Eng 222 – British Literature Survey II
Spring 2010
Professor Carol Erwin
Office: JWLA – 200
Telephone: 562-2135
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: M 8:15-9:30 & 1:00-2:30; T 8:30-10:30; W 8:15-9:30; or by appointment
Required Texts:
 The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt and M.H. Abrams.
Eighth Edition. Volume 2. New York: Norton, 2006
 Silas Marner by George Eliot
Course Description:
The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the works of British writers from the 19th
century and 20th century, focusing on how each text addresses 3 different issues: relationships
between humanity and nature, relationships between men and women, and representations of
moral codes. In studying 4 different genres (poetry, fiction, prose, drama), we will focus on how
literary movements and historical events shaped the way each writer portrayed these 3 different
issues.
Course Requirements:
Reading Responses and Writing Workshops (35%)
In order to do well in this course, you will need to consistently read the assigned texts before
class. Reading responses are designed to give you motivation to read, to help you understand the
text, and to practice skills needed to effectively complete the other course requirements.
Responses are due at the beginning of each class and may be turned in as a hard copy or
uploaded through Blackboard. Please read the handout on guidelines for the reading responses.
Writing workshops are in-class collaborative activities designed to help you improve your papers
before turning them in for a grade and/or to practice skills needed to write the final exam. I will
not accept major writing assignments unless you have participated in the writing workshop
or attended a tutoring session at the ENMU Writing Center.
NOTE: Class is cancelled on Friday, April 9th. Instead you are required to attend the Jack
William Lectureship (either the luncheon or the afternoon panels) and write a 1-2 page report. I
will provide more guidelines as the date approaches. For the writing workshop on May 5th, I will
administer a practice final exam. This workshop is worth 30 points.
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Major Papers (35%)
You will write three small papers throughout the semester: Poetry Explication – 3 full pages
(10%), Close Reading – 4 pages (10%), and Literary Analysis – 6-7 pages (15%). Each paper
builds upon skills learned in the previous paper and all are meant to help you understand how to
analyze literature and to write a well-structured final exam. I will deduct 20 points each day the
paper is late.
Final Exam (30%)
For the final exam, you will write a well-structured essay that examines how an important social
issue functions (including how and why this issue changes) in at least 4 literary works during the
3 major time periods. In order to effectively write this essay, you will need to 1) know major
characteristics of each time period, 2) identify important historical issues and how it affected
British society, 3) identify the specific issue and how it is functioning in each of the assigned
texts throughout the semester, and 4) use appropriate literary techniques for analyzing literature
(literary terms, close reading, etc). Your essay will examine one of the three issues below:
1. Examine the relationship between humanity and the natural world in designated texts.
When is nature represented as pure and innocent? How does that portrayal affect how
people understand themselves as individuals, their relationship with God, scientific
studies, social responsibility, etc? What factors influence representations of nature as
indifferent or opposing mankind? How do representations of nature affirm or criticize
Britain‘s national identity? How does nature affirm or criticize other important social
issues like industrialism or war?
2. Examine representations of gender in designated texts. What kinds of roles are deemed
appropriate for each gender (intellect, work, marriage, child rearing, etc)? How are the
men and women portrayed when they do not conform to social standards? How do texts
represent marriage (both good and bad models)? Do texts romanticize marriage or try to
deconstruct that institution? Why? How do gender roles and marriage relate to political
and economic concerns like industrialism and war?
3. Examine representations of moral codes (or deviation of morals) for each time period.
Moral codes include religious views, definitions of truth, behavior in both private and
public spaces, individuals‘ responsibility to others, and individuals‘ responsibility to
society. What moral codes are significant for each time period? How do texts represent
those moral codes? Are they didactic (the text is meant to teach a moral to the readers)?
Do they oppose commonly-accepted moral standards? Do they satirize moral codes?
How does each time period address the moral codes of its predecessors? How are moral
codes connected to national stances on industrialism, the economy, politics, war, etc?
NOTE: For the final exam, I will select 8 texts for each of the questions. You will not receive
these lists until the day of the final exam. You will choose one of the questions and write an
essay (with a specific thesis statement) using 4 of the texts listed under that question. You will
need to use at least 1 text from each time period and at least 3 of the 4 genres (poetry, prose,
fiction, or drama).
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Attendance
Regular attendance and class participation is expected. Students who miss more than 2 weeks of
classes with unexcused absences (6 class sessions) cannot pass this course. You may not make
up reading responses or writing workshops when absent. The only exception to this rule is
absences for school-sponsored events. Participation in school-sponsored activities does not
relieve you of the obligation to meet the stated requirements of the course, however. It is your
responsibility to make arrangements with me for any missed work. Arrangements for make-up
work must be made in advance of the absence.
Regular attendance will result in the following privileges:
0-1 absences --- one extra point added to the final grade
revision of all essays
bring notes to final exam
2-3 absences --- revision of 1 essay
bring notes to final exam
Plagiarism:
All submitted work is expected to be the result of your own thought, research, and selfexpression. When you submit work purporting to be your own, but which borrows ideas or
wording from another source without appropriate acknowledgment of that fact, you are guilty of
plagiarism—a serious academic offense. Consequences for plagiarism or cheating can include
failure of the assignment in question or failure and expulsion from the course. If you feel unsure
over a question of plagiarism, you should consult with me before submitting the assignment.
