ENGLISH 262 (Section 002) / A. H. HARRISON / Spring 2005
Purpose of the Course: This course is designed to familiarize you with the literature of England and its
historical contexts from about 1700 to about 1900. The work in it should also improve your ability to
appreciate, analyze, and write coherently about literature. Contributing to the coherence of the course as
an historical survey, our discussions will often focus on specific issues: 1) The difficulties of dealing
with cultural changes, particularly those caused by the rise of industrialism at the very end of the
eighteenth century. 2) Possibilities in an industrial society for radical political and social transformation,
which can be seen either as threats to established political and social order, or, alternately, as the promise
of a new and better one. 3) Changing gender roles and gender relations. 4) The role of the artist (usually
the writer) in society. 5) Attitudes toward religious belief as a system of foundational or sustaining moral
and spiritual values.
English 262 as a "Learning Community": As you well know by now, learning is an interactive process.
Students and teachers interact with each other and with educational materials (texts, films, specimens, etc)
in unique and original ways sometimes so as to actually create “knowledge” but more often to understand,
as fully as possible, knowledge that has been generated by others. In order for this process to be
successful, our classroom must be an interactive environment. This means that all students are
responsible at every class meeting for having read and thought about assigned materials and for
interacting with each other and with me. For this reason attendance and participation will play a
significant role in determining your success in this course (and, thus, your grade).
Texts: Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume Two, SEVENTH EDITION, ed., Abrams et al
(Norton)
“The Rape of the Lock,” a mock-epic poem (1714) by Alexander Pope: to be downloaded from the
internet. Simply perform a Google search under this title. Try to find a copy with Canto and line
numbers. (There are five brief cantos.)
Reading, Grading, Exams, Papers: Please read all assigned materials BEFORE the date listed on the
syllabus. Your grade for the course will be based on a variety of assignments: 1) Eight unannounced
quizzes or "quiz paragraphs" (see Notes below). In total, these will count 20% your grade for the course,
so be certain to read assigned material BEFORE THE DUE DATE with great care and attention to detail.
I will drop your lowest quiz score. If you are absent for a quiz, you MAY NOT make it up NO
MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. 2) One four-five page unresearched paper (30% of your gradeBthe
assignment is attached to the syllabus). 3) A midterm exam (20%). And a final exam (30%), for which I
will supply you with a study guide.
Attendance: Each student will be allowed A MAXIMUM OF THREE ABSENCES to accommodate
hardships that may arise during the session (i.e., cars breaking down, shift changes at work, deaths in the
family, etc.), but remember that missed quizzes CANNOT be made up. For each additional absence a
student will lose half a letter grade from her/his course grade. Coming late to class will count as an
absence: please remember that the learning process in this course is a collaborative one and depends on
your presence in class and participation in discussions of the assigned materials.
My Office is in Tompkins Hall, #226. I will be available for conferences from 2:30-4PM every Tuesday
and Thursday, and by appointment. My school phone number is 515-4149; [email protected]. Emails sent after 5PM will normally be answered the following day. Don't
hesitate to get in touch for consultations. If you leave a message on my voice mail when I'm not in, I'll be
sure to return your call.
A NOTE ON THE QUIZZES: Most quizzes given in this course will be "objective" with multiple
choice answers. They will ask brief questions to determine that you have read the material assigned for a
given class meeting. For "quiz paragraphs" you will write highly focused responses (usually about half a
page) to a topic presented at the beginning of the class.
A NOTE ON THE PAPER: You paper for this course should be highly focused, compressed and
efficient, presenting in no more than five pages (using 12 point font) a thesis (clearly articulated in your
first paragraph) and salient evidence to support that thesis in response to one of the assigned topics. Your
writing in these essays should be "tight," clear, and lean, but grammatically and mechanically polished.
Grades will be based on the quality of your writing, the intelligence of your thesis, and the validity of
your support for it. You should prepare for each paper by writing a 6-7 page rough draft, which you
should then compress, revise, edit to make your analysis as clear and efficient as possible. I will be happy
to review and comment on drafts of papers sent or handed to me no later than five class meetings before
papers are due. Notes: 1) I CANNOT ACCEPT "COMPUTER PROBLEMS" AS AN EXCUSE FOR
WORK HANDED IN LATE. FOR EACH DAY A PAPER IS LATE YOU WILL LOSE A FULL
LETTER GRADE ON IT. 2) WORK ON THIS PAPER SHOULD BE ONLY YOUR OWN. TO
AVOID PLAGIARISM, DO NOT USE OUTSIDE SOURCES OR GET HELP IN YOUR WRITING
FROM ANOTHER PERSON.
Syllabus: Below is a list of readings for all classes. IMPORTANT: Please read your text's introductions to
each literary period we discuss and each writer and work assigned. You will be tested on these materials.
THE NEOCLASSICAL AND ROMANTIC PERIODS (@ 1785-1832)
JANUARY
T 11
Th 13
T 18
Th 20
T 25
Th 27
FEBRUARY
T1
Th 3
T8
Th 10
T 15
Introduction to the course
Introduction to the late eighteenth century and its changing social, political,
and cultural values. READ Norton Intro to Romanticism (1-24)
Pope: Rape of the Lock, 1714-17 (Download from the web: Search for "Rape of
the Lock" or Alexander Pope): “Rape” as an example of "Neoclassical" values, a
benchmark against which to measure late-eighteenth century cultural changes.
