COURSE DESCRIPTION: English 108: Romanticism and Apocalypse Like many people today, British Romantic writers worried about the demise of humankind and the planet, but also hoped for a regenerative revolution that remakes the world anew after the apocalypse. This course will examine the Romantic discourse of apocalypse as a religious, secular, and political phenomenon that captivated the British imagination between 1789 and 1830. The following questions will guide our thinking: why does the Romantic poet-prophet replace the priest and politician as a legislator speaking for the world? Could women adapt this prophetic position? How does poetry assume supernatural insight into the past, present, and future? How does the end of history theme shape the way British Romantics write for their contemporaries and to us their post-apocalyptic progenitors? COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES (CLOS): After engaging with this course actively and thoughtfully, students will be able to do the following. These items are linked to the Program Learning Outcomes expected of all majors: 1. Identify several forms of British Romantic writings as well as the people, places, and events that shaped the context in which these writings were produced. (Addresses PLO 1) 2. Appreciate the aesthetic qualities, ethical, and political complexities of these works, and understand how they influenced the later works in English literature (Addresses PLO 2) 3. Empathize with historical, geographic, and cultural diversity by reading Romantic-era works, understanding the way religious, political, and social challenges were expressed through them (Addresses PLO 3) 4. Interpret Romantic literary texts, sensitive to textual, contextual, and performative cues. (Addresses PLO 1) 5. Compare various Romantic literary works written in various genres, considering issues of influence and shared contexts. 6. Respond creatively to the course s material through a live or video presentation of a scene, imitation or parody of a literary text, and interpretive visual aid created in class and for the online course blog. 7. Articulate your evaluations of these Romantic writings, cogently and with sensitivity to context. (Addresses PLOs 1 and 2 and 5) 8. Apply interpretive strategies developed in a historical literary period to other academic and cultural contexts, particularly in relation to contemporary anxieties about the end of the world (Addresses PLO 4) All above CLOs are applicable to the Literature and English Major, and to the General Education program as well. PLANNED LEARNING OUTCOMES (PLOS) FOR THE ENGLISH MAJOR 1. Interpret texts with due sensitivity to both textual and contextual cues. 2. Articulate an appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of texts by the standards of their times and places. 3. Demonstrate historical, geographic, and cultural empathy by reading texts written in other times, places, and cultures. 4. Apply interpretive strategies developed in literary study to other academic and professional contexts. 5. Write cogently and with sensitivity to audience. GENERAL EDUCATION GUIDING PRINCIPLES This course particularly emphasizes the following four General Education Guiding Principles: Communication: analyzing British Romantic literature and communicating responses to these works to the class, faculty member, and a general online audience.
Aesthetic understanding and creativity: appreciating the unique qualities of Romantic literary genres, despite or perhaps because of their difficulty compared to literature written in another period; appreciating various Romantic writers creativity by reading many different works, and responding imaginatively to that work through a creative project presented informally in class and on the online course blog. Self and society: Appreciating of diverse perspectives in both global and community contexts; learning about the various historical and cultural contexts of Romantic literature, and thinking about how these particular historical, political, and religious contexts shaped the production and reception of these works. REQUIRED TEXTS: Duncan Wu, Romanticism: An Anthology (4 th ed.) William Wordsworth, The Prelude (Norton) Mary Shelley, The Last Man (Oxford World s Classics) Other primary readings (on OAK under e-reserves ) (STRONGLY) RECOMMENDED TEXTS: Selected essays from Duncan Wu, A Companion to Romanticism (on OAK) A Romantic Timeline 1770-1851 (Romanticism, xlviii-lxxiii) Course blog Lecture Notes COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Grade Percentage: Weekly blog posts 30% Peer grading 10% First paper 15% Term paper 35% Attendance & participation 10% Weekly Blog Posts: You are expected to post one blog entry