Schedule of Classes| Writing Assignments | Handouts (Contexts/Authors)

Required Texts

•  William Blake Songs of Innocence and of Experience (Oxford edition)

•  William Blake The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (Oxford)

•  Longman Anthology of British Literature: The Romantics and Their Contemporaries vol. 2A, second edition.

Course Objectives

The course provides an historical and cultural overview of the British Romantic period and intensive study of individual writers that seeks to foster critical understanding and enhance intellectual growth. We will read (and reread) selected poetry (and some prose) in order to examine the language, genres, and themes of Romantic era writers. We will also examine several influential theories of Romanticism, including those that question the Romantic canon and its relation to women's rights, slavery, and empire, both at home and abroad. Since time prevents our reading the longer works of the period--Wordsworth, Blake, Byron, and Shelley all wrote significant long poems, Joanna Baillie wrote hugely popular plays, and many writers published novels--another aim of the course is to prepare students to read these texts on their own. Social and cultural contexts that shape the literature of British Romanticism can be gathered from class lectures, readings in the Longman Anthology, and study of secondary sources.

Reading Assignments

In addition to assigned texts, you are required to read the Longman Anthology headnotes or prefatory material on each writer that appears before selections of their works. We are dealing with real people and it's important to grasp the key events of their lives and the overall body of their works as contexts for the individual texts we study. Also, please familiarize yourselves with the section “Political and Religious Orders” (pp.1007-11), which describes the basic political and religious institutions that govern British life, a topic of fundamental importance to readers of British literature.

Writing Assignments

Several short responses (2 pages), a website project (to be determined in consultation with me), and a final research paper (minimum 10 pages).

Short Responses —these are designed to explore a particular theme or literary feature that characterizes the writer's work. You can rely on your own close reading of the material or incorporate perspectives from class discussion and secondary reading. You can also develop these shorter papers into your longer research paper.

Website Project— as a newcomer to the web world, I am open to learning from you what might be a productive and stimulating assignment. I did not design the site alone, but I worked many months updating the bibliography of primary and secondary sources and writing the introductory paragraphs before each of the 21 sections. Familiarize yourselves with these paragraphs, using them to find and generate topics for both your web project and research paper.

Final Paper —the research essay is the culmination of your work in the course. It should include at least five different sources, including a Works Cited and/or an Endnotes page. Follow guidelines set out in the MLA Handbook.

The topic should be generated in consultation with me, although feel free to explore any of the writers and texts we cover or other works by the same writers that we don't cover but that you find intriguing. Choose enough material for an in-depth essay but not so much as to make your argument too broad or unwieldy. Focus closely on language and themes but seek to develop concepts we have explored in class.

You need not agree with my conception of British Romanticism, nor do you need to write an essay on "Romanticism" per se. In fact, avoid blanket statements about Romantic writing—you may be better off to leave the concept of "Romanticism" out of the picture and develop terms entirely specific to your subject matter. But you may find that your choice of topic and texts challenges how Romantic writing has been conceived, either by me or other scholars you encounter.

All of your essays must be well-organized, carefully thought-out, and proof-read. I know from many years of experience that one or two drafts will not result in good grades. Take the time to rewrite your papers before you hand them in. This is crucial to your success. If you are asked to revise an essay, hand in both the graded draft or drafts and the revised draft together. Feel free to visit during office hours to talk about improving your writing.

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