English 2540 C (CRN 2097) Dr. Seth T. Reno Survey of English Literature II Liberal Arts 359A (334-244-3384) Fall 2017 Office Hours: Thursdays 8am-2pm, Liberal Arts 110 and by appointment TR 2:10-3:25pm Email: sreno@aum.edu

Course Description In this course we will study nineteenth- and twentieth-century British literature. This course covers over 200 years of literature, so it’s an impossible course, really. We can’t cover everything in one semester, but what we can do is read the texts deeply and intensely, argue with and about them during class sessions, place them in historical contexts, and think and write essays about their form and significance. The last 200 years of British literature are intimately tied to contemporary thinking and ideas in our own culture, politics, art, science, and psychology, and my argument in structuring this course is that what we think of as “modernity” begins around 1800. By studying this literature, we’ll be able to understand in a more sophisticated way our current historical moment, who we are, and how we think. Course prerequisites: C or better in English 1010 and English 1020 Course Objectives After completing this course, students will:

• Acquire broad knowledge of important texts and/or authors • Understand literary eras and/or movements and their historical and cultural contexts • Identify and apply basic literary genres, terms, and concepts • Analyze and discuss thematic concerns in literature • Develop ability to read literary works closely in order to analyze and interpret them • Practice analysis of literary texts in well-written assignments

Learning Center The Learning Center provides free consultations for all students. The Center advisors will assist you with any piece of writing, at any stage of the writing process. All writers need readers, and the Center can be a valuable resource as you work through a draft. You may visit the Center in connection with any writing project for this class. Accommodations Auburn University at Montgomery attempts to make reasonable accommodations to meet the special needs of its students with disabilities. Students requiring special services should notify their instructor as soon as

possible. Assistance is available from the Center for Disability Services, which is located in 101 Taylor Center. They can be reached at 334-244-3631 (phone) or 334-244-3754 (TTY/TDY). Expectations You will do a lot of reading and writing for this class, and I hope you do a lot of talking in class. You must bring the readings to each class session to participate. If you don’t have the readings, you’re not really taking the class. I expect you to read the literature before coming to class, and I expect you to participate in every class session. If something is not working for you, please let me know—I’m flexible, and I will consider changing my approach if you’re struggling in any way. Required Texts Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (Broadview 1818 edition: ISBN 978-1-55481-103-8) Dracula, by Bram Stoker (Broadview: ISBN 0-393-97012-4) Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf (Harcourt: ISBN 978-0-15-662870-9) PDF readings (online) Assignments and Weight Distribution Active Participation 10% Position Paper (700-1000 words) 10% Weekly Reading Responses 14% @ 1% each week Homework Assignments (5) 15% @ 3% each Creative Group Project 15% Pop Quizzes (4) 16% @ 4% each Critical Essay (1500-2000 words) 20% Active Participation: Active participation includes in-class discussion and small group activities. I very much want this to be a discussion-based course, so I want you to come to class prepared to ask questions, to answer questions, to offer your ideas and responses to the readings, to listen and respond to other students, and to contribute during small group work. I really want to hear your thoughts and responses to the readings each day, and I want us all to engage in productive and exploratory conversations about the readings. Position Paper: You will write one formal position paper about one assigned reading. In this paper, you will articulate a position on the reading—what it means, what is important or interesting, how it works, etc. You can write your position paper in response to one of the discussion questions (see below), or you can develop your own avenue of inquiry. See the prompt at the back of the syllabus for more details. Weekly Reading Responses: Each week, you will write a reflection/response on that week’s assigned readings (200-300 words). These responses are informal—but they should be grammatically and mechanically sound—and you can focus on any aspect/topic/theme/author we’re covering. I will provide a series of discussion questions on the assigned readings each week, and you are free to directly answer those questions in your response. What I’m looking for is your ability to engage the readings before coming to class—show me that you’ve grappled with the readings and have given them serious thought. You can submit your weekly reflection on either Tuesday or Thursday, corresponding to the day the reading about which you write is assigned. Homework Assignments: There are five homework assignments, each worth 3% of your grade (see daily schedule for due dates): Homework #1: Analytical summary of Terry Eagleton’s “What is Literature?” : Write a two-paragraph summary and response to Eagleton’s essay. In the first paragraph, summarize Eagleton’s main argument: How does he answer the question that titles his essay, and why does he think this is important? In the second