weekly on our public course site based on that week s assigned reading. I will create a topic and occasionally sets of questions for each week. I encourage you to respond to your peer s posts, a question of your own, or to a current event that is related to this course s theme. Posts are meant to be informal writing assignments that help generate engaging thoughts (or questions) about anything and everything that occurs to you while reading. They serve as the basis of our class discussions (I will occasionally call on you to share some of your thoughts on it). The posts should be a short paragraph (300 words), however they must be written sincerely and thoughtfully. Keep in mind that these blogs might be read by thousands of viewers online, not just by me or your peers, so expect strangers to comment on your ideas. Although the blogs should be written informally, they should be well-written and spell-checked, with no grammatical/punctuation errors. Students are required to create tags (as many as you want) for each blog post they submit; untagged blog posts will not receive a grade. The last time you can post on any given week is Thursday by 8:30am. Peer evaluation and grading: Each week an assigned student pair will be responsible for evaluating and grading the blog posts for a given week. They will be graded on a letter grade system according to fixed rubrics included in this syllabus (see blog posts grading criterion, p.6). The student pair will submit their written evaluations and grade to me for final approval in writing, explaining their justifications (I reserve the right to alter the grade). The student pair is not required to submit their own post for that week. Grades are due to me (via email) by Monday
of the following week at noon. More specific instructions will be discussed in class. Term Paper: The term paper project involves two phases: (1) You will write a 5-6 page essay on one of the many broad topics that I will distribute ahead of time in class. (2) Based on my feedback, you will revise and expand the first essay into a 12-13 page term paper. Both phases of the project involve critical analysis of a particular theme or idea that appears in the various texts included in the course syllabus. No secondary research is required or encouraged; original and provocative interpretations are essential. [more information on the term paper will be distributed later in the semester; see grading criterion on p. 5] ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION: I will ask you to sign an attendance sheet in each class session. Attendance and participation are essential in successfully completing this course and in attaining a decent grade. The course is structured in such a way that if you were to miss a class or more it will become significantly more and more difficult to comprehend new materials to be covered in the next class session. Moreover, this class really depends on intellectual classroom discussions and on your in-put into how this course could be shaped to your issues and concerns. Hence, not only will your participation grade be lowered, but you will certainly offset your grades on the exams and writing assignments. The same goes for excessive tardiness. A score of 9-10 points will be reserved only for those attending, non-tardy students who participated frequently, substantially, and positively. Warning: More than two unexcused absences will be reflected in your mid-semester reports and will result in reducing your final course grade by half a letter grade! Excusing Absences: I may be willing to excuse no more than two absences only in case of serious illness, family emergencies, or religious holidays/events, all of which require actual certified documentation or proof. If you are going to miss class, please e-mail me before class begins. It is your responsibility to make up missed work or know about any up-coming assignments. LATE OR MISSED WORK: Due dates are announced in advance, and I will be sure to give plenty of reminders. All work must be turned in on the due date. For the term paper, half a letter grade will be lost for each day it goes over the due date. Late or missed blog posts will not be accepted. I will consider make-up work only for exceptional circumstances that are brought to my attention at least two weeks in advance of the designated due date. CLASSROOM ACCOMMODATIONS & ISSUES: If you require any disability-related accommodations, please contact me by e-mail, phone, in my office, or after class. If there are any issues, problems, or anxieties, either with the course itself or something outside the course, please feel free to talk with me. Even if I am unable to help you, I can certainly send you to someone who can.
