Dr. Harriet Kramer Linkin Spring 1998
Office: 117 English Building
Office Hours: TuTh 1-2 (drop in hours); TuTh 4-5 (appointments)
Phone: 646-2240
E-mail: hlinkin@nmsu.eduEnglish 421/521–Gothic Romanticism
Spring 1998 Syllabus
TuTh 2:35-3:50
Course Description: The secret at the heart of Romantic literature is its dark obsession with all things Gothic: the worm that destroys Blake's Rose, the crime that compels Coleridge's mariner, the desire that rules Byron's Manfred, the workshop that produces Shelley's creature all indicate Romanticism's barely hidden Gothic impulse. This course proposes to bring the skeletal Gothicism of high Romantic literature out of the closet to consider how Walpole's 1764 publication of The Castle of Otranto in a Romantic age steeped in the Gothic sensibility.
- Required Texts: Available at NMSU Bookstore
- Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1764) Oxford [or Three Gothic Novels]
- Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) Oxford
- Lewis, The Monk (1795) Oxford
- Austen, Northanger Abbey (1798; 1818) Broadview
- Dacre, Zofloya (1806) Broadview
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818) Broadview
- Peacock, Nightmare Abbey (1819) Penguin
- Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) Oxford
- Hogg, Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824) Penguin
All other readings for the course are available via the internet (see attached list) or through the Corbett Copy Center. Please make sure to acquire copies of all readings for discussion.
Course Assignments and Grading Policies: In addition to reading and being prepared to discuss the works assigned for each class, course requirements include completing three writing projects. I will hand out detailed assignment sheets that contain specific topics to pursue; please feel free to make these topics your own by reshaping them in ways you find intriguing. Please note that I am very serious about deadlines (late papers lose one full grade per class meeting) and find intellectual dishonesty unacceptable (make sure to cite all sources to avoid plagiarism and failure). Because the heart of this course is discussion, I look forward to your timely attendance. Missing more than two classes can affect your final grade adversely; missing three weeks of class can result in failure. You are responsible for acquiring handouts or hearing class announcements on additional classroom and grading policies. I will derive final grades based on the following formula: project 1 (20%), project 2 (40%), project 3 (30%), participation (10%). Please inform me of any assistance you need to fulfill these requirements or any circumstances that will affect your ability to give this class your best effort. If you have or believe you have a disability, make sure to contact the Office of Disabled Student Programs for appropriate accommodations.
Course Schedule
Th Jan 15 Introductions: Gothic or Romantic? - Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" (1751), Percy, Reliques (1765), Blake, Songs (1789-94)
Tu Jan 20 Smith, "Written in the church-yard," "On being cautioned" (1784-97), Baillie, "Night Scenes of Other Times" (1790)
Th Jan 22 Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1764), Reeve, "Preface" to Baron (1778)
Tu Jan 27 Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) Vol. 1 (1-160)
Th Jan 29 Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) Vol. 2 (161-340)
Tu Feb 3 Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) Vol. 3 (341-511)
Th Feb 5 Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) Vol. 4 (512-672)
Tu Feb 10 Lewis, The Monk (1796) Vol. 1 (7-128)
Th Feb 12 Lewis, The Monk (1796) Vol. 2 (128-279)
Tu Feb 17 Lewis, The Monk (1796) Vol. 3 (281-442)
Th Feb 19 Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Christabel, "Kubla Khan" (1797), Rev. of The Monk, Udolpho (1794-97), Biographia Literaria Chap. 14 (1817)
Tu Feb 24 Austen, Northanger Abbey (1798/1818)
Th Feb 26 Wordsworth, "We Are Seven," "Goody Blake and Harry Gill," "The Thorn" (1798), "Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known," "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways," "I Travelled Among Unknown Men," "Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower," "A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal," "Lucy Grey" (1800), "Resolution and Independence" (1802; 1807) Project 1 Due
Mar 2-6 Spring Break
Tu Mar 10 Robinson, "All Alone," "The Haunted Beach," "The Poor Singing Dame," "The Savage of Aveyron" (1800); Tighe, Psyche (1805; 1811) Canto 1, 2, 4
Th Mar 12 Dacre, Zofloya (1806) Vol. 1, Ch. 1-12 (39-113)
Tu Mar 17 Dacre, Zofloya (1806) Vol. 2, Ch. 13-25 (117-192)
Th Mar 19 Dacre, Zofloya (1806) Vol. 3, Ch. 26-33 (195-255)
Tu Mar 24 PB Shelley, Zastrozzi (1810)
Th Mar 26 TBA Class Meeting: PB Shelley, Alastor; or, the Spirit of Solitude (1816), "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty" (1817)
Tu Mar 31 Byron, Manfred (1817)
Th Apr 2 TBA Class Meeting: Byron, Fragment of a Novel (1816),
Polidori, The Vampyre (1817; 1819)
Tu Apr 7 M Shelley, Frankenstein (1818) Vol. 1, Ch. 1-7 (47-117)
Th Apr 9 M Shelley, Frankenstein (1818) Vol. 2, Ch. 1-9 (119-176) Project 2 Due
Tu Apr 14 M Shelley, Frankenstein (1818) Vol. 3, Ch. 1-7 (177-247),
Peacock, Nightmare Abbey (1818)
Th Apr 16 Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) Vol. 1 (7-130)
Tu Apr 21 Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) Vol. 2 (131-244)
Th Apr 23 Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) Vol. 3 (245-376)
Tu Apr 28 Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) Vol. 4 (377-542)
Th Apr 30 Keats, "Isabella," "The Eve of St. Agnes," "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," "Lamia" (1819)
Tu May 5 Hogg, Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824) (29-106)
Th May 7 Hogg, Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824) (109-242)
Th May 14 3:30-5:30 Exam Week Class: Project 3 Due