paragraph, respond to his argument by explaining how Eagleton’s argument has or has not changed your conception of what “literature” is and what it means. Homework #2: Write a sonnet: Just what it sounds like. Take some time to write an English or Italian sonnet on any topic you’d like. Try to follow the structure as closely as you can. If you’d like to share your sonnet with the class, please post your poem on our Facebook page. Many of my past students have published their sonnets in AUM’s Filibuster magazine. Homework #3: Create a Frankenstein meme: Choose one character from the novel and create a meme that reveals something about that character. Homework #4: Create a literary playlist: Create a playlist of five songs (your choice, of course) that either remind you of an author we’ve studied; remind you of a character in one of the works we’ve studied; or a list that you think an author or character would listen to if they were alive today. You will also write a brief explanation of your song selections. Homework #5: Memorize/recite poem in class: You can do this at any point during the semester. You should memorize either a sonnet or a sonnet-length poem (around 14 lines). Creative Group Project: This will be a collaborative project you create with your group (we’ll form these groups the first day of class), and which you will work on throughout the semester. The project is due on our last class session, when you will present your project in class. This project can take on any form you want—be creative! What I’d like you to do is to create something that reflects on, engages with, extends, develops, remakes, riffs on, etc., a literary text or author we study this semester. Connect the literature we study to our contemporary world. The project should be substantial, and it should contain some amount of outside research—that is, it should reflect a semester’s worth of work, and not something you throw together at the last minute. But it’s totally up to you. I do ask that you decide on your project by week 12, and let me know what you are doing. A few examples that students have done in the past: * Film a short documentary on a particular literary work, providing a kind of “history” of the work along with commentary from you and other experts. * Create a short film that brings a literary work to life (e.g., a mini-Frankenstein film set in the present day) * Create a podcast on a particular literary work or author * Create a website devoted to a particular author or work * Plan a performance art piece based on a particular author or work * Write and perform a musical piece inspired by a particular author or work * Rewrite an assigned text (think Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) And here are links to some projects from the past year: Modern-day Wife of Bath, Sir Gawain, Shakespeare’s sonnet 130, and Faustus: https://youtu.be/KU1x_TfRJqs Claymation video of William Blake’s “London”: https://youtu.be/O3M1FK3vxPg Frankenstein’s Creature at AUM: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LE7juAXGX2w Hamlet’s Play-within-a-play: https://youtu.be/8Or1lcsuYN8 Website for a bar themed on “Goblin Market”: http://goblin-market.weebly.com Website on William Blake: http://lbrblake.weebly.com Website on John Milton: http://johnmiltonworks.weebly.com In addition to the project itself, you will also write a one-page overview of the project. This overview should contain a one- to two-paragraph summary/explanation of the project, and a description of the work each

group member performed. Each group member should sign at the bottom to confirm that they agree with the description. You will all receive one grade for the project. However, if there is a reason you believe individuals should be graded separately—for example, one group member went MIA and didn’t do anything—you should state this in the description. Pop Quizzes: There will be four pop quizzes during the semester, given at the beginning of class (approximately 10 minutes). The quizzes will consist of a few passage/author identifications and a few short answer questions. Critical Essay: The final for this class is a critical essay. You have two options for this paper:

