SYLLABUS
English 262:32618D–Literatures of Memory, 1800-1950
TTh 9:30-10:50, THH 203
Prof. Devin Griffiths
Office: THH 402K
Office Hours: Thursdays12-2
Email:
Course Description:
Can books think? Can they remember? Our memory and our sense of the past is mediated by complicated neurological circuits, dispersed over millions of cells throughout the brain, generated through complex circuits of neurological impulse. And yet, when we are asked to describe our past, we tell simple stories and describe vivid scenes. This class will explore how English literature has shaped the stories we use to describe our selves, our past, and our environments. A key focus of this course will be to examine how insights drawn from cognitive science, psychology and sociology can help us to understand the British novel as a technology of memory – a tool that teaches how to make sense of what happened and how to remember it.
Course Learning Objectives:
(1)Reflect on the place of memory in humanism and in the formation of the modern subject.
(2)Develop a critical account of the place of thinking about mind in literary form.
(3)Consider the ethical implications of literary fiction, evaluating their various moral frameworks and considering both how they shape our contemporary understanding.
(4)Develop a strong critical framework for evaluating and writing about our objects of study and culture at large.
(5)Explore the importance of mental reflection in constructing a multifaceted understanding of society and both its remembered pasts and possible futures.
(6)Learn to collaborate and communicate effectively in coursework, class discussion, and collaborate group projects.
Books:
Maria Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent (Penguin, 9780140433203)
George Eliot, Silas Marner (Penguin, 9780141439754)
Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (Penguin, 9780141439617)
Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (Harvest, ISBN-13:978-0156907392)
Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way (Penguin Classics, ISBN-13:978-0142437964)
All other course materials: Available on the Facebook Site
Facebook Page:
Evaluation:
25% Midterm, 35% Papers, 30% Facebook participation, 10% quizzes and in-class discussion and participation.
Films: The Social Network, Memento, Inception
Schedule:
I. Romantic Memories: Wordsworth and Coleridge, Preface to Lyrical Ballads, “Tintern Abbey”; Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Adonais”
8/22: Class introduction, spot reading of Preface to Lyrical Ballads.
8/24: “Tintern Abbey”; LitLab: Loco Description
8/29: Shelley, “Adonais”
II.The Romantic Mind
8/31:Hazlitt & Spirit of the Age; Litlab -- Biographical Essay
9/5: Castle Rackrent I
9/7: Castle Rackrent 2
9/12: Castle Rackrent 3
9/14: Castle Rackrent 4. Litlab: Chronicle
9/19: Film: The Social Network
III.Memory and technology: Silas Marner; Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto.
9/21: Silas Marner 1
9/26: Silas Marner 2, “The Communist Manifesto”
9/28: Silas Marner 3
10/3: Silas Marner 4 (Add in Shuttleworth)
10/5:Lit Lab: Modern Fable.
10/10: MIDTERM EXAM
V.Formal innovation and recall: Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets.
10/12: To the Lighthouse, Part 1.Email Passage & Thesis for First Essay
10/17:TTL Part 2.
10/19: TTL Part 3. Litlab: Social Forms and Event Planning
10/24: Film: Memento. First Essay Due
VI.Mystery and Detection
10/26: The Woman in White I Thru Chap. 10 (p. 76)
10/31:The Woman in White 2 Thru 2.4 (p. 255).Email proposal for second essay.
11/2: The Woman in White 3, Thru end of Miss Halcombe (p. 356) & Poe, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”
11/7:The Woman in White 4Finish
11/9: Film: Arrival + Passages from The Argonauts
11/14:Swann’s Way, “Overture.”
VI.Neuroscience: Proust, Swann’s Way
11/16:Second Essay Due (No Class)
11/21:SW, “Combray,” Richards
**** Thanksgiving Break ******
11/28:SW, “Swann in Love,” Freud
11/30:SW, “Place-Names,”wrap-up
Final Paper Due on Exam Date
Assignments
Facebook Presentations: Over the course of the semester,each student will produce a 4-minute video response to one of the week’s readings. It will be the responsibility of all other students to comment on that response by Thursday at 10 a.m. Extra credit for responses that address other responses & introduce outside sources.
Essays: Essays 1 and 2 will be short, 5-page close readings of specific passages from the work. The Final Essay will be a longer, 8-10 page research paper that approaches the close reading using 8-10 secondary sources. It may be based on one of the earlier two papers.
Course Policies
Attendance: Attendance is mandatory for the class. If you know that you are going to be absent on a specific day for a valid reason (school trips, etc.), please discuss it with me in advance. For each absence beyond two your grade will be reduced by 1/2 letter.
STATEMENT FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.Website for DSPand contact information:(213) 740-0776 (Phone), (213) 740-6948 (TDD only), (213) 740-8216 (FAX).
STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles.SCampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the University Student Conduct Code (see University Governance, Section 11.00), while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A.
Plagiarism: As students at USC you are bound by the University honor code and required to respect intellectual property rights. Please review the University of Southern California policies respecting plagiarism, which prohibits reproducing the work of others without attribution as well as "self-plagiarism" (reproducing your own previous work without aacknowledgement). The policies can be read online at Another helpful guide can be found at Please ask me if there are any aspects of the University's policies which are unclear, or if you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism in our course. Plagiarism includes “self-plagiarism” (using work for another class without acknowledging), and copying citations/sources from another work.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS/COURSE CONTINUITY IN A CRISIS
In case of a declared emergency if travel to campus is not feasible, USC executive leadership will announce an electronic way for instructors to teach students in their residence halls or homes using a combination of Blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technologies. See the university’s site onCampus Safety and Emergency Preparedness.