English 202: English Literature since 1800
Professor Carens Office: 26 Glebe St., #302 Hours: T 4-5 and by appt. |
Tel: 953-5658 Email: carenst@cofc.edu |
Course Goals
This course has two closely related purposes. The first is to introduce you to some interesting works
of British poetry (and one novel) written since 1800. The second is to enhance your ability to read
literary works by developing your interpretive skills. We will spend much of our time in class
performing “close readings” of literary language. Because a deeper understanding of the contexts from
which these works emerge enables a fuller understanding of them, the course also devotes some attention
to social and cultural movements.
Attendance
Attendance is mandatory. I do not distinguish between excused and unexcused absences. Every absence after the second one will lower your grade one “notch” (e.g., from B+ to B). If you arrive after class has begun, I will count it as a half-class absence. You are responsible for keeping track of the number of classes you have missed and for information covered and assignments due. I expect to be able to reach you through the college email account that you have been issued.
Course Requirements & Distribution
Essays. The course requires three short essays, the assignments for which are attached. All essays must be typed (double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point type) and conform to MLA citation guidelines. I will consider requests for extensions submitted by the class preceding the due date. Late essays will receive a lower grade. (Essay #1= 20%; Essay #2=22%; Essay #3=23%)
Exams. There will be a comprehensive final exam (20%).
Participation. Please come to class, with your text, prepared to discuss assigned reading. I may give unannounced quizzes to test your comprehension of assigned reading. You also must respond to 3 interpretive questions via email; These assignments are listed on the schedule below, but you have to access the assignment from the version of this syllabus that appears on my website. (15%)
Independent Analysis This is not a research class. The anthology we use in class provides succinct background information, which you are required to read. But assignments are designed to help you develop your ability to interpret literary language. In this class, I am only interested in your ideas, not in ideas published by a professional literary critic or discovered on some web site. Plagiarism constitutes grounds for failing the class. See the Student Handbook (available online at http://www.cofc.edu/studentaffairs/general_info/studenthandbook.html) for a definition of plagiarism. |
Required Texts
The Norton Anthology of English Literature. (Either vols. D, E, and F or Vol. 2. Old editions are fine).
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein
Course Schedule
Complete all assigned reading in the right hand column by the date in the left column. Read actively, with a pencil in hand.
The anthology’s introductory sections to periods, writers, and select works are part of the assigned reading. They provide much useful background information.
T May 13 |
Blake Reading: “The Romantic Period” (1-22) All selections from Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Also, familiarize yourself with the appendix on literary terminology, particularly the sections on diction and figures of speech and thought (A37-41). Begin reading Frankenstein |
R May 15 |
Wordsworth / Coleridge Reading: Preface to Lyrical Ballads; Simon Lee; We Are Seven; Lines Written in Early Spring; Expostulation and Reply; The Tables Turned; “Tintern Abbey”; Eolian Harp Interpretive email #1 due by the beginning of class. Access assignment via the online version of this schedule. http://www.cofc.edu/~carenst/Pages/Diction%20Exercise.htm |
T May 20 |
Coleridge / P. B. Shelley Reading: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; Kubla Khan; Ozymandias; A Song: Men of England; England in 1819; To Sidmouth and Castlereagh; Hymn to Intellectual Beauty; Ode to the West Wind Essay #1 Due |
R May 22 |
Keats Reading: first two letters (940-3); The Eve of St. Agnes; Ode to a Nightingale; Ode on a Grecian Urn; To Autumn Interpretive email #2 due by the beginning of class. Access assignment via the online version of this schedule. http://www.cofc.edu/~carenst/Pages/Imagery%20Exercise.htm |
T May 27 |
M. Shelley Reading: Frankenstein (complete) Reading quiz |
R May 29 |
Tennyson. Reading: “The Victorian Age” (979-99). Mariana; The Lady of Shalott; The Lotos-Eaters; Ulysses Interpretive email #3 due by the beginning of class. Access assignment via the online version of this schedule. http://www.cofc.edu/~carenst/Pages/Tone%20Exercise.htm |
T Jun 3 |
Arnold / Browning Reading: Isolation. To Marguerite; To Marguerite--Continued; Dover Beach; Porphyria’s Lover; Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister; My Last Duchess; The Bishop Orders his Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church Essay #2 Due |
R Jun 5 |
Rossetti / Hopkins Reading: Goblin Market; God’s Grandeur; Spring; The Windhover; Pied Beauty |
T Jun 10 |
Hardy Reading: “The Twentieth Century and After” (1827-47); Hap; Neutral Tones; Drummer Hodge; The Darkling Thrush; Channel Firing; The Convergence of the Twain; The Voice; In Time of “The Breaking of Nations” |
R Jun 12 |
Yeats Reading: The Rose of the World; No Second Troy; The Wild Swans at Coole; September 1913; Easter 1916; The Second Coming The Lake Isle of Innisfree; Sailing to Byzantium |
T Jun 17 |
Brooke / Sassoon / Owen Reading: The Soldier; They; The Rear-Guard; Glory of Women; On Passing New Menin Gate; Anthem for Doomed Youth; Miners; Dulce et Decorum Est; Strange Meeting; Disabled Essay #3 due |
R Jun 19 |
Eliot / Auden
Reading: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock; On This Island; Spain 1937; Musée des Beaux Arts; Lullaby; In Memory of W. B. Yeats |
Final Exam |
Tues Jun 24, 5:30-8:30 |