“…few people ask from books what books can give us…Do not dictate to your author; try to become him. Be his fellow worker and accomplice. If you hang back, and reserve and criticise at first, you are preventing yourself from getting the fullest possible value from what you read. But if you open your mind as widely as possible, then signs and hints of almost imperceptible fineness, from the twist and turn of the first sentences, will bring you into the presence of a human being unlike any other.”      —Virginia Woolf

A Word About the Literary "Periods"

As we progress through the term, keep in mind that literary periods or movements are contested categories. The Romanticism, Victorianism, Modernism, and Postmodernism we’ll study in this class are long-time standard "stories," and still the most dominant or commonly told (if the Norton Anthology is accepted as the authority on such matters). But they are by no means the only way to frame an understanding of literature from the mid 18th century to the present--or any other time.

 

English 252

British Literature II

Schedule

Last updated: June 4, 2008

After each date below are tentative class activities, possible items due (in red), and a list of readings for that day. Readings in BOLD will be given special attention in class; read them extra carefully. (Other items not bolded may also get close attention in class.) If you miss a class, remember that it's your responsibility to contact a couple classmates for full and careful notes, then see me if you have any specific questions, need a handout, or wish to make up an assignment. Email me anytime: Cindy.Nichols@ndsu.edu

Note: class activities are tentative and subject to change. Reading assignments may be subject to minor changes, with advance notice. For the most up-to-date schedule details, always check online (note the "Last updated" date at the top of this page), or email classmates or me.

 

Tues. May 13—Romantic Period.

Today, read:

A simplified (maybe oversimplified) discussion of Romanticism by a student.

"The Romantic Period 1785-1830," pp. 1-25.

"The Revolution Controversy and the 'Spirit of the Age'," pp. 148-149.

Volume D of The Norton Anthology:

Anna Letitia Barbauld:

  • "Anna Letitia Barbaud," p. 26.
  • "The Mouse's Petition," p. 27-28.
  • "An Inventory of the Furniture in Dr. Priestley's Study," pp. 28-29.
  • "A Summer Evening's Meditation," pp. 29-32.
  • "To a Little Invisible Being Who Is Expected Soon to Become Visible," pp. 36-37.
  • "Washing-Day," pp. 37-38.

William Wordsworth:

  • "William Wordsworth 1770-1850," 243-245.
  • "Lines Written in Early Spring," p. 250.
  • "My hearts leaps up," p. 306.
  • "I wandered lonely as a cloud," pp. 305-306.
  • "The world is too much with us," p. 319.
  • "Lines: Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey...," pp. 258-262.
  • "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood," pp. 308-312.
  • Skim-read "Preface to Lyrical Ballads (1802)," pp. 262-263, but read carefully these selected passages (print out these passages and bring to class next time).
  • Pope's couplets

In (and after) Class

  • *MEET IN MINARD 215*
  • Course introduction.
  • Adjourn early to start reading!
  • Print out Wordsworth questions. You don't need to complete this sheet, but look over the questions and give them some thought for the 14th.

Wed. May 14—Romantic Period.

Before Class

Read "Leaving Kansas."

Read Samuel Taylor Coleridge:

  • "Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772-1834," pp. 424-426.
  • "Kubla Khan: Or, a Vision in a Dream. A Fragment," pp. 446-448.
  • "Frost at Midnight," pp. 464-466. (Read this poem with footnotes carefully; mark any areas that confuse you.)
  • "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," pp. 430-446.
  • Look at early illustrations for "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Some of these are pretty cool.
  • "The Eolian Harp," pp. 426-428.
  • "The Lime-Tree Bower My Prison," pp. 428-430.
  • from Coleridge's "Biographia Literaria":
    • top of p. 476 (starting with "It was not however the freedom from false taste") to end of that section on the same page;
    • p. 476, section starting at bottom ("Fancy and Imagination—The Investigation of the Distinction Important to the Fine Arts"), up to "Chapter 14," 478;
    • top of 482 (starting with "What is poetry" in the second paragraph) to near the end of p. 484 and the conclusion of that section.

