English 103b--British Literature from 1789 to 1900

English 103b—British Literature from 1789 to 1900

Queen Victoria as a young woman.

Instructor: James H. Donelan
MWF 12-12:50, Girvetz 1004
Office Hours: Wednesday 2:00-2:50, Friday 9-10 or by appointment.
Office: Girvetz 1310
Honors Section: Monday, 1:00-1:50, 2716 South Hall

Email: donelan@writing.ucsb.edu
Web Site: http://www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/donelan

Course Description:

The course will examine major British literary texts from the Romantic and Victorian eras, including poetry and prose by Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron, Keats, Wollstonecraft, Ruskin, Wilde, Tennyson, Dickens, and Browning. We will discuss the relationship between literature and various contemporaneous historical and cultural developments, such as the abolition of the British slave trade, the industrial revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon, aestheticism, and colonialism.

Texts: The Longman Anthology of British Literature , Volumes 2A and 2B.

The books are at the UCSB Bookstore.

Section information:

Enrollment codes (EC) for sections:

EC#14431, W, 10-10:50, San Miguel (dorm) Hall classroom;
EC# 14449, W, 11-11:50, Santa Rosa (dorm) Hall classroom
EC# 14456, M, 5-5:50, SH 1415
EC# 14464, M, 6-6:50 p.m., SH 1415
EC# 14472, M, 4-4:50, Santa Rosa Hall
EC# 14480, M, 5-5:50, Santa Rosa Hall.

Prerequisites: Writing 2 or 50 or 109 or English 10 or upper division standing

Requirements: The course requires two papers, a midterm, and a final examination, in addition to regular attendance and active participation in discussion section.

Assignments should be no longer or shorter than the length assigned and submitted on time and use the prescribed format. Late papers will result in grade reductions.
Never hand in a paper without proofreading it carefully.
Successful discussion sections depend on your presence and your full participation. Do not miss lectures or sections, and keep up with the syllabus.
University regulations regarding plagiarism will be strictly enforced.
Your final grade will be calculated as follows: first essay, 20%; second essay, 20%; midterm, 20%; final exam, 30%; class participation, 10%.

Syllabus

Page numbers listed below are from Volume 2A before the midterm and Volume 2B after the midterm.

I: The Break with the Past: Romantic Revolution

4/1 Introduction and Logistics Lecture Outline
4/3 "The Romantics and their Contemporaries," 2; Burke, from Reflections … 58. Lecture Outline
4/5 Wollstonecraft, 67; Paine, 76 Lecture Outline

4/8 Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, 110. Lecture Outline
4/10 "Perspectives: The Abolition of Slavery…" 149; Equiano, 151. Lecture Outline
4/12 Prince, 157; Wordsworth, 190-192; Edinburgh Review , 193; Wollstonecraft, 206. Lecture Outline

II: Beauty and Truth: High Romanticism

4/15 Wordsworth, "…Tintern Abbey," 328; "Preface," 332 Lecture Outline
4/17 Wordsworth, The Prelude, Books I, V, VI, and XI. Lecture Outline
4/19 Wordsworth, The Prelude, continued. D. Wordsworth, Grasmere Journals, 462. Lecture Outline

First paper due in section this week.

4/22 Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," 484; Biographia Literaria, 524. Lecture Outline
4/24 Byron, Don Juan, 569. Lecture Outline
4/26 Shelley, "Mont Blanc," 653; "Adonais," 675; A Defence of Poetry, 695 Lecture Outline .

4/29 Keats, "Ode to a Nightingale," 773; "Ode on a Grecian Urn," 775; "To Autumn," 779. Lecture Outline
5/1 Austen, from Pride and Prejudice, 1021. Lecture Outline .
5/3 Midterm Instructions

III: The Victorian Empire and the Literate Public

5/6 "The Victorian Age," 1032; "Perspectives: The Industrial Landscape," 1093-1119. Lecture Outline
5/8 Mill, On Liberty, 1121; The Subjection of Women , 1132. Lecture Outline
5/10 Darwin, The Voyage…, 1283, The Origin of Species , 1293; The Descent of Man, 1298. Lecture Outline

5/13 "Perspectives: Religion and Science" 1313-1347; Conan Doyle, "A Scandal in Bohemia," 1495. Lecture Outline
5/15 Arnold, "The Function of Criticism…," 1656; Culture and Anarchy , 1673.
5/17 Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1396.

IV: Aestheticsim and Self-examination: The End of the Empire

5/20 Tennyson, "Lotos-Eaters," 1194; "Ulysses," 1198; "The Epic," 1202; "Idylls of the King," 1245. Lecture Outline
5/22 Ruskin, 1553-1582. Lecture Outline Second Paper Topics Turner's Slave Ship
5/24 Pater, 1758-1776; R. Browning, "Fra Lippo Lippi," 1367; "Andrea del Sarto," 1378.
Outline and thesis statement for second paper due today.

5/27 Memorial Day. Enjoy the holiday!
5/29 E. Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, 1155; R. Browning, "Love Among the Ruins, 1360; "Childe Roland…," 1362. Lecture Outline
5/31 "Perspectives: Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen" 1600-1629. Lecture Outline

Second paper due in section this week
6/3 Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1882. Lecture Outline
6/5 Wilde, "Aphorisms," 1922. Conclusions. Lecture Outline

6/10 Final Exam, 12-3PM. (Monday) Study Guide