English 4640: Victorian Literature
Dr. Scott Rogers
Tuesdays, 5:30 – 8:20 | SS 227
Office: SS 346 | Phone: 626-7502 | Email: [email protected]
Website: http://faculty.weber.edu/srogers
Course
English 4640 introduces students to the broad outlines of
Victorian literature and its contexts. We will cover the major
political and literary movements of the period and consider
their influence on the literature of the age.
Texts
The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Victorian
Age. Vol. 2B. 7th ed.
Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre.
Bram Stoker, Dracula.
Assignments
Short Essay: 25% (5-7 pages)
Long Essay:
35% (10-12 pages)
Presentation: 5%
Reading Quizzes: 15% (a number of quizzes focused on
reading comprehension)
Position Papers (5): 10% (2 page, tightly focused
arguments)
Final
Assignments
in Detail
10%
Short Essay: 5-7 pages of focused argument, preferably
about a single text.
Long Essay: 10-12 pages of argument about a broader
topic than the short essay. Must be on a different topic.
Presentation: 5-10 minute presentation about some
element of historical context. DO NOT STRESS ABOUT
THESE. This should be a relatively informal presentation
designed simply to provide some historical context for us.
Reading Quizzes: An undisclosed number of quizzes
focused on reading comprehension. This will also cover
poetry.
Position Papers: These are short, two page, tightly-focused
arguments about the literature we are reading. These are
not essays. You do not need to bother with introductions and
conclusions; just make the argument quickly and efficiently.
Ideally, your papers will come out of these.
Final Exam: A comprehensive final examination.
Policies
Attendance | Although I will have to lecture from time to
time in this class, I do not like to do so. Consequently, I
expect students to do most of the talking. It is therefore
imperative that you come to class and be prepared. I will
take roll most days. You are allowed 4 absences without
penalty. Use them wisely; they are for emergencies, not ski
days. Each absence after the 4th will result in a half letter
grade being deducted from your final score for the class.
Quizzes | I expect you to read the texts assigned to you,
and I expect you to have read them closely. Merely glancing
at the text and recognizing words on the page is not reading.
Over the course of the semester, I will give you a number of
quizzes to ensure that you are keeping up on the readings.
Plagiarism | Will result in failure of the course. Plagiarism is
the attempt to perpetrate an academic fraud by claiming
another’s work as your own. It will not be tolerated. The
WSU Student Code defines plagiarism as “the
unacknowledged (uncited) use of any other person or group's
ideas or work” (Section 6-22, part IV, subsection D). Any
attempt to claim credit another’s work, in whole or in part, is
a violation of this policy and is regarded by the English
department as a serious offense.
Conflict Resolution | Weber State University recognizes
that there are times when course content may differ from a
student’s core beliefs. Faculty, however, have a responsibility
to teach content that is related to the discipline and that has
a reasonable relationship to pedagogical goals. If you, as a
student, believe that the content of the course conflicts with
your ability to pursue the topic, you may request a resolution
from the instructor.
NB: We have a great deal to cover in a short amount of
time. As a result, I reserve the right to make changes to the
syllabus to accommodate the dynamics of the class.
Where We Are
Week One
What We’re Reading
What’s Due
8/28
Introductions; A bit of history
The First Reform Bill
"The Victorian Age" (979)
Utilitarianism
Carlyle, all selections from Past and
Present (1024)
The Brontës
JS Mill, all selections from On Liberty
(1051)
Victorian Education
Week Two
9/4
The Corn Laws
Week Three
Crop Failures/Famine
9/11
Brontë, Jane Eyre
Epidemics
Employment for
Women
Week Four
9/18
Brontë, cont’d
Women’s
Fashion/Men’s
Fashion
Victorian Crime
The Coming of the
Railroad
Week Five
Tennyson, "The Lady of Shalott"
(1114), Tennyson, "Ulysses" (1123)
9/25
Tennyson, "The Charge of the Light
Brigade" (1188)
Tennyson, "In Memoriam A.H.H."
(1138)
The Chartist
Movement
The Charge of the
Light Brigade
Faith and Doubt
Week Six
Elizabeth Barrett, “The Cry of the
Children” (1079); "To George Sand:
A Desire" (1083) "To George Sand:
A Recognition" (1083)
Browning, "Porphyria's Lover" (1252)
10/2
Victorian Medievalism
Browning, "The Bishop Orders His
Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church"
(1259), Browning, "Andrea del
Sarto” (1280)
Week Seven
The Great Exhibition
Engels, From The Great Towns
(1565); Kingsley, “A London Slum”
(1572)
10/9
The Great Stink
Victorian Earnestness
Mayhew, “London Labour and the
London Poor” (handouts)
The Town and the
Country
Brown, “Work” (painting, plate C11)
Industrialization and
Poverty
Week Eight
Ruskin, “The Stones of Venice”
(1324); Arnold, “Culture and
Anarchy” all selections (1398)
10/16
Arnold, “Preface to Poems” (1374);
Arnold, “Dover Beach” (1368);
Arnold, “Isolation. To Marguerite”
(1354); Arnold, “To Marguerite—
Continued” (1355)
The Debate over
Evolution
Charles Lyell
The Pre-Raphaelites
Week Nine
10/23
Darwin, “The Origin of Species” all
selections (1539)
Death and the
Afterlife
DG Rossetti, “The Blessed Damozel”
(1443); DG Rossetti, “The
Woodspurge,” (handout), “The
House of Life,” all selections (1580)
Fallen Women
Essay #1 Due; Last
Day to withdraw
with a “W”
Week Ten
CG Rossetti, “Song” (1461), “After
Death” (1461), “Death Before Death”
(1462)
CG Rossetti, “A Triad” (1462)
10/30
CG Rossetti, “Goblin Market” (1466)
CG Rossetti, “Noble Sisters”
(handout), CG Rossetti, “Sister
Maude” (handout)
Victorian Feminism
The Great Social Evil
The New Woman
Meredith, “Modern Love,” all
selections (1440)
Week Eleven
11/6
JS Mill, "The Subjection of Women"
(1060); Ellis, “The Women of
England” (1583); Patmore, “The
Angel in the House” (1585)
King Arthur and the
Victorians
William Morris
Webster, “A Castaway” (handout)
Week Twelve
Morris, “The Defense of Guenevere”
(1483)
11/13
Morris, “The Haystack in the Floods”
(handout)
Swinburne, “Hymn to Proserpine”
(1496), “The Garden of Proserpine
(handout)
Victorians and the
Past
Victorians, the Irish
and the Scottish
Victorian Divorce
Week Thirteen
11/20
Stoker, Dracula
Victorian Marriage
Victorian London
Week Fourteen
11/27
Stoker
Week Fifteen
Pater, The Renaissance (only the
preface [1507] and conclusion
[1511])
12/4
Hopkins, “The Windhover” (1518),
“Pied Beauty” (1518), “Binsey
Poplars” (1519)
Wilde, “The Critic as Artist” (1689),
Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray
(1697)
Week Sixteen
Final Exam
Tuesday, December 11, 5:30 – 7:30
The 1890s
The London
Underground
Essay #2 Due