English 23C, 19th-Century British Literature
Course Syllabus
The following is a syllabus for a class offered at the University of California, Riverside.
Instructor : P. Aaron
Potter
Office Hours : Required
office meetings will be announced in class. Additional office hours by
appointment.
In addition to class time and office hours, I can be reached through my
mailbox in the English department, or through my e-mail.
Course Description :
What is “Romanticism”
about? Love Poetry? Romans? What comes to mind when you hear the
word “Victorian?” High tea? Jack the Ripper? Upscale lingerie?
Among
many other things, the “Romantic” and “Victorian” are the two major movements in
nineteenth-century English literature.
In this class we will read some of the literature produced in England
during this period, and we’ll encounter and debate several definitions of those
two key terms. However, this course
is not just about an historic era and its literature – it is also a course about
concerns and questions which are very real for us today. Nineteenth century literature reflects
the vast social tensions which arose in the wake of the French Revolution and
the Enlightenment: tensions between the individual and society, between the
desires for liberty and security, between nature and the man-made world, between
a growing superpower and an international community, and between the mind and
heart. If any of this is sounding
familiar, it’s because these are tensions we have yet to resolve. As the inheritors of that culture, we
are not only interested in this material because of the ways it illuminates
history, but the ways in which nineteenth-century authors can illuminate our own
cultural moment, and our own lives.
Required Textbooks :
-
The Norton Anthology of
English Literature, 7th edition,
Volume 2 (edited by Abrams, Greenblatt, et. al. Be certain of volume and
edition!)
-
The
Picture of Dorian Gray,
Oscar Wilde (page numbers are from the Modern Library edition, available in
the bookstore)
Course Requirements :
Students
are responsible for arriving in class on-time and prepared, which includes
responsibility for all assigned readings on the dates indicated in the schedule.
All papers and drafts of papers are due at the beginning of class on the due
date indicated. In addition, occasional in-class exercises and quizzes will be
assigned, and are factored into the final grade as indicated below. It should be
noted that showing up for class on time and prepared is considered *minimally*
adequate behavior for a college-level class, and thus merits a *C* grade. Active
participation in classroom discussion is essential to earning a higher grade in
the participation category.
Grading : (numbers in parentheses indicate minimum page-length requirements)
-
Reading Responses #1-4
(1-2 page each) -- 20% (5% each)
-
Mid-Term Examination -- 20%
-
Final Paper (4 pages) -- 20%
-
Final Examination --
30%
- Participation,
quizzes -- 10%
Class Policies:
- You
are responsible for four brief (1-2 page) response essays, outlining your
reaction to some aspect of the day’s readings. Response essays are due on the same
day as the reading they are responding to. You may argue the merits of the
reading or its parts, analyze or interpret some of the readings, debate with
the authors’ conclusions, compare the readings to a modern topic or text, or
otherwise engage with the material in any way which represents your reaction
to the texts.
- Failure to turn
in *one* assignment results in a zero ("F") for that assignment. Failure to
turn in *two* assignments results in a zero for those assignments *and* a zero
for the participation section of the grade. Failure to turn in *three* or more
assignments results in an automatic failing grade in the class.
- Late papers are
automatically graded one full letter grade lower than they would otherwise
have merited (an "A" turns into a "B," for example). An additional one-third
letter grade is deducted for each additional day (not class day, but every
day) that the assignment remains outstanding (that is, from a "B" to a "B-" to
a "C+" and so on). If the assignment is as much as a week overdue, then it
counts as not being handed in, per the policy above.
- All essays
should be typed and double-spaced, with approximately 1 - 1.5 inch margins on
all sides, in a 12 point font (Times New Roman or a similar ‘standard’ font is
strongly preferred). College level papers are thoroughly formal documents :
spelling and grammar are important components of your writing, and I urge you
to proofread carefully! Feel free to use a spell-checker, but don’t let it do
your thinking for you. Please do
*not* rely upon your word processor's grammar checking functions -- all of
those currently available are worse than useless. For more information on paper format,
see the class web-pages and follow the link to the "style guide."
- Papers which are
shorter than the required minimum will automatically be given a failing
grade. Please note that one
sentence does not constitute a "page" of writing -- the writing should extend
at least half-way down the page for it to be counted towards the minimum
length requirements. Material from other sources *does not count* towards the
minimum page length.
- This class
adheres strictly to the University policy
on academic dishonesty.
Please note that any uncited use of material
from an outside source, whether direct quotations or essential ideas,
constitutes plagiarism. This
includes material you have previously submitted to other classes here or
elsewhere, as well as any websites or other sources consulted at any point
during the composition process.
Note that it makes absolutely no difference whether you intended to plagiarize
material or merely forgot to cite your sources; both cases present other
people’s work as though it were your own, and therefore constitute plagiarism
under university policy. Papers
which are suspected of being partially or completely plagiarized will be
turned over to the Office of Student Conduct, which will determine the
appropriate sanctions, up to and including expulsion from the University.
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