Pope: Rape of the Lock (continued)
Wordsworth: Preface to Lyrical Ballads; Prospectus to The Recluse
The Tables Turned (228), The Thorn (229-34)
"The English Controversy about the Revolution" (READ NORTON 117-37).
Wordsworth: The Prelude, Books 6-12, 14 (focus on 9-11)
Wordsworth: Lines Composed . . .Tintern Abbey, Nutting
Wordsworth: The Ruined Cottage, Michael
Wollstonecraft: Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Norton selections)
Blake:
Songs of Experience & Vision of the Last Judgment
Coleridge:
Biographia, CH. 4, 13 & 14;"Romantic Poets on Imagination" (Review:
WW: Prelude, Books 6, 12, 14; Blake: Vision of Last Judgment; READ Norton 2:161-63
"Apocalypse by Imagination".) Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Dejection: An Ode
Shelley:
Men of England, England 1819, Ode to the West Wind, Defense of
Th 17
Poetry (789-93)
T 22
Keats: On First Looking into Chapman's Homer; Sleep and Poetry; Keats's Letters, pp.
887-88, 892-300
Th 24
Keats:
Odes: On a Grecian Urn, To a Nightingale, On Melancholy.
Fall of Hyperion (lines 81-210)
MARCH
T1
Keats:
Ode: To Autumn; The Eve of St. Agnes
THE VICTORIAN PERIOD (1832-1901)
Th 3
T 8 & Th 10
T 15
Th 17
T 22
TH 24
T 29
Th 31
APRIL
T5
MIDTERM EXAM
SPRING BREAK
Norton:
Introduction to the Victorian Period
Carlyle:
Past and Present
Ruskin:
The Stones of Venice: "The Nature of Gothic"
READ:
"Industrialism" (pp. 1696-1719)
Tennyson:
Mariana, The Lady of Shalott, Locksley Hall, Ulysses
PAPERS DUE
EASTER BREAK
Tennyson:
In Memoriam (1127-76): READ poems 1-11, 21-22, 27-28, & 34-35, 48,
50, 54-56, 75, 78, 88-89, 95, 103-106, 118-21, 127-31, Epilogue
Browning:
My Last Duchess, The Bishop Orders His Tomb, The Laboratory,
Th 21
T 26
Th 28
"The Woman Question": All Norton selections, pp. 1719-38
John Stuart Mill: Subjection of Women (pp. 1155-66)
E.B.Browning: To George Sand (both), Sonnets from the Portuguese, Aurora Leigh.
C.Rossetti:
Norton selections, pp. 1584-89
C. Rossetti:
Norton selections, pp. 1589-1604, especially Goblin Market
NO CLASS
Arnold:
The Function of Criticism at the Present Time, To Marguerite--Cont'd,
The Scholar Gipsy, Dover Beach
Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest
Conrad:
Heart of Darkness
Conrad:
Heart of Darkness continued.-- Review for Final Exam
MAY 10
FINAL EXAM (9AM-12)
Th 7
T 12
Th 14
T 19
ENGLISH 262 PAPER ASSIGNMENT
Harrison
IMPORTANT NOTE: Be sure to provide a detailed and informative title (e.g., Moral Corruption and
Ideology in Wordsworth's Michael.) Use passages quoted from the text to support your argument(s).
Quotations of poetry three or more lines long are set off (indented) from your text and should be
reproduced EXACTLY as they appear in the original. Two or fewer lines of quoted poetry should be
incorporated run-on into your paragraph, but two lines should be separated by a slash (e.g., Wordsworth
describes the power of nature to sustain us during the worst moments in life: "There is a comfort in the
strength of love / `Twill make a thing endurable.") Lengthy prose quotations (ten or more lines) should
also be set off and, as with quoted poetry, followed by a parenthetical citation (e.g., N2, 1493-- indicating
the Norton Anthology, volume 2, page 1493). Put your name and a page number on each page of your
paper (preferably top right). Always keep a copy for your records. Your essays should be concise and
efficient, and a clear thesis statement should appear somewhere in your first paragraph. NOTE: You may
not use outside sources or obtain help from others in writing these papers. DOING SO WITHOUT
PROPERLY CREDITING YOUR SOURCES (INCLUDING WEBSITES) CONSTITUTES
PLAGIARISM.
A logical structure for your essay would include: 1) A general introduction to the topic and the work to be
discussed. 2) A statement of the specific issues to be treated. 3) Analysis of crucial passages from the
work or works you’ve chosen . 4) A conclusion that reviews your thesis and the major points you’ve
made to support it.
____________________________________________________________________________________
PAPER TOPICS: choose one
1. Compare and contrast attitudes toward social class, as they emerge in Wordsworth’s “Preface” to the
Lyrical Ballads and Carlyle’s Past and Present. That is, explain what each author has to say by way of
critique of the relations among members of the upper, middle, and/or lower classes.
2. Briefly analyze the “principal objects” of his poetry as stated by Wordsworth in the long paragraph
beginning on p. 241 of your text. Then explain how Keats’s poetic practice in “The Eve of St. Agnes”
diverges from Wordsworth’s principles. Be SURE to analyze in detail several full stanzas in “Eve” in
order to support your points.