ENGL 2323 British Literature in the 19th and 20th Centuries

1. To present the chronological study of British literature from around 1798
through the present.

2. To introduce the student to the various genres, movements, and styles of literature found with- in the chronological period. Here genre implicates epic, tragic, comic, and lyric forms of literature.

3. To acquaint the student with the historical, religious, social, intellectual, and economic
influences affecting British literature and the English language.

4. To develop the rhetorical skills taught in freshman English especially as they apply to critical analyses papers and an informative or argumentative research paper or term project.

5. To help students recognize form and pattern in literary works as a means of understanding their meanings.

6. To help students understand the influence of race, class, and gender on literature
and interpretation.

1. To know the chronology of period covered by the course in terms of the historical,
political, literary, religious, and economic FACTS presented in the text, class notes,
and study aids.

2. To apply the characteristics of a specific movement or style or genre to specific
works of literature, realizing a fuller understanding of the meaning of epic, tragedy, comedy, and the lyric.

3. To comprehend basic historical, religious, social, intellectual, and economic influences on British literature and on the English language.

4. To demonstrate rhetorical skills taught in freshman composition especially as they apply to critical analyses and an informative or argumentative research paper or term project.

5. To recognize and evaluate form and pattern in literary works as a means of understanding their meaning.

6. To evaluate and understand the influence of race, class, and gender on literature and the history of ideas in eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century thought, especially in terms of the society and culture.

INSTRUMENTS STUDENT COMPETENCIES
ASSESSED
__________________________________________________________

1. Objective quizzes #1, #3

2. Objective exams
Essay Exams
[Mid-term] #2, #3, #4, #5, #6

3. Major critical
papers #2, #3, #4, #5, #6

4. Major term or
research
project #2, #4, #6

5. Final examination
[comprehensive] #3, #4, #5, #6

1. Quizzes...........................................10%

2. Two Hour Exams or
One Mid-Term Exam........................20%

3. Three Critical Papers.......................30%

4. Research Paper, Term Project,
or Major Critical Paper......................20%

5. Final Examination
[Comprehensive]................................20%

Quizzes and objective sections of examinations: Scale 1-100 with 70% minimum competency. The grading scale is as follows: "A" = 100-90;
"B" = 89-80; "C" = 79-70; "D" 69-60; "F"= Below 70%. Essay examinations, critical papers, and term research papers or projects evaluated in terms of departmental "Grading Standards" (Distributed as part of the course material).

Attendance is expected and required; refer to the Bulletin for a statement of the regulations concerning attendance. Acquaint yourself, in addition, with the academic calendar. You will find important dates concerning deadlines in terms of non-performance and performance grades, i.e., drop dates. On the occasion of your maximum allowed cuts, you will be dropped from the course.

Late papers will be penalized one letter grade per class day it is not turned in.

A word concerning plagiarism. The standard definition of the verb "to plagiarize" includes the following: "(1) To steal and use the ideas or writings of another as one's own. (2) To appropriate passages and ideas from and use them as one's own." Curiously enough, the Latin plagiarius (plunderer) forms the base of this word [American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition]. The consequences of plagiarism are serious. You may fail the assignment, the course, or even be dismissed from college. When in doubt, always give credit to your source. It is wise to err in the direction of excessive documentation. You will be informed about the nature of plagiarism as it applies to critical papers, research papers, and term projects.

Stephen Greenblatt, ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume II. [Eighth Edition]
W.W. Norton, 2006.

A nineteenth-century novel. TBA

ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READING

In this course you will be asked to read essays and illustrative material, some of which shall be distributed to you in class. You will find many of these essays on line. http://lonestar.texas.net/~mseifert/eng2323mainpage.html

You will be asked to view the following video films, some of which shall be part of the class activities. Copies of these videos will be available in the SLAC for use in that department only. In addition, arrangements have been made with the LRC, Media Services, for you to view the films in the LRC. Thus, the SLAC and the LRC will have the materials you will need for the supplemental, required reading and viewing in this course.

1. The Story of English Parts I and III (among others)
2. William Wordsworth and English Romanticism
3. The Smile of Reason (Lord Kenneth Clark in the Civilisation
series)
4. The Power of Myth (Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers)*

The dates for examinations, papers, and term projects are announced., on the written copies of test reviews and paper assignments. Classroom activities, the order of material, and the dates on which projects, etc., are due are subject to chang

1. Course Introduction. The Reaction to the Scientific Deism of the Eighteenth century. Mozart and Wagner Compared

2. The Romantic Revolution: Background Readings as follows: (a) Towards a Definition of Romanticism Morse Peckham (b) "Romaticism" McGinn and Howerton

3. Romantic Writers studied in the following order:

(a) Blake
(b) Burns
(c) Wordsworth
(d) Coleridge
(e) Byron
(f) Shelley
(g) Keats

[You will be writing two papers covering the Romantic period. You will be receiving specific instructions on the topics which follow: (a) "Using Morse Peckham's definitions of Romanticism, discuss the Romantic hero in poems of Wordsworth and Coleridge." (b) "The Romatic implications of the Pastoral Elegy in Adonais by Shelley.]

1. General Introduction to the Victorian Period:

(a) The Condition of England Question
(b) The Position of Women Question
(c) The Victorian Soul Crisis
(d) The Question of Empire and Imperialism

2. Background Readings for the Period

Various essays in the Norton Anthology concerning the
Victorian Period, including sections of major works by
Darwin, Huxley, Spencer, Mill, Marx and Engles.

3. Victorian Writers Studied in the Following Order:

(a) Thomas Carlyle
(b) Alfred, Lord Tennyson
(c) Edward Fitzgerald (Rubyiat)
(d) Robert Browning
(e) Elizabeth Barret Browning
(f) Matthew Arnold
(g) Joseph Conrad
(h) Charles Dickens

[You will be preparing for two activities: (Examination and a research paper which you will present before the class) The examination will center upon the writers in #3 above. The research paper will focus upon one of the four areas in #1 above. In both cases you will be given specific guidelines for study and presentation.]

1. General Introduction to The Modern and Postmodern Age

(a) The Oxford Movement
(b) World War I and its Implications
(c) What is Modernism?
(e) What do we mean by Postmodernism?

2. Twentieth-Century Writers Studied in the Following Order:

(a) T.S. Eliot
(b) William Butler Yeats
(c) James Joyce
(d) Samuel Beckett

[You will be preparing for the final examination and the final, major paper. The examination will be comprehensive--everything from day one of the course--and the final paper will focus upon the implications of the modern and postmodern ages, specifically centering upon the way literature responds to the problems of twentieth-century mankind.]