |
|
|
4.12 |
Shaw,
Pygmalion |
2082-2151 |
|
Semester
Draft Workshops |
|
4.14 |
Shaw,
Pygmalion |
|
|
|
|
4.19 |
Shaw,
Pygmalion |
|
|
|
|
4.21 |
Shaw,
Pygmalion |
|
|
|
|
4.26 |
Eliot, “The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock,” “The Waste Land” |
|
“World
War II and the End of Empire”: 2698-2757 |
|
|
4.28 |
Eliot |
|
|
Semester
Essay |
|
5.3 |
Churchill,
Cloud Nine |
2838–88 |
|
|
|
5.5 |
Churchill,
Cloud Nine |
|
“Whose
Language?”:2889-2958 |
|
Semester Essay Topics
Romantic:
“The Rights of Man and the Revolution Controversy”
“The Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade”
“The Wollstonecraft Controversy and the Rights of Women”
Victorian:
“The Industrial Landscape”
“Religion and Science”
“Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen”
Modern/Contemporary:
“The Great War: Confronting the Modern
“World War II and the End of Empire”
“Whose Language?”