Option #1: Write a standard academic essay in which you analyze one (or more) assigned text(s) using the knowledge, tools, and ideas as discussed during class sessions. Your essay should demonstrate critical argumentation and close reading—that is, it should contain a clear thesis supported by your interpretation and analysis of the selected text(s). You are free to develop any argument that meets the requirements of the essay, but if you prefer to work from a prompt, you can use any of the discussion questions as the focus of your essay. See the prompt at the back of the syllabus for more details. Option #2: Write an essay that focuses on a connection between an assigned reading and an outside text or topic. That outside text can be anything from an historical event to a scientific discovery to a song to a movie to a contemporary political policy to a philosophical system to a literary text that we did not read in class. You can think of this as a dual focus paper: you’re writing about the literary text AND something else: “Frankenstein and A.I.,” “William Blake and the Beat Poets,” “William Wordsworth and Environmentalism,” “WWI Poets and Afghan War Poets,” “Cinematic Adaptations of Dracula,” “Dramatic Monologues and Tim McGraw,” and so on. I’m open to you taking this paper in any direction that is useful to your interests and area of study. For example, if you’re a science major, you can develop a science-based paper connected to literature. If you’re studying the visual arts, you can analyze artworks that recreate nineteenth-century poems (there’s a lot of them). I encourage you to select option #2 for your final paper.

Electronic Devices: Electronic devices can only be used for the readings during class. I’d prefer that you print off the readings and bring them to class, but if you’d rather use your laptop/iPad/Kindle, that’s fine. Please do not use your device to browse the internet, check your email, tweet, update your Facebook status, text a friend, etc. Doing so is a distraction to you and other students, and it really offends me as the teacher. Attendance is required. You are expected to attend all classes. If you need to miss class, please let me know in advance. You won’t get credit for assignments or participation for unexcused absences. The only excused absences are those recognized by the university: official university events with excuses provided in advance by the head of the university unit involved; illness/medical emergency or medical emergency for a member of student’s immediate family; death of a member of student’s immediate family; military orders (notification should occur prior to the absence); jury duty or court subpoena (notification should occur prior to the absence); religious holiday (notification should occur prior to the absence); and weather emergencies or perilous driving conditions (with notification if feasible). These absences will require official university notification that students should provide instructors. If I need to miss class for illness or an emergency, I will: send you an email and/or post the assignments on Blackboard, with appropriate assignments that will count in lieu of a class meeting; send the assignments to the English Department administrative associate (as back up); alert the Chair of the Department of English and Philosophy that I will need to be away from class; and arrange to have a sign posted to the classroom door alerting anyone to the situation. Classes may have substitute instructors or proctors for exams.

Tardiness: You are expected to be in class on time. Excessive tardiness will lower your participate grade and may result in missed assignments. No make-ups if you’re late to class. Make-up Policy: I allow make-ups for excused absences. In those cases, we will meet to schedule alternate dates/times to submit missed work, discuss readings, and/or take exams/quizzes. I will schedule make-ups on a case-by-case basis. Plagiarism is the unauthorized use of the words or ideas of another person. All writing submitted for this class must be your own writing and must be written exclusively for this class. Any use of quotations, paraphrases, or ideas from outside sources, including Internet sources, must be properly documented (in this case an “outside source” means anything other than your own unique creation). You may not recycle or reuse writing that you wrote for another class, including any other English course at AUM or another university—you also may not use any work from a class previously taken but not passed. While re-using your own text is not improperly using outside sources, it is academic dishonesty because it does not require new work specifically for this class, and it is subject to the penalties described below. In cases where plagiarism or other academic dishonesty is clearly established, you will automatically fail the course, regardless of the value of the assignment. You will also be reported to the AUM Committee on Discipline, which may choose to impose additional sanctions. An “F” for plagiarism in a course will be clearly noted on your transcripts. Should students ever need to share their transcripts, to be eligible for employment or for an application to graduate school, there will be no question that they failed because they cheated. If you are confused or uncertain in any way as to whether your paper constitutes plagiarism, come talk to me before submitting your writing. Once you have submitted an assignment, there’s nothing I can do. The full policy on academic misconduct can be found in the Student Handbook. A note here: I have at least one student fail a class each semester due to plagiarism. Please don’t be this student. If you are struggling to complete an assignment, come talk to me. If you are using outside sources and you’re not sure if you’re citing correctly, come talk to me. If there’s any doubt in your mind at all regarding using outside sources, come talk to me. Movie Nights: There will be an optional movie night during which we will order some pizzas and view a film adaptation of one of the novels we are reading. These nights are tentative at the moment, but if there is enough interest, you will receive extra credit for attending the movie night and writing a brief response paper comparing the film to the actual text. We can decide on the nights/times later in the semester. Grading You will need to complete all assignments in order to receive credit for the course. For any assignment, and for the course overall, I do want to stress that I consider A-work as exceptional. Such work goes above and beyond the requirements; it shows not only an effort to wrestle with ideas, readings, and writing, but also a successful outcome. B-work is good, quality work. Such work pushes beyond the general requirements and shows thoughtfulness and time spent on the ideas, readings, and writing. C-work satisfies the requirements of an assignment. It is work that meets all the criteria, yet it does not step beyond those original goals. C is an average grade; most work generally falls near this category. D and F work is work not completed or work that fails to achieve the goals of the assignment. You may talk with me at any point in the semester about your standing in class. If something is keeping you from completing work or attending class, let me know immediately. I can work with you if I am aware of a situation, but I cannot offer a retroactive solution at the end of the semester.