In Class

  • *MEET IN MINARD 215*
  • Review course introduction.
  • Discuss imitation assignment #1.
  • Discuss Barbauld, Wordsworth, Coleridge: from the domestic to the visionary.
  • Compare blank verse popular among Romantics with couplets popular in the preceding century, and implications.
  • Begin Pandemonium (2 hrs. 4 min. total).

 

Thurs. May 15—Romantic Period.

Before Class

In Class  

  • Completed worksheet, "Reading Coleridge: Study Questions" due. Post this in Blackboard "Discussion Board," in the Forum titled "POST COMPLETED WORKSHEETS HERE."
  • Finish Pandemonium.

 

Fri. May 16—Romantic Period.

Before Class

  • Complete Blake, Keats, and Clare worksheet (located in BB Discussion Board, "GET WORKSHEETS HERE" Forum).
  • Take a look at Oral Performances assignment.
  • William Blake:

    • Take a look at (browse, skim) all material from pp. 76-102. Blake is insanely incredible (incredibly insane), but we don't have time to do much more than take a glance. Please look closely, though, at a few passages from his sweeping mythopoetic narratives and meditations, as well as some of the little lyrics (from his Songs of Innocence and of Experience) such as "The Lamb," pp. 83-84 and "The Tyger," pp. 92-93; the two different chimney sweeper pieces—one on p. 85 and one on p. 90—; the two Nurse poems—one on pp. 86-87 and one on pp. 90-91; "The Garden of Love," p. 94; "The Clod & the Pebble," p. 89; and so on.

  • Do a little prosody review on your own. Browse and skim this link on poetry and form
  • Read all of John Clare, pp. 850-864.

  • Read John Keats (poet of earth?):
    • "John Keats 1795-1821," pp. 878-880.
    • "Ode to a Nightingale" (perhaps compare to John Clare's "The Nightingale's Nest" on pp. 851-853).
    • "To Autumn," p. 925.
    • from "Poems in Process": "To Autumn," pp. A10-A11.
    • "Ode on Melancholy," pp. 907-908.

In Class  

  • Completed Blake-Keats-Clare worksheet due. Post this in Blackboard "Discussion Board," in the Forum titled, "POST COMPLETED WORKSHEETS HERE."
  • Finish discussion of Pandaemonium, and research accuracy.
  • Formulate general conclusions about Romanticism and its various strains.
  • Discuss Blake, Keats, Clare.
  • Brainstorm possible Romantic essay topics and approaches.
  • In one or two groups, produce an imaginary interview. See instructions in our Discussion Board.
  • Plant poems.

Mon. May 19—Romantic Period.

Before Class

In Class

  • Instructor will be away on a state Humanities Council trip. Class members WILL meet.
  • Imitative draft due. Come to class with a copy of your draft for your peers to read. Click here for peer critique form . (You can just write out your responses to the questions on a piece of notepaper, or on the back of the draft itself. OR find the form in Blackboard "Discussion Board," type in your responses, and email your completed critique to your classmate.)
  • EMAIL YOUR DRAFT TO INSTRUCTOR. I'll try to get feedback to you while I'm on the road.
  • Finish imaginary interviews, if necessary.

 

Tues. May 20—Victorian Period.

Outside of class

Volume E of The Norton Anthology, "The Victorian Age 1830-1901," pp. 979-1001.

"The 'Woman Question': The Victorian Debate About Gender," pp. 1581-1583.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

  • "Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806-1861," pp. 1077-1079.
  • "The Cry of the Children," pp. 1079-1082.
  • "The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point," pp. 1085-1092.
  • Peruse/skim "Aurora Leigh," pp. 1092-1106.
  • "Mother and Poet," pp. 1106-1109.

Charles Dickens:

  • Charles Dickens 1812-1870, pp. 1236-1239.
  • "From Hard Times [Coketown]," pp. 1573-1574.
  • Read first 2-3 chapters of Hard Times online (choose one of the following links):
  • Matthew Arnold:
    • "Mathew Arnold 1822-1888," pp. 1350-1354.
    • "Dover Beach," p. 1368-1369.
    • Skim and peruse Arnold's critical prose work.
  • John Stuart Mill:

    Skim and peruse well: "From The Subjection of Women," pp. 1061-1070.

