ENGLISH 314: Brit. Lit. after 1800, Conrad

Fall 2006
Tuesdays, 7-9:45 pm
4019 Wescoe Hall

Professor Kathryn Conrad
Office hours:  202 Nunemaker, Tuesdays 1-3, by appointment other days & times
Office phone: 4-3314
E-mail (best way to reach me): kconrad @ ku.edu
Course website:  http://people.ku.edu/~kconrad/314f06.html
Blackboard website (for discussion blogs, grades): https://courseware.ku.edu/webapps/login/?campus_id=1

new!: Update of "fair game" texts.
Skip to...[Course description & grading policy] [Other resources] [Reading and assignment schedule]    

Prerequisites (from University timetable):
    Admission to English courses numbered 300 and above is limited to students who have completed the freshman-sophomore English requirements or their equivalents. All students are required to enroll in ENGL 101 and to remain continuously enrolled in ENGL 101 or ENGL 102 until ENGL 102 (or ENGL 105) has been completed.   All CLAS students, as well as students from several other schools, are also required to complete a 200-level English class.
 
Enrollment (from University timetable) :
Students may neither add nor change sections in any English course after August 22, 2006, without departmental permission. For courses numbered above 200, instructor's permission is required to add or change sections.
    The Department of English reserves the right to terminate administratively the enrollment of any student who misses two consecutive class meetings during the first two weeks of the semester. Should an emergency situation cause the student to miss two consecutive class meetings, the student should contact the instructor(s) or the English Department, 864-4520, immediately. Students are expected to submit promptly requests to drop should they decide to disenroll from English classes.

Recording of Classes:  At KU, course  materials prepared by the instructor, together with the content of lectures, are the property of the instructor. Video and audio recording of lectures without the consent of the instructor is prohibited.  On request, the instructor will usually grant permission for students to audio tape lectures, on the condition that these audio tapes are only used as a study aid by the individual making the recording. Unless explicit permission is obtained from the instructor, recordings of lectures may not be modified and must not be transferred or transmitted to any other person, whether or not that individual is enrolled in the course. (Adopted from KU Faculty Council statement)

Course description and texts:
This course is a survey of British literature of the Romantic, Victorian, Modernist, and contemporary periods. We will be concerned in this course not only with close readings of the literature and literary form but also with some of the political and social issues that serve as context for the literature. Our readings will include essays, poetry, drama, short fiction, and novels. Do note that this will be a poetry-intensive course.

    These books are available for purchase.

Grades consist of three major components:
1. 15%:  Attendance, participation in discussion (online and in class), group work, and short assignments.  Students will be expected to access materials online and participate in Blackboard discussion blogs. Students must participate in the Blake blog, the Virginia Woolf blog, any blog discussions that replaced days cancelled by the University or Prof. Conrad, and in at least four others. All readings to be completed by date listed on the syllabus.  Students are expected to attend every class and should contact me by e-mail (kconrad @ ku.edu)  before your absence if you must miss class. Three unexcused absences will result in failure of this course.
 2.  30%:  Exams: a midterm and final examination (identification and short essay) as listed on the syllabus. (15 % each.)
 3.  55%:  Two papers of 2000 words.  Paper topics will be available online two weeks prior to the due date; see links to topics below in the Reading and Assignment schedule. At least one paper must be on a poem.  Please see plagiarism policy below.  Paper topics and guidelines for papers are also available on the Blackboard website.
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Other resources:
Plagiarism:
    Plagiarism is stealing and passing off someone else's ideas or words as one's  own or using information from another's work without crediting the source.  Any detected cheating offense--including but not limited to plagiarism; the unauthorized use of crib sheets, texts, or other materials during an examination or quiz; the copying of another student's work (even with the permission or aid of that student, who is thereby culpable); the use of prewritten essays (the student's own or someone else's); the uncredited adoption of another writer's interpretation of a work; or the unauthorized use of work written for another assignment or class--will be reported to the University. A record of each verified offense will be kept throughout the student's association with the University (Adopted from FSE statement).
     Plagiarism is not a game, nor is it simply a "shortcut" when time presses.  It is a very serious form of academic misconduct and will be treated as such in this class. When you consult outside sources for ideas--through published or unpublished essays, interviews, the Internet, conversation, etc.--you must cite those sources in your work. I understand that academic work can be daunting: if you are struggling with an assignment, are unclear about my expectations, or are behind on your work, please consult me. There is always a better path than plagiarism; I can work with you to help you find your own voice while incorporating others' ideas appropriately. If after reading the statement above, you are still unclear about what constitutes  plagiarism, ask me BEFORE turning in an assignment.
    A plagiarized  assignment will result in failure of the assignment (no credit given); it also impacts your larger course grade more than a paper that merely receives an F, and will usually result in failure of the course. The Department of English has a zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism. Formal records are currently kept by the Department of English and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. I may also send a copy of the plagiarism form to the home department or school of any student who is found to have plagiarized.

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Reading and assignment schedule 

This schedule is likely to change.  For the most accurate reading and assignment schedule, pay attention to updates given in class.  Updates will eventually be reflected on this website.

All readings should be completed by the day listed on the syllabus.  Online discussions are listed on the date on which they are likely to start; the due date for participating in the discussion for credit is listed in parentheses (although of course you are welcome to discuss beyond the deadline).  All texts, including online discussion texts, marked with * before them are fair game for the midterm and final, even if not discussed in the classroom.

