English 21 Major English Authors IIIWinter, 2003 Prof. Marten
Office Hum.210B
Ph. 388-6052 (school)
Ph. 370-5423 (home)
Tentative Office Hours:
TTh 8:30-9:15; 3:30-4:30;
W 1:30-3:00, by appt., whenever
Required texts: The Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol.2; Dickens: Oliver Twist; Lawrence: Complete Short Stories Vol. I (or possibly Selected Stories if Complete Stories is not available; use whatever the bookstore has in stock)
Tentative Reading Schedule
(paging may differ in the various editions of the Norton Anthology that the bookstore stocks)
Week One:
1/7Introduction
1/9 Backgrounds: Romantic Poets: Wordsworth, p. 219: "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey," "Ode: Intimations of Immortality," "Nutting," "Composed upon Westminster Bridge," "It is a beauteous evening"; Coleridge, p. 416: "The Eolian Harp," "This Lime Tree Bower," "Frost at Midnight," "Kubla Khan"; Blake, p.35, from "Songs of Innocence": “Introduction,” “The Ecchoing Green,” “The Lamb,” “The Chimney Sweeper,” “Infant Joy,” from Songs of Experience": “Holy Thursday,” “The Sick Rose,” “The Tyger,” "London," "A Poison Tree”
Week Two:
1/14 Tennyson, p. 1198: "The Lady of Shallot"; "The Lotos Eaters"; "Ulysses"; "Tithonus"; "Locksley Hall"; "In Memoriam" -- the following selections:"Obit..."; #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 55, 56, 124, 126, 127, 129, 130. Too, for background reading, "The Victorian Age: 1832-1901 (pp. 1043-1063)
1/16 Tennyson: From "Idylls of the King": "The Coming of Arthur," "The Passing of Arthur." (If you have time, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," "Crossing the Bar.")
Week Three:
1/21 and 1/23 Reading for Focus: "Victorian Issues, Evolution': Darwin, p. 1679-1681 (that is, to the first "***"); and pp. 1684-1686, from "***" to the end; "Victorian Issues: Industrialism: Progress or Decline": Introduction, pp. 1696-1697; Engels, pp.1702-1710; "Victorian Issues: The Woman Question": Introduction pp. 1719-1721; Ellis, pp.1721-1723; Nightingale pp.1734-1737.
Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist (pages to be arranged)
Week Four:
1/28 and 1/30Dickens:Oliver Twist (pages to be arranged)
Week Five:
2/4 Robert Browning, p. 1345: "Porphyria's Lover"; "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister"; "My Last Duchess"; "The Bishop Orders His Tomb," "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came"; "Love Among the Ruins"; "Two in the Compagna"
2/6Robert Browning: "Fra Lippo Lippi"; "Andrea del Sarto"; "Caliban Upon Setebos"
Week Six:
2/11 Matthew Arnold, p. 1471: "Dover Beach"; "The Scholar Gypsy" (possibly selections of "Culture and Anarchy" and "Literature and Science" -- to be confirmed or adjusted nearer to the due date); G.M.Hopkins, p. 1648: "God's Grandeur"; "The Windhover";"Pied Beauty"; "Carrion Comfort"; "I wake and Feel the Fell of Dark, Not Day"
2/13Elizabeth Barrett Browning, p. 1173: "Aurora Leigh from Book I, "The Feminine Education of Aurora Leigh,"; Christina Rossetti, p. 1589: "Goblin Market"; George Eliot, p. 1456: "Margaret Fuller and Mary Wollstonecraft"; Rudyard Kipling, p. 1863: "Danny Deever"; "The Widow of Windsor"; "The Ladies"
Week Seven:
2/18 and 2/20Joseph Conrad, p. 1957: The Heart of Darkness
(you’d also probably find interesting Chinua Achebe’s “Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,” pp. 2035-2040”; read it after you’ve read HoD).
