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Course Description: A study of the major Romantic writers, including William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, George Gordon (Lord Byron), Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats.
Course Rationale: The literature of the British Romantic period, roughly 1789-1832, was arguably groundbreaking. Breaking with the accepted norms and traditions of 18th century British literature, the English Romantic writers--particularly Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Bryon, Shelley, and Keats--explored themes, ideas, and styles that brought a new emphasis to the role of literature in the human experience. Romantic literature profoundly changed the way we look at the relationship between the author and his or her work and it continues to influence writers into the 21st century. A knowledge of Romantic literature is critical to a comprehensive understanding of literary history and development.
Texts: The following are required texts:
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th edition. Vol. 2
Emma, Jane Austen
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
Strongly recommended:
A Handbook to Literature, Eds. William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (5th ed), Ed. Joseph Gibaldi.
Also, see Oxford Reference Online www.oxfordreference.com for some basic reference assistance. It contains desktop access to 100 key Oxford dictionaries and reference works. The Core Collection brings together 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works - containing well over 60,000 pages - into a single cross-searchable resource. Also, see the Oxford English Dictionary, the grandfather of all dictionaries at http://dictionary.oed.com
Course Objective: The objective of this course is to give you an overview of the important writers and literary ideas of the English Romantic period (1789-1832). This will include a review of the historical, literary, and sociological reasons for the development of Romantic literature as well as exposure to the key writers of this period ( Montreat College Educational Objectives IV 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7).
Additionally, there are several questions we will consider as we work through the course, including, but not limited to:
- In the context of English literature, what different meanings does the the word "romantic" suggest (MCEO 1c, 1d, 1e, 1g, 3, and 5)?
- What were the important intellectual, literary, social, and political events that shaped the Romantic period (MCEO 1c, 1d, 1e, 1g, 3, and 5)?
- What is a novel (MCEO 1c, 1d, 1e, 1g, 3, and 5)?
- What does the term gothic mean in literature? How may it be applied to Romantic literature (MCEO 1c, 1d, 1e, 1g, 3, and 5)?
- What is the role of Nature in the literature of the Romantic period (MCEO 1c, 1d, 1e, 1g, 3, and 5)?
- How is that Romantic poetry offers a distinct break with the poetry of the 18th century? What makes it distinct? Why does it continue to influence the poetry of the 21st century (MCEO 1c, 1d, 1e, 1g, 3, and 5)?
- What particulars about the human experience do the Romantic writers focus upon (MCEO 1c, 1d, 1e, 1g, 3, and 5)?
- How pivotal is a knowledge of Scripture when reading, analyzing, and interpreting Romantic literature (MCEO 1c, 1d, 1e, 1g, 3, and 5)?
- That you read and analyze three Romantic novels and the poetry of the six major Romantic poets (MCEO 2 and 3). .
- That you understand the literary period leading up the Romantic period (MCEO 2 and 3).
- That you identify and discuss the significant themes and motifs of Romantic poetry (MCEO 2 and 3).
- That you write a two book reviews on important scholarly books that consider the Romantic period (MCEO 2 and 3).
- That you write a long analytic research paper on some aspect of our study (MCEO 2 and 3).
- That you engage in research on the novel via the Internet (MCEO 2, 3, and 4).
- That you utilize email to extend class discussion, to communicate with me, and to perform assigned small group work (MCEO 2, 3, and 4).
- That you turn in all important written assignments via email attachments or on diskette (MCEO 2, 3, and 4).
Weeks 1 and 2 Course introduction; The poetry of William Blake
Weeks 3 and 4 The poetry of William Wordsworth
Feb. 11 Test 1
Week 5 The poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Weeks 6 and 7 Emma by Jane Austen
March 12 Test 2
Weeks 8 and 9 The poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley; Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Weeks 10 and 11 The poetry of John Keats
April 9 Test 3
Weeks 12-15 The poetry of Lord Byron; Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
May 2 Final exam
- There will be four tests, in class essays, and quizzes that will constitute 70% of your grade in the course.
- A book review of an assigned critical study; see the course Bibliography below; due April 11, 2008 by midnight. This book review will count 10%.