No Class!

  • Instructor will be away on a state Humanities Council trip. Class members will NOT meet.
  • Independent work: read and study Power Point presentation on Victorian period (in BB "Course Documents") and complete possible worksheet.


Wed. May 21—Victorian Period.

Before Class

"The Victorian Age " (visual arts), pp. C9-C16.

Robert Browning:

(Read all of the below, of course, but pick the one you think is most worth our attention and come to class prepared especially to discuss that one. You might also pick just a particular passage of a longer work. For instance, there are some very amusing and also philosophical passages in "Fra Lippo Lippi," which would be fun to discuss. In any case, pick something and come prepared to discuss what you like about the piece and what makes it good poetry.)

  • "Robert Browning 1812-1889," pp. 1248-1252.
  • "Porphyria's Lover," pp. 1252-1253.
  • "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister," pp. 1253-1255.
  • "My Last Duchess," pp. 1255-1256.
  • "The Lost Leader," pp. 1256-1257 (about Wordsworth).
  • "Love Among the Ruins," pp. 1264-1266 (take a look at form here).
  • "Fra Lippo Lippi," pp. 1271-1280.
  • "A Grammarian's Funeral," pp. 1286-1289.

Alfred Lord Tennyson :

  • "Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809-1892," pp. 1109-1112.
  • "The Charge of the Light Brigade," pp. 1188-1189 (skim-read and note metrics: they gallop like the horses!).
  • "The Lady of Shalott," pp. 1114-1118.
  • ["The Woman's Cause Is Man's"], pp. 1136-1137. (Draw connections to John Stuart Mill's "The Subjection of Women"? )
  • "In Memoriam A.H.H.," pp. 1138-1139; then #1-5, 22, 27 (recognize those final lines?), 34, 35, 39, 50, 54, 55, 57, 88, 96 (value of doubt), 106, 108 (sorrow as wisdom), 118 (influence of Darwin and science of the day) , 124, 129 & 130 (resolving grief), and "From Epilogue."

In Class

  • Completed Romantic imitative poems due. Include draft with instructor comments and peer critiques.   *Deadline extended.*
  • Romantic oral performances due. Each person will perform for roughly 5 minutes. You really do need to practice for this--it will be obvious if you haven't!
  • Review Power Point on Victorian period.
  • Close reading of Tennyson and Browning. Tennyson's voice recorded!
  • Share selected passages of Browning which you've picked out.

Thurs. May 22—Victorian Period.

Before class

Read/peruse Norton online Topics of the Victorian Period.

Gerard Manley Hopkins:

  • "Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844-1889," pp. 1513-1516.
  • "God's Grandeur," p. 1516.
  • "The Starlight Night," pp. 1516-1517.
  • "As Kingfishers Catch Fire," pp. 1517.
  • "The Windhover," p. 1518.
  • "Pied Beauty, p. 1518.
  • "Spring and Fall: to a young child," p. 1521.
  • "[Carrion Comfort], pp. 1521-1522.
  • "I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day," pp. 1522-1523.
  • "Thou art indeed just, Lord," p. 1524.
  • "from Journal," pp. 1524-1526.
  • from ""Poems in Process": "Gerald Manley Hopkins: "Thou art indeed just, Lord," p. A18 .
  • Select and read one of the following:

Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, pp. 1643-1685.

—OR—

Oscar Wilde, "The Importance of Being Earnest," pp. 1699-1740.

Recommended: Elizabeth Gaskell: "Elizabeth Gaskell 1810-1865," pp. 1221-1222 and "The Old Nurse's Story," pp. 1222-1236 (great ghost story!) Also: From The Critic as Artist," pp. 1689-1697 and "Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray," pp. 1697-1698.

In Class

  • Touch on Gaskell. Work with Tennyson and Hopkins.
  • Report on Stevenson or Wilde.
  • Discuss Victorian imitations.
  • Discuss upcoming major essay assignment.
  • Pre-midterm study.
  • Take-home exam assigned.

 

Fri. May 23—

  • Draft of Victorian imitation due. Bring 2 copies. Peer critques.
  • Final version of Romantic imitation due (hard copy in class). (This deadline was originally Wed., the 21st.)
  • In-class portion of exam.

