COURSE DESCRIPTION:
“Survey of English Literature II” introduces students to the major literary movements that have shaped English literature since the restoration of Charles II in 1660. By closely examining representative works from each period, students gain a more comprehensive understanding of the English literary tradition. What is more, they learn how to analyze and critique literary works in a scholarly manner.
A major concern in this course is how historical events have impacted writers and their literary output. Students explore how political, social, military, and religious upheavals have provided the context—and often the inspiration—for some of the most esteemed literary works in the English language. They also observe how texts can resonate with audiences who are very much removed from the specific circumstances of their production.
The reading list for this course includes a wide variety of literary works. For the most part, these works are canonical—their cultural importance has long been established by the scholarly community. However, the reading list also includes works by writers who have been marginalized by academia. By reading these texts in conjunction with canonical works, students gain a more accurate perspective on the periods in which they were written.
COURSE CONTENT:
“Survey of English Literature II” is divided up into four literary time periods: Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature, Romantic Literature, Victorian Literature, and Twentieth-Century Literature. Each time period is represented by several texts. Some of these texts are quite accessible; others are complex and challenging. However, if students schedule their time wisely—and ensure that they allow themselves enough time to read longer works, such as Behn’s Oroonoko, Byron’s Don Juan, and Dickens’s Hard Times—they should not find it difficult to keep up with the readings.
Evaluation will be based on attendance, classroom participation, homework assignments, a midterm, two essays, and a final exam.
Week I
THE RESTORATION AND THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
-William Hogarth, A Rake’s Progress (2785)
-John Dryden, Mac Flecknoe (2240)
Week II
-Aphra Behn, Oroonoko (2279)
-Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, cont. (2279)
Week III
-Jonathan Swift, “The Lady’s Dressing Room” (2507), “A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed” (handout)
-Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, “The Reasons that Induced Dr. S. to Write a Poem Called ‘The Lady’s Dressing Room’” (2510)
RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT DUE (5%)
-Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock (2632)
Week IV
-Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, cont. (2632)
-Samuel Richardson, from Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded (3100)
-Henry Fielding, from An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews (3110)
-Laurence Sterne, from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (3123)
ARTICLE SUMMARY DUE (5%)
Week V
THE ROMANTICS AND THEIR CONTEMPORARIES
-Edmund Burke, from Reflections on the Revolution in France (47)
-Mary Wollstonecraft, from A Vindication of the Rights of Men (57)
-Anna Letitia Barbauld, “The Mouse’s Petition to Dr. Priestley” (29), “To the Poor” (31), “Washing-Day” (32)
Week VI
-William Blake, “The Little Black Boy” (80, colour plates 6 and 7), “The Chimney Sweeper” (81), “The Tyger” (88, colour plate 8), “The Chimney Sweeper” (89), “The Sick Rose” (90, colour plate 9), “The Garden of Love” (91), The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (95)
ESSAY #1 DUE (20%)
Week VII
MIDTERM (10%)
-William Wordsworth, from Preface (206), “Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known” (213), “She Dwelt among th’ Untrodden Ways” (214), “Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower” (214), “A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal” (215)
Week VIII
READING BREAK (no lectures)
Week IX
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan” (341)
-Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ozymandias” (399)
-Lord Byron, Don Juan Dedication (369) and Canto 1 (373)
Week X
-John Keats, “Sonnet: When I Have Fears” (425), “The Eve of St. Agnes” (425), “La Belle Dame sans Mercy” (435)
THE VICTORIAN AGE
-Charles Dickens, Hard Times
Week XI
-Charles Dickens, Hard Times, cont.
-Charles Dickens, Hard Times, cont.
Week XII
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, Book 1 (532)
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott” (588), “Ulysses” (593)
Week XIII
-Robert Browning, “Porphyria’s Lover” (662), “My Last Duchess” (663), “The Bishop Orders his Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church” (665)
ESSAY #2 DUE (25%)
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
-James Joyce, “The Dead” (1138)
Week XIV
-Virginia Woolf, “The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection” (1224)
-Samuel Beckett, Krapp’s Last Tape (1375), Act Without Words (handout), Breath (handout)
Week XV
FINAL EXAM (25%)
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Assignments:
Four assignments: research assignment (5%), article assignment (5%), essay #1 (20%), essay #2 (25%).
LATE PAPERS:
In the interest of fairness to other members of the class, students will be penalized 5% for every day that their assignments are late. Assignments will not be accepted if seven days have passed since their due date. Exceptions will be made for students who are experiencing medical or personal emergencies. Please contact me ahead of time if you know that you are not going to be able to hand an assignment in on time.
CLASS FORMAT:
Classes will consist of a combination of lectures and discussion groups. Please read the assigned texts before we address them in class so that you are prepared to discuss them with your classmates. You are welcome to ask questions or make observations about the texts that we are examining at any time, even during lectures. Please come to each class prepared to contribute. Your ideas are important and welcome.
CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE:
Here are some of the things that you can do to ensure that our class is a productive learning environment:
• Avoid being late for class.
• Let me know ahead of time if you have to miss a class. Unexcused absences will have a very detrimental effect on your participation and attendance mark in English 202.
• Do not talk while other people are talking.
• Respect the opinions and beliefs of your classmates—even if you disagree with them.
• Turn off your cell phone during class.
• Do not leave class early unless you have discussed it with me first.
EXTRA HELP:
I encourage you to talk to me before or after class if you have any questions or concerns regarding course material. Also, feel free to stop by my office or consult with me via phone or e-mail.
If you have a disability that is impeding your success in English 202, you may wish to contact Dr. Jim Bowman, Northern Lights College’s Disability Services Coordinator. His phone number is (250) 785-6981, and his e-mail address is jbowman@nlc.bc.ca.
PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism is intellectual theft. It occurs when a writer uses another person’s words and/or ideas without giving him or her credit. Here are some common examples of plagiarism:
• Using words and/or ideas from a book, journal article, web site, or other source without giving the original author credit
• Handing in a paper written or revised by another student
• Handing in the same paper to two different instructors (dovetailing)
• Copying another student’s work while writing a quiz, in-class essay, midterm, or final exam
• Downloading an essay from the Internet
Plagiarism is a VERY SERIOUS academic offence. It is grounds for failure of this course. In extreme cases, plagiarism may result in expulsion from Northern Lights College (see p. 9 in the Northern Lights College 2006-07 Student Handbook for details). In order to avoid committing plagiarism, students should do the following:
• Put quotation marks around any material that is directly quoted from another source
• Put in-text citations after any material that is either directly quoted or paraphrased from another source
• Prepare thorough, properly-formatted bibliographies
• Consult with their instructor if they have any questions or concerns
Most writing handbooks contain information about the various systems of documentation employed in academia. Students writing literary criticism should follow the Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines.
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