English 410/610 Studies in British Literature

1850: Life and Literature
in Victorian Britain

Joe Law

Office: 344 Millett Hall
Office phone: 775-2155
Email: joe.law@wright.edu
Office hours: 8:30-9:50 T, Th and by appointment
NOTE: Because of my duties as coordinator of the WAC program and interim director of the University Writing Center, I am sometimes unable to keep office hours as scheduled. I'll let you know in class if I anticipate being away. I'm usually on campus until about 5:00 each day, so it shouldn't be hard to schedule to meet some other time as needed. During the afternoon, I am likely to be in the Writing Center (031 Paul Laurence Dunbar Library).

Required Texts

• Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield. Ed. Jerome H. Buckley. New York: Norton: 1990.

• Tennyson, Alfred. In Memoriam. Ed. Robert H. Ross. New York: Norton, 1973.

• Wordsworth, William. The Prelude. Ed. Jonathan Wordsworth, M. H. Abrams, and Stephen Gill. New York: Norton, 1979.

• Course pack containing other readings listed below

Recommended Text

• Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed. New York: MLA, 1999.

PREREQUISITE: ENG 215 (or ENG 255/256); at least one of the ENG 350-359 sequence

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The undergraduate catalog describes English 410/610 (Studies in British Literature) as an "intensive study of British literary history and/or the work of individual British writers. Intended to develop an understanding of literature within the contexts of the author's life, literary production, and historical background." This section of the course will concentrate on works published in a single year, looking particularly at the relationship of those works and their context.

POLICIES AND COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Writing Across the Curriculum: English 410 is designated as a writing intensive course in the writing in the major portion of the Writing Across the Curriculum program. In addition to a letter grade for the course, you will also have an entry on your transcript to indicate that you have satisfied the writing intensive requirements of the class. (If you do not pass that portion of a writing intensive class, only the course grade appears on your official transcript.) To receive that credit in any writing intensive course, you must make a C or better on the writing portion of your grade. In this particular class grades are based almost entirely on writing, so the writing intensive grade and course grade will be the same.

Fourth-Hour Project: Like many other courses in the College of Liberal Arts, English 410 carries four hours of credit but meets only three hours per week. All such courses require a fourth-hour project. The requirements for this project are outlined below. 

Course Grade: Research proposal (5%); annotated bibliography (10%); research paper (35%); fourth-hour project (25%); quizzes and other informal assignments (20%); final exam (5%).

Late Work: As a rule, I do not accept late assignments. Late work will be accepted only in case of a documented illness or if arrangements have been made with me prior to the absence. Missed quizzes or other informal in-class work cannot be made up.

Tardiness: Class will begin at the scheduled time. Late arrivals disrupt class, so please be on time. Late arrivals will not receive additional time to complete any activities already begun--such as reading quizzes. I will check attendance at the beginning of class; if you are late, it is your responsibility to see that my record is corrected at the end of that same class period.

Editing Skills: All written work should adhere to the conventions of standard American English. Be sure to edit and proofread all work before submitting it.

 Paper Format: All assignments should follow MLA style--including documentation style--as described in the fifth edition (1999) of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 

Academic Honesty: All work submitted must be your own, with outside sources properly acknowledged. Academic dishonesty includes copying another's work, turning in someone else's work as your own, allowing a tutor to write part or all of your paper, or allowing someone else to use your work in this same manner. If you are unsure about your work in this matter, talk to me before you submit the paper, not after.

Special Accommodations: If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please see me as soon as possible. We should make any necessary adjustments at the beginning of the course.

University Writing Center: Writing consultants in the Writing Center (031 Library) are available to assist you as you work on your papers. Be sure to take a copy of your assignment with you when you go. The service is free to all Wright State students. To get more information about this quarter's hours and the services available, call 775-4186.

Reading & Assignment Schedule

All readings should be completed by the date they are scheduled for class discussion. Any changes to the schedule will be announced in class. If you must miss a class, be sure to keep up with any changes made in your absence.

01/06/03  Introduction to Course
01/08/03  Wordsworth, Prelude, Book 1 (complete) Use 1850 version for all readings
01/10/03  Wordsworth, Prelude, Book 3, lines 1-169; Copperfield 1 (Ch.1-3)

01/13/03  Wordsworth, Prelude, Book 6, lines 322-end; Copperfield 2 (Ch.4-6)
01/15/03  Wordsworth, Prelude, Book 7, lines 594-end; Book 8, lines 1-110
01/17/03  Wordsworth, Prelude, Book 12, lines 208-end; Book 13, lines 1-63; Copperfield 3 (Ch.7-9)

01/20/03   MLK Day--University closed
01/22/03  Wordsworth, Prelude, Book 14, lines 1-231; Copperfield 4 (Ch.10-12)
01/24/03  Wordsworth and the Victorians; Copperfield 5 (Ch.13-15)