Mon. May 26—Memorial Day.

 

Tues. May 27—Modernism.

Before Class

Practice your Victorian performance!

Volume F of The Norton Anthology, "The Twentieth Century and After," pp. 1827-1847, and "Modernist Manifestos," pp. 1996-2019.

Recommended: Christopher Witcombe on Modernism.

 

 

In Class

  • Midterm Exam (take-home portion) due in Blackboard Discussion Board by class time.
  • Victorian performances due.
  • Begin work with Modernists.

 

Wed. May 28—Modernism.

Before Class

Browse Google index: definitions of "stream of consciousness."

Virginia Woolf:

  • "Virginia Woolf 1882-1941," pp. 2080-2082.
  • Mrs. Dalloway, pp. 1-120.
  • A good short piece about Jacob's Room, a novel Woolf wrote shortly before Mrs. Dalloway.
  • "The Twentieth Century and After" (visual arts), pp. C17-C24. TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THIS ART.

Recommended:

In Class

  • Victorian imitations due. Include draft with instructor comments and peer critiques.
  • Victorian performances due.
  • Modernism and Modernity. Dalloway as "cubist novel."

The best critic for any author is one who reads “for the love of reading, slowly and unprofessionally, and judging with great sympathy and yet with great severity…”

—Woolf

 

Thurs. May 29—Modernism.

Before class

Virginia Woolf:

Finish novel.

T. S. Eliot:

  • "T. S. Eliot 1888-1965," pp. 2286-2289.
  • "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," pp. 2289-2293.
  • "The Hollow Men," pp. 2309-2311.
  • Browse and skim "Tradition and the Individual Talent" and "The Metaphysical Poets," pp. 2319-2331.
  • "The Waste Land," pp. 2294-2308 .

Click here for a very nuts-&-bolts web page of study basics and close reading of The Waste Land.

Click here for The Waste Land presented hypertextually.

In Class

  • Finish work with Dalloway.
  • Lecture-discussion on Eliot.
  • Power Point visual responses to Eliot.

Fri. May 30—Modernism.

Peer Teaching sessions.

Mon. June 2—Modernism.

Tues. June 3—Modernism.

Before Class

D. H. Lawrence:

William Butler Yeats:

  • "William Butler Yeats 1865-1939," pp. 2019-2022.
  • "The Stolen Child"
  • "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"
  • "The Second Coming," pp. 2036-2037.
  • "Leda and the Swan," p. 2039.
  • "William Butler Yeats: "Leda and the Swan," A21-A23.
  • "Sailing to Byzantium," p. 2040.
  • "Among School Children," pp. 2042.
  • "The Circus Animals' Desertion," pp. 2051-2052.
  • Also: see this link for another class.

In Class

  • Continue peer teaching.
  • Discuss Lawrence and begin discussion of Yeats.
  • Completed Lawrence worksheet due by class time.

 

Wed. June 4—Postmodernism.

Before Class

In Class

    • Modernist imitation drafts due. Bring 2 copies.
    • Finish Yeats, if needed.
    • Power Point presentation on Pomo.
    • Discuss The Hours.
    • Begin Doyle. English? Whose English? (Recall Burns.)

"[M]ost every country nowadays is a hallucinated hodgepodge of other countries, of America especially" (Waltern Kirn, New York Times).

    "Instead of stamping works with authority, literary canons propose entries into a culture’s critical colloquy."— Wendell Harris, “Canonicity” (112)

Thurs. June 5—

In Class

  • Doyle, The Hours, and postmodernism.
  • Pre-exam study.
  • Take-home exam assigned.

Fri. June 6—Work on essays.

  • Final Exam due.
  • Modernist or postmodernist performances due.
  • Go over completed exams.
  • Work on essays.
  • Conferences.

Richard Hamilton
Just What Is It That Makes Today's Home So Different, So Appealing?
1956, Collage (Kunsthalle Museum, Tübingen, Germany)

 

Fri. June 20 —Essays and Modernist imitation due.

  • Please email me your completed work no later than 5pm. No work accepted after this date.

 

 

 

 

back to 252 Homepage