- You can do one of the following. You can write an analytical paper (1,250 to 1,500 words) on some aspect of material covered in this course; due April 25, 2008 by midnight. OR you can develop a creative project (recitations, well-done skits or video versions of portions of works we study, satires, "modern-language" versions of portions of the poems, audio recordings, computer presentations, etc.--check out your idea with me and get approval before beginning work on this). Due any time before the last day of class (all creative projects must be presented to the class). Either of these will count 10%.
- The remaining 10% will come from your class participation, discussion, regular attendance, homework, reserve and supplemental reading, group work and various short writing assignments.
- There are a total of 1000 pts possible in the course. Final grades will be compiled using the following guidelines:
1000-900 A to A-
899-800 B+ to B-
799-700 C+ to C-
699-600 D+ to D-
599-0 F
Library: All students are encouraged to take advantage of the services and resources available from the library. You can search the online catalog and the library’s databases by going to http://www.montreat.edu/library/. Select “Catalog” to search the online catalog or “Electronic Resources” to search the databases. The catalog lists all of the books in the Montreat College library as well as the holdings of five other colleges. You may check out books from all of these libraries. In addition, you may request books or journal articles via interlibrary loan. From the online catalog, you can also check on reserve materials by selecting “Reserve Desk” and searching by instructor name or course name.
Academic Integrity: For all individual assignments students are expected to present their own work; documentation of research must follow the MLA Handbook for Writer of Research Paper or MLA-Style Citations of Electronic Sources. Cases of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating and plagiarism, will result in either of failure of the assignment or of the course. For the college's policy on this issue, please click academic integrity.
Bibliography: Of much interest to you will be the multiple resources available via electronic databases, especially JSTOR. In addition, the following books are on three-day reserve in the library and may be helpful when you work on your out of class literary analyses:
Abrams, M. H. The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition.
Altick, Richard. The English Common Reader.
Baker, Ernest. The History of the Novel, 11 volumes.
Beach, J. W. The Concept of Nature in Nineteenth Century Poetry.
Booth, Wayne. The Rhetoric of Fiction.
Bostetter, Edward, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Don Juan.
Brooks, Cleanth. The Well Wrought Urn.
Bowra C. M. The Romantic Imagination.
Bush, Douglas. Mythology and the Romantic Tradition in English Poetry
Foot, Michael. The Politics of Paradise: A Vindication of Byron
Holmes, Richard.. Coleridge: Early Visions.
Holmes, Richard.Shelley: The Pursuit.
Jack, Ian. English Literature 1815-1832
Langbaum, Robert. The Poetry of Experience.
McKillop, Alan. The Early Masters of English Fiction.
Probyn, Clive. English Fiction of the Eighteenth Century.
Renwick, F. L. English Literature 1789-1815.
Stevenson, Lionel. The English Novel: A Panorama.
Trawick, L. M. Backgrounds of Romanticism.
Wilke, B. Romantic Poets and Epic Tradition.
Message from the Writing Center: To write a successful paper in this course, you will need to follow a process of planning, writing, and revising your papers. The Writing Center tutors will work with you one-on-one on any or all parts of this process. This academic service is available to assist you in becoming a confident writer, as both a student and a graduate.
The Center is located on the top floor of the L. Nelson Bell Library in the back of the computer lab. The Center is open Sunday – Thursday between 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. An appointment is not necessary. If you are a day student or a non-traditional student, you may contact the Director, Anne Oxenreider (aoxenreider@montreat.edu), to schedule a daytime appointment. In addition, please know that an excellent internet resource is available to you at all times‑‑Purdue University’s OWL (On‑line Writing Lab). This site provides an “always on” and authoritative resource for composition, grammar, and citation. The address is http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: For all individual assignments students are expected to present their own work; documentation of research must follow the MLA Handbook for Writer of Research Paper or The Columbia Guide to Online Style ( http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos2006/basic.html). Cases of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating and plagiarism, will result in either failure of the assignment or the course. For the college's policy on this issue, please click academic integrity.
Final comments: As you can see, this syllabus is on-line; for the most accurate information about the course, go to listing for this course on Moodle . Class discussions, tests, and writing assignments will assume you have accessed all these materials via Moodle . Please feel free to come by my office in McGowan Center 107, contact me at extension 3819, or e-mail me at dking@montreat.edu if you need help with any aspect of the course.
I freely give permission to anyone to use the information on this page, English 307, Romantic Literature, as long as appropriate acknowledgement is given either to me or to authors whose works I have referred to and noted.
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