Disruptive Behavior Policy:
You are not to disrupt the class. If you are being disruptive, you may be ejected from the
classroom and counted absent for the day. Examples of disruptive behavior include frivolous
interruption of lectures, student presentations or course discussions; answering of cell phones;
reading of newspapers; checking of email or text messages; or rude behavior toward fellow
students or the instructor.
Disability Policy
Students who require special accommodations due to disabilities must notify the instructor and
register with the Office of Disability Services/Testing. The Office of Disability Services/Testing
is located in the Student Academic Services Building, room 186, at phone number (575) 5622280. Students do not qualify for accommodations until they have registered.
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TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Jan.
20
Intro to course
Guidelines for reading responses
The Romantic Period (1785-1830)
Feb.
22
Reading Response #1
Blake: Songs of Innocence – ―Introduction,‖ ―The Lamb,‖
―Chimney Sweeper,‖ ―Holy Thursday‖
Songs of Experience – ―Introduction,‖ ―Holy Thursday,‖
―Chimney Sweeper,‖ ―The Sick Rose,‖ ―The Tyger‖
25
Reading Response #2
Wordsworth: ―Simon Lee,‖ ―We are Seven,‖ ―Tintern Abbey‖
From Preface to Lyrical Ballads (263-74)
27
Reading Response #3
Coleridge: ―The Rime of the Ancient Mariner‖
―Frost at Midnight,‖ Biographia Literaria (474-478)
29
Poetry Workshop
1
Reading Response #4
Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (167-95)
3
Reading Response #5
Austen: ―Love and Friendship: A Novel‖ (515-35)
5
Discussion of Poetry Explication Paper
8
Reading Response #6
Bryon: ―She walks in beauty,‖ ―When we two parted‖
Keats: ―La Belle Dame sans Merci‖ ―Ode to Nightingale‖
―Ode to Grecian Urn‖
10
Reading Response #7
Percy Shelley: ―A Song: ‗Men of England‘‖
―Ode to the West Wind‖ ―To a Sky-Lark‖
Clare: ―I Am‖
12
Poetry Writing Workshop
Draft of Poetry Explication
15
President‘s Day – No Class
The Victorian Age (1830-1901)
17
Reading Response #8
Mill: From On Liberty (1051-1060)
Mill: From The Subjection of Women (1060-1070)
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Mar.
19
Reading Response #9
Tennyson: ―Mariana‖ ―The Lady of Shallot‖
Browning: ―Porphyria‘s Lover‖ ―My Last Duchess‖
22
Poetry Explication Due
Reading Response #10
Bronte: ―I‘m happiest when most away‖ ―The Night-Wind‖
―Stars‖
C. Rossetti: ―Goblin Market‖
The ―Woman Question‖ (1584-1588)
24
Reading Response #11
Eliot: Silas Marner (Chap I – VIII)
26
Close Reading Workshop
Discussion of Close Reading Paper
1
Reading Response #12
Eliot: Silas Marner (Chap IX – XV)
3
Reading Response #13
Eliot: Silas Marner (Chap XVI – Conclusion)
5
Close Reading Workshop
Draft of Close Reading
8
Reading Response #14
Stevenson: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
10
Close Reading Paper Due
View Film
12
Reading Response #15
Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest
View Film
15
Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest
Twentieth Century and After
17
Reading Response #16
Hardy: ―Drummer Hodge‖ ―The Darkling Thrush‖
―The Ruined Maid‖ ―Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?‖
―Channel Firing‖
19
View Film on Heart of Darkness
--------------------------------------------------Spring Break--------------------------------------------------29
Reading Response #17
Conrad: Heart of Darkness
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Apr.
May
31
Discussion of Heart of Darkness
2
Reading Response # 18
Houseman ―To an Athlete Dying Young‖
Owen: ―Anthem for Doomed Youth‖ ―Dulce Et Decorum Est‖
Yeats: ―Adam‘s Curse‖ ―Easter 1916‖
5
Reading Response # 19
Wolf: A Room of One’s Own (2092-2152)
7
Assessment Day – No Classes
9
Jack Williamson Lectureship
12
Lectureship Report Due
Discussion of Literary Analysis Paper
14
Reading Response # 20
Joyce: ―The Dead‖ (2172 – 2200)
16
Reading Response #21
Lawrence: ―The Horse Dealer‘s Daughter‖ (2258-2269)
19
Reading Response #22
Smith: ―Our Bog is Dood‖ ―Pretty‖
Auden: ―Musee des Beaux Arts‖
Larkin: ―Church Going‖ ―Homage to a Government‖
―The Unknown Citizen‖
21
Literary Analysis Workshop
Draft of Literary Analysis Paper
23
Reading Response #23
Gordimer: ―The Moment the Gun Went Off‖ (2575-2578)
Munro: ―Walker Brothers Cowboy‖ (2715-2725)
26
Reading Response #24
Boland (handouts)
28
Literary Analysis Paper Due
Discussion of Final Exam
30
Class Canceled
3
Reading Response #25
Stoppard: Arcadia
5
7
10
Writing Workshop – Practice Final Exam
Review for Final Exam
FINAL – 10:15 to 12:15
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