200B W20 Lawson

ENGL 200B

We acknowledge that we are living and working on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (also known as Neutral), Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River.

Governor Frederick Haldimand issued the Proclamation granting land to the Six Nations, who were loyal to the British crown during the American Revolution, on October 25, 1784. Our course begins in the 1780s.

Winter 2020: Monday and Wednesday 11:30-12:50 in ML 246

Professor Kate Lawson klawson@uwaterloo.ca 519-888-4567 ext. 33965

Hagey Hall 264 Student hours/office hours: Tues and Wed 1:15-2:00 pm or by appointment

Texts:

The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise edition, Vol B. 3Edition. Ed. Joseph Black, et al. Broadview, 2019. rd

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818). Ed. Nick Groom. Oxford World’s Classics, 2019.

Charles Dickens. Great Expectations. Ed. Graham Law and Adrian J. Pinnington. Broadview, 1998.

Note: these are the editions I ordered. You may use any anthology that contains the texts on the reading list and may buy any edition of the novels—but note that you need the 1818 1Frankenstein. st edition version of

Course Description 

An introduction to historical British literature dating from the late eighteenth century. We will learn to recognize some of the characteristic forms and interests of the Romantic, Victorian, Modern, and Postmodern periods and trace patterns of influence and ideas. We will consider some major literary forms, for example, the lyric, the dramatic monologue, the Bildungsroman.

Learning Objectives

  • acquire a knowledge of British literary history from approximately 1780 to the present;
  • identify and evaluate important themes and the interrelations between the literary works of different periods;
  • identify and evaluate important cultural concerns of the periods;
  • increase critical responsiveness to the formal aspects of poetry and the novel;
  • hone critical skills in the reading, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of texts;
  • enhance written and oral communication skills.
Method of Evaluation  Value Due/Write
Essay 1: 750-900 words (in MLA format) 25% February 5
Essay 2: 1800-2000 words (in MLA format) 40% March 25
Final Test 25% April 1
Class participation/ “How to” sessions 10%  

Class participation: assessed through regular participation in in-class individual and group work.

Late Policy: Late essays will be penalized 2 marks for every day late. Please email or speak to me regarding extensions.

Schedule

ENGL 200B Winter 2020 Monday and Wednesday 11:30-12:50 in ML 246

Week

Date

Topic

Readings

1

Jan

6/8

The Canon;

Romantic, Victorian, Modern, Postmodern

Atwood, “you fit into me” (1729)

Wordsworth, “A slumber did my spirit seal” (195)

[read ahead: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein]

2

Jan

13/15

Contraries

Romanticism

Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience: “Holy Thursday” (80, 83), “The Chimney Sweeper” (79, 83), “Nurse’s Song” (81, “Experience” version posted on Learn), “The Divine Image” (80), “The Human Abstract” (86), “The Lamb, “The Tyger” (78, 84)

Barbauld, “The Rights of Woman” (47)

[read ahead: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein]

3

Jan

20/22

Lyric and Narrative

Romanticism

Smith, “To Sleep,” “To Night” (51)

Wordsworth, “We are Seven” (177), from The Prelude, book first, 340-414 (237), “Composed upon Westminster Bridge”, “The World is too much with us” (208)

Coleridge, “The Eolian Harp” (313), “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison” (329), “Kubla Khan” (342)

How to… do a close reading

4

Jan

27/29

The novel - Making someone 1

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

How to … quote from the text, use evidence

[Read ahead: Dickens, Great Expectations]

5

Feb

3/5

Essay 1 due Feb 5

Romantic to Victorian

Keats, “The Eve of St Agnes” (525)

Robert Browning, “Porphyria’s Lover” (910)

Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott” (825)

Rossetti, “In an Artist’s Studio” (1066)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “A Musical Instrument” (Learn)

[Read ahead: Dickens, Great Expectations]

6

Feb

10/12

The novel - Making someone 2

Dickens, Great Expectations

How to … quote from the text, use evidence

FEB

17/19

No Classes 

Reading Week 

7

Feb

24/26

Love and endings

Dickens, Great Expectations

Arnold, “Dover Beach” (1019)

8

March

2/4

Nature …

Romantic to Modern

Percy Bysshe Shelley, “To a Sky-Lark” (473)

Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale” (534)

Hardy, “The Darkling Thrush” (1092)

Wordsworth, “Yew-trees”

Dutt, “Our Casuarina-tree” (both posted on Learn)

