Syllabus Foss 335B F11

Return to ENGL 335B, British Romantic Literature.

COURSE INFORMATION
ENGLISH 335B

BRITISH ROMANTIC LITERATURE

SPRING 2011

SECTION 01

COMBS 112

12:30 P.M. T R

Dr. Chris Foss

Combs 307 MTWRF 10:55-11:55and by appointment cfoss@umw.edu

654-1128

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course takes for its focus late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century British literature. It will provide you with a thorough understanding of this period's writers, their social context(s), and the many complex points of interchange between the two.

Until only about fifteen years ago, courses in this period concentrated almost exclusively on English Romanticism's "Big Six": William Blake, Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Wordsworth. Scholars have tried to offer various coherent definitions of Romanticism based upon the writings of these men, but to my mind ultimately without any "definitive" success. The Big Six deserve their place in the canon—indeed, some of my all-time favorite writers are among their number—and you will engage with them repeatedly throughout the semester. However, you will find there are equally exciting dimensions to the period's numerous other voices, many of these voices more popular and/or more critically acclaimed at the time than the Big Six themselves.

Throughout the semester we will be continually at work addressing, but not definitively answering, the question, "What is Romanticism?" With each new unit, new writer, new text, we will talk about the ways in which it might complement or supplement, finalize or problematize this or that aspect of any number of the multiple constructions of Romanticism we will consider. Each class period will be framed in terms of productive sets of questions in relation to this larger question, and I encourage you to feel free either to begin forming your own theory of Romanticism(s) or instead to focus on understanding why certain questions or foci historically have led to a particular answer or set of answers. Your incentive is that I will ask you to address the following prompt as part of your final examination: ''Compose an essay-length answer, demonstrating your broad knowledge of British Romantic Literature, in response to the question, "Should one ask, 'What is Romanticism?'" If so, delineate your answer to this question. If not, delineate why such a question cannot or should not be posed.''

You will engage with seven central topical focus points during the course of the semester: (1) The French Revolution and Rights of Man; (2) Society and Political Economy; (3) Rights of Woman; (4) Slavery, The Slave Trade, and Abolition in Britain; (5) Science and Nature; (6) Aesthetic Theory and Literary Criticism; and (7) Romantic-Era Fiction. All but the last of these corresponds with a historical and cultural context section in our anthology, and you will read the section introduction for each of these as part of your first reading assignment. I will walk you through the Aesthetic Theory and Literary Criticism section in particular, since this focus point will serve not only as an initial ground but also as a continual reference point for our semester-long exploration of Romanticism(s). Then, before turning to a sequence of units on the remaining topical focus points, we will devote a day to each of the Big Six so as to begin to grasp "What was Romanticism" in order to better consider "What is (or, is not) Romanticism?"

Along the way you will hear from 38 different writers (just a few more than 6!), including 18 of the numerous women writers whose fundamental role in the fashioning of Romanticism(s) has been firmly reestablished. You also will read texts by some writers of color and some writers from the "lower" classes. In this way we will attempt to plumb the astonishing variety of the many coexisting aesthetics originally present in the period as it unfolded.

What hopefully will be most exciting for you, however, is that in this course you will not simply be subjected to my idea of what texts you should read in order to best approach our overarching question. One of your major assignments, the Canonball Project, will allow each and every one of you to join in constructing a part of our calendar of readings reserved for student-selected works. In this way I hope to foster in you a true sense of ownership where the course material is concerned and to emphasize that you are participating in a dynamic process of meaning-making as we explore our subject matter together rather than merely attending a class to passively receive information transmissions which you will be required to regurgitate at some later point in time (although, admittedly, some regurgitation practice always is good for the gullet). Finally, to further stress our partnership in this enterprise, I want you to know that Canonball selections from every single one of the students the last time I taught this course (Spring 2009) now have become part of your experience of BRL as newly-assigned instructor selections. I hope knowing that students taking this course in the future will be reading something you have nominated for inclusion in my own BRL canon will motivate you to fully embrace this centerpiece assignment.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
You have only one book for this course, but it is a hefty one: British Literature 1780-1830, edited by Anne K. Mellor and Richard E. Matlak (Heinle/Harcourt). By remaining registered, you agree to use this edition.