COURSE SCHEDULE Week 1 (8/23): Romanticism: the Age of The Spirit of the Age TR: Course introductions & Course Policies Shelley s definition of his own literary period/ excerpts from Shelley s the Defense of Poetry (1821) (handout) --assign first blog category. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. DEFINING ROMANTICISM Week 2 (8/28 8/30): The Prelude (1805; 1850) [read the 1805 edition] TU: Recap. on Shelley s definition of Poetry William Wordsworth s biography (411-417) Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book 1 Lecture Note #1 Secondary reading: Seamus Perry, Romanticism: The Brief History of a Concept (OAK) TR: The Prelude, Book 1 & 2 First blog post due --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 3 (9/4 9/6): The Prelude (1805; 1850) [read the 1805 edition] TU: The Prelude, Book 3 & 4 TR: The Prelude, Book 5 ( The Dream of the Arab ); Workshop on peer grading. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 4 (9/11 9/13): The Prelude (1805; 1850) [read the 1805 edition] TU: Samuel Taylor Coleridge s biography (592-598) Coleridge, Kubla Khan (619-623); read both versions TR: The Prelude, Book 6 ( Crossing the Alps ). II. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION WHITHER ENGLAND? Week 5 (9/18 9/20): England and the Radical 1790s TU: Richard Price, excerpts from A Discourse on the Love of Our Country (3-6); Edmund Burke, excerpts from Reflections on the Revolution in France (7-9; 13-16); Thomas Paine, from The Rights of Man, part I (23, 25-27) Lecture Note #2 Secondary reading:
David Duff, From Revolution to Romanticism: The Historical Context to 1800 (OAK) TR: William Godwin, excerts from Political Justice (handout); Wordsworth, excerpt of Book X of The Prelude [Godwinism] [Confusion and Recovery] (lines 737-965) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 6 (9/25 9/27): Romantic Feminism TU: Mary Wollstonecraft s biography (276-277); Wollstonecraft, excerpts from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (279-285) TR: Wollstonecraft, excerpts from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (handout); Anna Laetitia Barbauld s biography (31-35); Barbauld, The Rights of Woman (41-42) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 7 (10/2 10/4): The Life and Poetry of William Blake TU: William Blake biography (169-174); Blake, All Religions are One (174-175); There is no Natural Religion (175); begin Blake, The Song of LOS (OAK) Lecture Note #3 Assign first essay TR: FALL BREAK (NO CLASS!) Blog post due for next Tuesday 10/9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 8 (10/9 10/11): The Blakean Vision of History TU: Blake, The Song of LOS and Europe, A Prophecy (OAK) Secondary reading: Morton D. Paley, Apocalypse and Millennium (OAK, read only from 23-32) TR: finish w/ Blake No Blog post due ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. HELLENISM & THE NEOCLASSICAL TRADITION Week 9 (10/16 10/18): Keatsian History: Nostalgia or Prophecy? TU: John Keats biography (1332-1342); Keats, The Fall of Hyperion: A Dream (1420-1432); Letter on Negative Capability (1350-1351); Letter on the Imagination (1349-1350) Lecture Note #4 TR: The Fall of Hyperion: A Dream (1081-92) Due: First Essay
Field trip to the Nashville Parthenon No blog post due -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weeks 10 (10/23 10/25): Shelley s Cosmic-Psychological Drama TU: finish w/ The Fall of Hyperion: A Dream (1081-92) Blog post due TR: Percy Bysshe Shelley s biography (1043-1052); Shelley s Prometheus Unbound, Preface and Act 1 Lecture Note #5 Secondary Reading: Morton Paley, Apocalypse and Millennium. (OAK, read only from 32-8) No blog post due ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 11 (10/30 11/1): Shelley s Cosmic-Psychological Drama TU: Prometheus Unbound, Acts 2 & 3 TR: finish w/ Prometheus Unbound, Act 4 IV. SPOOFING ROMANTICISM Weeks 12 (11/6 11/8): Mary Shelley s The Last Man TU: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley s biography (1435-1436); The Last Man (try to read the entire novel) Lecture Note #7 TR: The Last Man ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Week 13 (11/13 11/15): Mary Shelley s The Last Man TU: continue w/ The Last Man; Mary Shelley s journal entry, 15 May 1824 (1437) TR: finish The Last Man ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Week 14 (11/20 11/23): THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS No classes!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Week 15: (11/27 11/29): The Byronic Hero TU: Writing Workshop: on revising and rewriting an essay
TR: George Gordon Byron s biography (837-845); Lord Byron, Prometheus (887-888) Lecture Note #6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 16 (12/4 12/6): The Byronic Hero TU: Byron, Darkness (894-896); revisit The Last Man TR: Finish w/ Byron Term Paper due on Friday, December 14 th by noon