How to … develop a thesis; plan an essay

9

March

9/11

History

Romantic to Modern

Burns, “Robert Bruce’s March to Bannockburn” (145)

Percy Bysshe Shelley, “England in 1819” (485)

Woolf, Chapter 3 from A Room of One’s Own (excerpt 1420-24)

Larkin, “Church Going” (1681), “MCMXIV” (on Learn), “High Windows” (1682), “This Be The Verse,” (1683)

Walcott, “A Far Cry from Africa” (1701)

10

March

16/18

Language & identity: Gaelic, Welsh, British, Jamaican-British

Romantic to Postmodern

Burns, “A Man’s a Man for A’ That” (145) (Listen to version on Learn)

Wordsworth, “The Solitary Reaper” (209)

MacLean, “A Highland Woman” (1805), “Hallaig” (1806)

Lewis, “Mother Tongue” (1826)

Rodger, “Being British” (Posted on Learn)

Antrobus, “Jamaican-British” (Posted on Learn)

11

Mar 23/25

Essay 2 due

Ireland

Modern to Postmodern

Yeats, “No Second Troy” (2395), “The Second Coming” (2402), “Sailing to Byzantium” (2406), “Easter, 1916”

Auden, “In Memory of W.B. Yeats” (1602)

Boland, “The Lost Land” (1743), “Quarantine”, “That the Science of Cartography Is Limited” (Posted on Learn)

12

Mr 30

The Canon, again

McLeod, “The Lost Salt Gift of Blood” (Posted on Learn)
  Apr 1   Final Test

Essay 1: ENGL 200B Winter 2020

  • Length: 750-900 words
  • Format: MLA
  • Due: February 5

J. Phelen in The Nineteenth-Century Sonnet writes that a sonnet is often the product of a contradiction: “both spontaneous and rule governed; both personal and conventional; … [both] ephemeral and occasional, and a ‘monument’ which will immortalise both poet and subject” (2).

Using one of the contradictions provided by Phelen as your starting point, provide a close reading of one of the following sonnets.

  1. Smith, “To Sleep” (51).
  2. Wordsworth, “The World is too much with us” (208).
  3. Keats, “Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art” (531).

A close reading should begin with a sentence or two that provides a summary of the overall meaning of the poem. Then, link the sonnet to the specific contradiction you have chosen and provide an analysis of the entire poem (combining explication, paraphrase, and quotation) through the lens of that contradiction. Proceed systematically (by octave and sestet, or by the three quatrains and couplet). The essay should provide as much detail as it can within the required length about how the poem creates meaning. The essay should maintain a focus on the specific contradiction you have chosen.

Secondary sources are not required. If you do read anything (including Shmoop, Wikipedia, etc.) please provide a Works Consulted for this essay. If you borrow an idea and/or phrase, please provide a correct citation for the source and a Works Cited.

For the correct format of citations, a Works Cited, etc., see:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_style_introduction.html

Cross-listed course (requirement for all Arts courses)

Please note that a cross-listed course will count in all respective averages no matter under which rubric it has been taken. For example, a PHIL/PSCI cross-list will count in a Philosophy major average, even if the course was taken under the Political Science rubric.

Academic Integrity

In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. Check the Office of Academic Integrity website for more information.

Discipline

A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing an academic offence, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. [Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information.] A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course instructor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate associate dean. For information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71, Student Discipline. For typical penalties, check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.

Grievance

A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt, please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Appeals

A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71, Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals.

Accommodation for Students with Disabilities

Note for students with disabilities: AccessAbility Services, located in Needles Hall, Room 1401, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with AccessAbility Services at the beginning of each academic term.

Mental Health Support

All of us need a support system. Arts encourages students to seek out mental health support when needed.

On Campus

  • Counselling Services: counselling.services@uwaterloo.ca / 519-888-4567 ext. 32655
  • MATES: one-to-one peer support program offered by Federation of Students (FEDS) and Counselling Services
  • Health Services Emergency service: located across the creek form Student Life Centre

Off campus, 24/7

  • Good2Talk: Free confidential help line for post-secondary students. Phone: 1-866-925-5454
  • Grand River Hospital: Emergency care for mental health crisis. Phone: 519-749-4300 ext. 6880
  • Here 24/7: Mental Health and Crisis Service Team. Phone: 1-844-437-3247
  • OK2BME: set of support services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning teens in Waterloo. Phone: 519-884-0000 extension 213

Full details can be found online on the Faculty of Arts website

Download UWaterloo and regional mental health resources (PDF)

Download the WatSafe app to your phone to quickly access mental health support information