GOALS
The main goal of this course is to provide you with an extensive knowledge of British Romantic Literature. By the end of the semester (after reading 38 different writers and exploring our 7 central focus points), you should be able to provide multiple successful answers the question, "What is Romanticism?" The general goals are that you will improve your ability to think critically and that you will improve your ability to express your ideas clearly and accurately in writing.

ASSIGNMENTS
You will pursue these goals through oral and written contributions to the class. Oral contributions first and foremost involve your participation in class discussions (see Class Participation below). There is also, however, a major assignment that contains both an oral and a written component. The Canonball Project will require an oral presentation in which you offer a reading/analysis of a text (or texts) of your choice from our anthology. This choice is subject to my approval, and must not be selected from my required calendar of readings. I cannot guarantee that missed presentations will be rescheduled.

Your written contributions will take the form of both graded and nongraded assignments. You will write two graded papers for me. These papers will be assigned at least two weeks prior to their respective due dates, at which time I will provide sample essays for class discussion. The first paper will be Class Meeting Summary essay, a formal thesis-driven summary of one of our class meetings during the semester; the second will be an essay based on the aforementioned oral presentation for the Canonball Project. A late paper will have its grade knocked down one full level (that is, from A to B) for each class meeting that passes without your turning it in (beginning with the due date meeting) unless I grant you an extension. Last but not least, you will be writing a Take-home Final Examination.

Nongraded writing assignments for class meetings will serve as a springboard for discussion and/or an exercise in honing your critical writing skills, and they will earn you points toward your class participation grade. You also may contribute some nongraded electronic writing toward your class participation grade on our class wiki. A wiki, as in Wikipedia, is a collaborative webspace in which users may compose, upload files and images, and/or edit the material found there.

CLASS PARTICIPATION, WIKI PARTICIPATION, AND QUIZZES
Your active Class Participation is required. The points for this portion of your grade primarily will come from oral contributions to in-class discussions (both in small group and in large group formats), plus any nongraded writing assigned. Our discussions will ask you to practice close reading of the assigned texts. Accordingly, you need to take these discussions seriously by coming prepared to talk about what you have read. Finally, please note I also will be giving very frequent quizzes as part of a separate Quiz Grade.

GRADING
The official default distribution that will determine your final grade is as follows:
 * Quiz Grade: 10%
 * Class Participation: 20%
 * Class Meeting Summary paper: 20%
 * Canonball Project oral presentation: 05%
 * Canonball Project paper: 20%
 * Take-home Final Examination]: 25%

In all this work you will be expected to abide by Mary Washington's Honor Code and thus to refrain from lying, cheating, and stealing in all their various and nefarious forms. You must complete both papers and the final examination in order to receive a passing grade for this course.

DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS
I will make every effort to accommodate disabilities. The Office of Disability Resources has been designated by Mary Washington as the primary office to guide, counsel, and assist students with disabilities. If you already receive services through ODR and require accommodations for this class, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible to discuss your approved accommodation needs. Bring your accommodation letter with you to the appointment. I will hold any information you share with me in strictest confidence unless you give me permission to do otherwise. If you need accommodations (note taking assistance, extended time for tests, etc.) but do not yet have them in place, please see ODR as soon as possible or call ODR at 654-1266. You will need appropriate documentation of disability.

STIRRING CONCLUSION/SALES PITCH
All this being said, I hope you will find this class to be not only intellectually stimulating but also enough fun that you look forward to attending each and every session. This period was one of the most exciting times to be alive (at least in Western Europe), and its writers engaged with some of the most profound and pressing aesthetic, philosophical, and sociopolitical issues of their age (many of which we are still grappling with today). We will be reading a lot of challenging texts, texts that do not simply present you with difficult vocabulary and obscure allusions but texts that also will force you to wrestle with extremely knotty questions and to confront very complex controversial issues. Ultimately, however, while you certainly will not like everything you read, my hope is that you will come to respect these great writers' painstaking attempts to compel both themselves and their readers to think intently and intensely about a number of very important topics. According to Percy Shelley, great art "is a fountain for ever [sic] overflowing with the waters of wisdom and delight; and after one person and one age has exhausted all its divine effluence which their peculiar relations enable them to share, another and yet another succeeds, and new relations are ever developed, the source of an unforeseen and an unconceived delight." Consider this course an invitation to get your feet wet in that fountain, maybe to splash around a bit, or even to go for a swim. C'mon in; the water's fine!