Week Eight:
2/25 William Butler Yeats, p. 2085: "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"; "The Wild Swans at Coole"; "The Second Coming"; "Easter 1916"; "Sailing to Byzantium"; "Leda and the Swan"; "Among School Children"; T.S.Eliot, p. 2360: "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
2/27 T.S.Eliot: "Sweeney Among the Nightingales"; "Journey of the Magi"; "Tradition and the Individual Talent"; "The Wasteland" through section3
Week Nine:
3/4Virginia Woolf, p. 2141: "Modern Fiction"; "Professions for Women"; A Room of One’s Own, selections to be arranged
D.H.Lawrence, p. 2313: "Why the Novel Matters"; selections from Complete Stories
3/6Lawrence: selections from Complete Stories
Week Ten:
3/11 and 3/13 Joyce, p. 2231: “Araby,” “The Dead,” handouts
Tentative Writing Assignments and Grades:
1. Throughout the term there will be brief quizzes (5 minutes) on the assigned reading of the day; conscientious reading is required. These will be considered part of the class participation grade. A missed quiz is, in effect, a "0" (quizzes are taken when given -- no makeups except in unusual circumstances). There will also be occasional brief "free writes" (very short in-class essays) at the beginning of a class to help focus thinking for discussion; these too will be part of the class participation grade. There may be other assignments as well at different times in the term – - ranging from homework that asks you to create questions for discussions, to oral presentations of material, to reading journals. The specifics will be depend on class size and reading experience, and will be arranged early in the term.
2.There will be three papers required of each student (approx. 3-5 pages each). The first will be due at the end of week four (Tennyson or Dickens); the second will be due at the beginning of week eight (R. or E.B. Browning, C. Rossetti, Arnold, Hopkins, or Conrad); the third will be due on the last class (Yeats, Eliot, Joyce, or Lawrence). Suggested topics will be presented and discussed well before the due date. All students are encouraged, too, to confer with me during the process of writing the paper. This is not a requirement, or even an expectation; you need not come by in order to “touch base.” But I want you to feel comfortable seeking help with the work-in-progress if you want it. Each writing assignment will count for 1/4 of the final grade. Class participation (contributions to discussions, grades on quizzes, in-class presentations, in-class writing assignments, and so forth) will count for the final 1/4 of the final grade.
As this is a discussion class in which energetic and informed class participation is important, attendance matters (it's hard to participate intelligently if you're not in class), and students are expected to have read the assignments carefully before each class. Please take note of this requirement. If the expectation isn't right for you, please look for another class, as we will all depend upon each other to make the learning process as stimulating and as much fun as possible.
Note: the policy for unexcused absences (telling me you're going to miss class is not an excused absence; telling me that you’ve got the Flu, the Crud, the Willies, the Thing That’s Going Round, is not an excused absence, though you’ll certainly have my sympathy) in relation to the class participation grade is as follows: 2 absences (present for 90% of the total classes) sets A- as the best possible grade for class participation; 3 absences (present for 85 %) sets B as the best possible grade for class participation; 4 absences (present for 80%) sets B- as the best possible; 5 absences (present for 75%) sets C as the best possible; 6 absences (present for 70%) sets C- as the best possible. These set only the “best” possible class participation grade. But because class discussion is so important to my notion of learning, any unexcused absences are likely to affect the grade adversely. I know that winter is a hard time for health here in lovely Schenectady, and that everyone is likely to feel lousy much of the time all term - - it happens every year. Of course I don’t want you to come to class if you’re feeling like death, but things like bronchitis, flu, aches and pains, just seem to come, settle-in, and stay all winter here, and the class matters too much to me to just say “fine, stay in bed, and take good care.” I expect you to do all those things, but read the material too and come to class. Fair warning, eh?
One Last Note (for now): the three papers are intended to offer you the chance to do some close reading and some hard thinking. They are not intended to be “research” papers. However, you are welcome to use secondary sources as you see fit (we’ll talk about this as the assignments draw near). But if you use sources for any purpose, you must footnote them and include them in a bibliography (see The Chicago Manual of Style, or the MLA Handbook, or any other style book that you may have for proper form). Using someone’s ideas, someone’s words, someone’s information, without attribution is considered plagiarism. The penalty for plagiarism is an “F” in the course (non-negotiable). Never, ever, ever give into the temptation to “steal” ideas or words. It makes a mockery of your education. Always credit your source. After all, if you found the critical work valuable, say so. It’s possible that you’ll not be caught in an act of academic dishonesty; but then again, you may, and it’s never worth the risk. If you are having trouble meeting a deadline, see me. At worst there’s likely to be a slight grade penalty for late work. If you are having “writer’s block” or any other trouble, again, see me. Most things can be worked out. I know that cheating has become something of an epidemic at American universities these days. Just say no.