ENGLISH
382 (Fall 2003)
STUDIES
IN ROMANTIC LITERATURE
Dr.
Timothy Brownlow
Office
232, English Department
Local
2122
Office
hours: Wednesdays 5:00-6:00
In
Duncan: Tuesdays 1:30-3:30
Duncan
Writing Centre: Thursdays 1:00-3:00;
Fridays 11:00-1:00
E-mail:
brownlwt@mala.bc.ca
TEXTS
Wu,
Duncan, ed. Romanticism:
An Anthology.
Second edition with CD.
Blackwell, 1998.
Ballaster,
Ros, ed. Sense
and Sensibility.
Penguin, 1995.
Summerfield,
Geoffrey, ed. John
Clare: Selected Poetry.
Penguin, 1990.
PREAMBLE
The
period we are studying is
of immense complexity; trying
to "cover" it
in 39 hours is like taking
a three-week coach tour
of Europe—arrive
Paris 11:30 a. m. Lunch
at La Bagatelle, skip into
the Louvre to see the Mona
Lisa, on to see Monet's
water-lilies, coffee on
the Champs Elysees—6:30
p.m.: coach leaves for London
(notice Notre Dame floodlit
on left as we leave).
You
will find my style anecdotal,
inter-disciplinary, and
assuming a more-than-nodding
familiarity with history.
Like the Oxford
English Dictionary,
my explorations are based "on
historical principles." Initially,
you may be confused,
but by the fifth or
sixth week, discernable
shapes should be emerging
from the mist. There
will be an expected
minimum of reading,
but you will be encouraged
to follow your hunches
and interests: you
will be examined on
the Mona Lisa and Monet
(to continue the Grand
Tour analogy) but if
you fall in love with
the paintings of, say,
Berthe Morisot,
you are free to tie
them into the main
theme.
FORMAT
OF CLASSES
I
am aware that many of you
will already have had a
heavy day before our class.
I have tried to include
as much variety as possible—there
will be extracts from videos,
musical interludes, group
work, as well as more formal
lectures. In addition, a
series of coloured overheads
has been designed to follow
up the themes of each class;
these will be shown from
9:00 onwards. At 9:25 in
each class, you will be
given a 5- by- 3 index card
and asked to comment on
your evening's
learning. These cards will
act as a running commentary
throughout the term, as
well as providing invaluable
feedback for me, and will
be the basis of your participation
grade (part of your final
mark).
ASSIGNMENTS
Essay
of approx. 1500 words,
due October 1
In-class
writing on October 15
Group
work on women writers, presented
November 19
Research
paper, min. 2000 words, due December
3
Examination
Participation,
including index cards 15%
15%
10%
25%
25%
10%
SCHEDULE
[Page
numbers refer to Duncan
Wu's Romanticism:
An Anthology (Blackwell,
1998)]
3
September Quotations.
Introduce
each other.
Go
over outline.
Classicism/Romanticism.
Mindmap
on the word "Romantic."
Overheads:
introductory.
Index
card.
10
September STORM
and STRESS
Video: "The
Fallacies of Hope" (extract)
The
Revolution debate: Richard
Price, Edmund Burke,
Thomas Paine, William
Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft,
Helen Maria Williams,
James Mackintosh.
England
since the Restoration
(1660): the evolution
of liberty.
Words,
words, words and their
dates.
17
September LANDSCAPES
and MINDSCAPES
The
Riparian Muse: river
poems or streams of
consciousness.
Thomas
Warton, p.3; Charlotte
Smith, p.35; W. L. Bowles,
p.155; S. T. Coleridge,
p.450; Wordsworth, p.414;
Wordsworth, pp.265-269.
24
September PICTURESQUE
and SUBLIME
Hogarth's Line
of Beauty
Edmund
Burke, p. 5; William
Cowper, p.11; Anna Seward,
p.18; Mary Robinson,
p.122; Ann Radcliffe,
pp.157-8; Coleridge,
pp.551-555; Wordsworth,
pp.300-324 and pp.329-332.
Wordsworth: "Preface
to Lyrical Ballads." Pp.357-366.
1
October SENSE
and SENSIBILITY (theme)
Dr.
Johnson and Boswell
Hannah
More, pp.27-30; Anna
L. Barbauld, pp.22-25;
Mary Wollstonecraft,
pp.140-146; Dorothy
Wordsworth, pp.431-440;
Lady Morgan, pp.593-595;
Thomas Moore, pp.617-619.
8
October SENSE
and SENSIBILITY (novel)
Read
the Penguin text and
be prepared to talk
about it. If possible,
rent the video version
with Emma Thompson and
Hugh Grant.
15
October CLASSICAL
and ROMANTIC (musical
interlude)
6:30-
8:00 In-class
writing; see assignment
# 1.
8:15-
9:30 Beethoven: "The
Artist as Hero."
N.B.
The second part of this
class will take place
in the theatre of Building
356, Room 109.
22
October DELIGHT
and MELANCHOLY
John
Keats: Sonnets; Odes,
pp.1056-1064; 1080;
Letters.
29
October INTEREST
and PRINCIPAL
Shelley: "A
Defence of Poetry." Pp.944-956.
Lord
Byron: "Dedication
to Don Juan." Pp.752-755.
Byron
on Wordsworth and Coleridge.
5
November INNOCENCE
and EXPERIENCE
George
Crabbe: "Peter
Grimes." Pp.37-44;
William Blake: "Songs
of Innocence and of
Experience." Pp.60-84.
Blake
as artist.
12
November RUSTICS
and SOPHISTICATES
Ann
Yearsley, p.50; Robert
Burns, pp126-134; Robert
Bloomfield, pp.174-177;
James Hogg, p.419; John
Clare, pp.973-990.
Find
your own favourites
in the Penguin edition.
19
November MILKMAIDS
and BLUESTOCKINGS
Your
choice of women writers.
26
November VISIONS
and REVISIONS
Writer's
block.
The
myth of Romantic spontaneity.
Three
versions of "Dejection:
An Ode." Pp.495-504;
507-511; 544-558.
What
is Romanticism?
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