Daily Schedule Week One R 8/17 – Introduction to the Course Introduction to the course, texts, and syllabus First-day poems (online PDF) Week Two T 8/22 – What is Literature? HOMEWORK #1 DUE Terry Eagleton, “What is Literature?” (online PDF) Second-day poems (online PDF)

Unit One: Romanti c i sm R 8/24 – William Blake William Blake, Songs of Innocence: “The Lamb,” “The Chimney Sweeper,” and “Infant Joy”; Songs of Experience: “The Tyger,” “The Chimney Sweeper,” “London,” and “Infant Sorrow” (www.blakearchive.org) Week Three T 8/29 – William Blake, cont. Continue discussion of Blake R 8/31 – William Wordsworth William Wordsworth, Advertisement to Lyrical Ballads, “We Are Seven,” “Lines Written in Early Spring,” “Expostulation and Reply,” and “The Tables Turned” (http://www.rc.umd.edu/editions/LB/) Week Four T 9/5 – No Class, Student Holiday R 9/7 – William Wordsworth, cont. William Wordsworth, “Tintern Abbey” (http://www.rc.umd.edu/editions/LB/) Week Five T 9/12 – Wordsworth, Keats, and the Sonnet William Wordsworth, “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” and “London, 1802” (find these online) John Keats, “When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be” and “Bright Star” (find these online) R 9/14 – John Keats HOMEWORK #2 DUE John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and “To Autumn” (find online) Week Six T 9/19 – Mary Shelley’s Frankenst e in Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Volume I and Appendix I R 9/21 – Frankenst e in , cont. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Volume II

Week Seven T 9/26 – Frankenst e in HOMEWORK #3 DUE Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Volume III

Unit Two: The Victor ian Per iod R 9/28 – Matthew Arnold and Elizabeth Barrett Browning Matthew Arnold, “The Buried Life” (find online) Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “The Cry of the Children” (find online) Week Eight T 10/3 – Matthew Arnold and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, cont. Matthew Arnold, “Dover Beach” (find online) Elizabeth Barrett Browning, sonnet 22 and sonnet 43 (find online) R 10/5 – Robert Browning POSITION PAPER DUE Robert Browning, “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess” (find online) Week Nine T 10/10 – Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, “Mariana,” “The Lady of Shalott,” and “Ulysses” (find online) R 10/12 – The Pre-Raphaelites Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “The Blessed Damozel” and “Nuptial Sleep” (find online) Week Ten T 10/17 – The Pre-Raphaelites, cont. Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market” (find online) R 10/19 – Bram Stoker’s Dracu la Bram Stoker, Dracula, chapters I-VIII Week Eleven T 10/24 – Dracu la , cont. Bram Stoker, Dracula, chapters IX-XIV R 10/26 – Dracu la , cont. Stoker, Dracula, chapters XV-XXVII

Unit Three : Modernism Week Twelve T 10/31 – W. B. Yeats, Thomas Hardy, and Modernist Poetry W. B. Yeats, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” and “The Wilde Swans at Coole” (find online) Thomas Hardy, “Hap” and “The Convergence of the Twain” (find online)