01/27/03  E. B. Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, 1-16; Project A due
01/29/03  E. B. Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, 17-35; Copperfield 6 (Ch.16-18)
01/31/03  E. B. Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, 36-44; Copperfield 7 (Ch.19-21); Project due (group B1)

02/03/03  E. B. Browning, "The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point"; Copperfield 8 (Ch.22-24)
02/05/03  Pre-Raphaelites--Selections to be announced; Project due (group B2)
02/07/03  Pre-Raphaelites--Selections to be announced; Copperfield 9 (Ch.25-27)

02/10/03  Pre-Raphaelites--Selections to be announced; Copperfield 10 (Ch.28-31); Proposal due
02/12/03  Pre-Raphaelites--Selections to be announced
02/14/03  Pre-Raphaelites--Selections to be announced; Copperfield 11 (Ch.32-34); Project due (group B3)

02/17/03  R. Browning, Christmas-Eve, sections 1-12; Copperfield 12 (Ch.35-37)
02/19/03  R. Browning, Christmas-Eve, sections 13-22; Project due (group B4)
02/21/03  R. Browning, Easter-Day, sections 1-12; Copperfield 13 (Ch.38-40)

02/24/03  R. Browning, Easter-Day, sections 13-33; Copperfield 14 (Ch.41-43); Annotated bibliography due
02/26/03  R. Browning (concluded)
02/28/03  Tennyson, In Memoriam, sections 1-27; Copperfield 15 (Ch.44-46); Project due (group B5)

03/03/03  Tennyson, In Memoriam, sections 28-77; Copperfield 16 (Ch.47-50)
03/05/03  Tennyson, In Memoriam, sections 78-103; Project due (group B6)
03/07/03  Tennyson, In Memoriam, sections 104-end; Copperfield 17 (Ch.51-53)

03/10/03  Tennyson (concluded); Copperfield 18 (Ch.54-57)
03/12/03  Copperfield 19--Final Double Issue (Ch.58-64)
03/14/03  Final Class Meeting (bring #2 pencil to do course evaluation); Paper Due

Final Exam: 8 - 10 a.m., Wednesday, March 19, 2003

Assignments

Term Paper Assignment
General Assignment (final paper due 03/14/03): Write a research paper of about 8-10 pages (2,000-2,500 words) on a topic connected in some way to the year 1850. Students taking the class for graduate credit will write a somewhat longer paper (around 15 pages). You may write about one of the works discussed in class or select some other text published during 1850 (several possibilities are listed below). You may also deal with some later reaction to some text or event of 1850 (e.g., John Ruskin's championing of the Pre-Raphaelites) or some earlier phase of it (e.g., one of the earlier versions of The Prelude). No matter what direction you choose, you will need to begin planning right away.

Proposal (due 02/10/03): In a brief paper (1-2 pages) describe the research paper you intend to write. Begin by identifying the topic and its link to 1850, then summarize the point(s) you think you will be making about the topic. Your approach may change as you keep working on the paper--it probably will, in fact--so don't be alarmed if it does. This is a proposal, not a contract. Be prepared to talk about your proposed topic on the day this assignment is due.

Annotated Bibliography (due 02/24/03): In an opening paragraph or two, describe the project you are working on. This section should reflect the changes that have taken place since you proposed the topic. After the introductory description, provide bibliographic entries for at least five secondary sources you have looked at as you have been working on the paper. Those taking ENG 610 should provide at least ten entries in this section. After each entry, provide a one- or two-sentence annotation that (a) describes the item and (b) comments on its potential usefulness for your project. If you want to provide more than the required number of entries, feel free to do so. Including something in this assignment does not oblige you to use it in the final version of the paper. 

Note to ENG 610 students:
Please note the difference in requirements in the assignments above.

Some additional texts from 1850
Thomas Carlyle, Latter-Day Pamphlets
Wilkie Collins, After Dark
Elizabeth Gaskell, Moorland Cottage
Charles Kingsley, Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet
Bulwer Lytton, The Caxtons
John Henry Newman, Certain Difficulties Felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching
William Makepeace Thackeray, The Kickleburys on the Rhine
William Makepeace Thackeray, Pendennis

Fourth-Hour Projects
The purpose of the fourth-hour project is to give everyone a sense of the complexity of the era and to begin to suggest a few of the connections between the "real world" and some of the literature produced in it. The project will consist of two separate short papers that will be collected and distributed to the entire class. You will need to be prepared to submit a copy to me in either Word or Rich Text Format.

Project A (due 01/27/03):  The first paper will be a brief (1-2 pages) factual report about one of the following items. Provide a clear description or summary of the item, followed by a discussion of its significance.

Project B (due various dates):  For this part of the project you will need to look at the London Times (available only on microfilm, alas). You will be assigned a range of dates (probably two or three weeks) and asked to summarize the events taking place during that time. Write them up under the headings of politics, the arts, religion, other. Keep the summaries brief--probably somewhere in the neighborhood of three pages altogether. To make access to the Times a little simpler, I've made this part of the project due at six different times during the quarter.