August 22: Introduction.
Course outline and goals.
Introduction to the Romantic period.
Online discussion (before August 29):  Blake, from *Songs of Innocence and *Songs of Experience 156-166; 169-183
Recommended:  Browse illuminated Blake plates at The William Blake Archive.  (It'll take you a few clicks to get to the pictures, but once there, you'll have a huge range of choices.  When you get to an actual poem, you can use the center menu to look at different versions [click the "compare" button] and you can also enlarge the images.)

August 29: The Romantic period (Longman Vol 2A)
Blake, poems from *Songs of Innocence and *Songs of Experience 156-166; 169-183
see also color plates 6 - 9 at the beginning of Vol 2A
browse Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell 183-196
Blake, "Jerusalem" at Poet's Corner (also available on Wikipedia and other sites.) new!
Recommended:  Browse illuminated Blake plates at The William Blake Archive.  (see note above)
Online discussion (before September 5): W. Wordsworth, *"Preface to Lyrical Ballads" 408-420.

September 5: 
The Romantic period
W. Wordsworth,*"Preface to Lyrical Ballads" 408-420
  *"Composed upon Westminster Bridge, Sept. 3, 1802  450
  *"I wandered lonely as a cloud" 526
  *"Ode:  Intimations of Immortality..." 528 
 
"Surprized by joy" 536
D. Wordsworth, *"A Field of Daffodils," from Grasmere Journals 555
    "Thoughts on My Sick-bed" 548
Joanna Baillie, *"London" 362
Online discussion (before September 12): Robinson and Coleridge.

September 12:
Coleridge
  *"The Eolian Harp" 572
  *"Kubla Khan" (with preface) 614
  *"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" 580
Mary Robinson, *"To the Poet Coleridge" 616
Online discussion (before September 19): Shelley and Keats.

September 19:The Romantic period
Keats
  *"La Belle Dame sans Mercy" (both versions) 946-949
  *"Ode on a Grecian Urn" 955
Shelley
    from *"A Defence of Poetry" 867-876
    "To Wordsworth" 816
  *"Ozymandias" 823
  *"Ode to the West Wind" 835 

September 26:The Romantic period & the Victorian period.
Bronte, *Jane Eyre (1st half, through Jane's arrival at Thornfield.)
Online discussion (before October 3): *Jane Eyre.

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October 3: The Romantic period & the Victorian period (Longman Vol 2B)
Bronte,*Jane Eyre (finish).
Online discussion:  Jane Eyre; the Victorians; Darwin, from The Descent of Man 1362-68 (NOT on midterm).
Paper #1 due (first draft)

October 10:
MIDTERM EXAMINATION. No rescheduling without detailed medical documentation. Exam will only take 1 1/2 hours.

October 12, 11:59 pm:  Paper #1 due.  If you don't have it by Wednesday (before fall break), send it by e-mail (.rtf, .doc, or .pdf--.txt if you're desperate) and bring a hard copy to class on Oct. 17.


Note: asterisks from here on out denote material that is fair game for the final.
October 17:
C. Rossetti, *"Goblin Market" 1731
Darwin, from *The Descent of Man 1362-68
R. Browning, *"Porphyria's Lover" 1411
  *"My Last Duchess"  1415
Arnold, *"Dover Beach" 1662
Recommended: Scott McCloud's adaptation of "Porphyria's Lover" and Anthony Hecht's "Dover Bitch" 1663.
Online discussion (before October 23):
W.S. Gilbert, "If You're Anxious for to Shine in the High Aesthetic Line" 2063; Wilde, Preface to Picture to Dorian Gray 2002 and Aphorisms 2044 

October 24: The Fin de Siecle Wilde, "Preface to the Picture of Dorian Gray" 2002
Preface to Picture to Dorian Gray 2002
Wilde, Aphorisms 2044 
*Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest 2004-2043

October 31:The Modern Period (Longman Vol 2C)
*
Vorticist manifesto 2310

Eliot, *"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" 2509-2512
Yeats, *"The Second Coming" 2399
          "Sailing to Byzantium" 2401
Online discussion (before November 7): Modernism.

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November 7: The Modern Period
Joyce, *"Nausicaa,"from Ulysses 2473-2495
Joyce, selection from Finnegans Wake 2501-2505

Paper topics for paper #2 ready!

November 14: The Modern Period
Virginia Woolf, *Mrs. Dalloway (2556-2655).
Online discussion (before November 21): Woolf.

November 21: The Modern Period
Virginia Woolf,* Mrs. Dalloway (finish).

November 28: The Modern Period
Auden,
*"Museé des Beaux Arts" 2903

Bruegel's Icarus painting at http://web.sbu.edu/theology/bychkov/bruegel_icarus.html
  "In Memory of W.B. Yeats" 2904
  "Lullaby" 2908
  *"September 1, 1939" 2909
Online discussion (before Dec. 5):  What is British literature?

December 5: Contemporary "British" Literature
Last day; final evaluations
Heaney, *"Punishment" 3057
ní Dhomhnaill, "Why I Choose to Write in Irish, or, The Corpse That Sits Up and Talks Back" 3100-3108
  *"As for the Quince" 3099
Monty Python, *"Travel Agent" 2832 
Walcott, *"A Far Cry from Africa" 3047
[Note: online discussion after December 5 does not count as one of the 4 total required discussion postings, although it does count toward the more general participation grade.]

First draft of paper #2 due.

December 8 (STOP DAY): Paper due by 5 pm.  You may drop off a copy with the receptionist at Nunemaker or send it to me at my e-mail address.  

December 12:
FINAL EXAMINATION, 7-9 pm (regular classroom).  Rescheduling available for students with conflicting final examination times, following University rescheduling rules. Students must make arrangements prior to December 12!

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