R 11/2 – Imagism: Ezra Pound, H.D., and T. S. Eliot GROUP PROJECT APPROVAL DUE Ezra Pound, “A Retrospect” and “In a Station of the Metro” (online PDF) H.D., selected poems (online PDF) T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (online PDF) Week Thirteen T 11/7 – WWI Poets: Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen Siegfried Sassoon, “They” and “Glory of Women” (find online) Wilfred Owen, “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” “Arms and the Boy,” and “Dulce et Decorum Est” (find online) R 11/9 – T. S. Eliot T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land (online PDF) Week Fourteen T 11/14 – Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dal loway Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, pages 1-29 R 11/16 – Mrs. Dal loway , cont. Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, pages 29-64 THANKSGIVING BREAK: NOVEMBER 20-24 Week Fif teen T 11/28 – Mrs. Dal loway , cont. Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, pages 64-194 R 11/30 – Conclusion to the Course CREATIVE GROUP PROJECTS DUE HOMEWORK #4 DUE Presentation of Creative Group Projects Finals Week R 12/7 – CRITICAL ESSAY DUE ON BLACKBOARD BY 11:59PM

Assignment Prompt for Position Paper

Write a paper in which you respond to one assigned reading by analyzing the text. What seems most important in the reading? What is particularly interesting? How does the reading relate to larger ideas and historical contexts? You are free to use one of the discussion questions as a prompt in writing your paper, or you can develop your own line of inquiry. Your paper must follow MLA formatting; it must be double-spaced using 12-point Times New Roman font (or equivalent); and it must meet the minimum word requirement. I will not accept papers that do not meet these requirements. Your paper should include an introductory paragraph that establishes the text about which you are writing as well as your approach to thinking about it. The introduction need not have a thesis statement, but you can certainly construct one if you would like to develop a specific argument about the reading. Your paper should also contain claims supported with evidence from the text: so you should quote, paraphrase, discuss, and analyze specific passages in the reading. You should demonstrate the skills you learned in English 1010 and 1020, but you should also move beyond first-year writing. Ultimately, I want to see you engage with the reading in this paper. Show me that you’ve performed careful reading (and re-reading) and thinking, and that you’ve spent time crafting the paper.

Assignment Prompt for Critical Essay

You have two options for this essay, which are outlined on page three of this syllabus. I encourage you to go with option #2. For both options, your paper must follow MLA formatting; it must be double-spaced using 12-point Times New Roman font (or equivalent); and it must meet the minimum word requirement. I will not accept papers that do not meet these requirements. Your essay should include a crafted introduction and conclusion; a clear thesis statement that develops throughout the paper; analytical claims supported with textual evidence; logical structure and organization; and MLA citations. You should demonstrate the skills you learned in English 1010 and 1020, but you should also move beyond first-year level writing. A strong critical essay contains the following: A crafted introduction and conclusion * A strong introduction identifies the text(s) you will analyze; defines the topic of your essay; states why your argument matters; provides appropriate background/context; and contains a thesis statement that you will develop, expand, and/or explore in the paper. * A strong conclusion makes a judgment about your original question/topic (but does not restate your thesis statement); makes a point that ties everything together; and gives the reader a “send-off.” A clear thesis statement that develops throughout the paper * A thesis statement is a crystallized and concise sentence or set of sentences that assert/s your argument (the overall argument is the thesis). Your thesis statement should appear near the end of your introductory paragraph. * Thesis development relies on effective and logical organization and close reading/s of your selected text/s. Your paper should evolve as a development and exploration of your thesis statement through direct quotation, paraphrase, discussion, and analysis of the text/s. Analytical claims supported with textual evidence * Analytical claims are interpretations or ideas regarding texts (as opposed to opinions which offer no evidence); textual evidence is the documentation, paraphrase, or analysis of the text(s) linked to specific claims. Basically, this means close reading in which you link your ideas and statements about the text/s to specific words, phrases, lines, images, paragraphs in the text/s. Logical structure and organization * Coherent paragraphs have strong topic sentences that develop systematically throughout the paper. Each paragraph should have a clear main point as well as effective transitions that provide a sense of coherence. * At the sentence level, you should demonstrate clear phrasing, apt word choice, and a command of Standard English.