LIT 340: The Romantic Movement [in
Fall 2005
Recitation 205, MWF 1-1:50
Dr. Robert P. Fletcher
Main Hall 541; Phone: x2745
Office Hours: M 2-3, 4-7, WF 11-12
E-mail: rfletcher@wcupa.edu
Homepage:
http://courses.wcupa.edu/fletcher/
Wordsworth, hearing about the
Liverpool-Manchester Railway, could see it, in his mind’s eye, creeping up
through Lancashire and then turning left into his beloved Westmoreland, a more
terrifying threat even than [the radical Lord] Brougham. He had always seen himself as a distant
observer of the changing world, perched on a hilltop, looking down through the
clouds and mist, his mind torn between wonder at its beauty and fears about its
future. . . . Three years later, this
notion was visualized in a remarkable painting by Caspar
David Friedrich (1774-1840), Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog (1818).
--Paul Johnson, The
Birth of the Modern
Course
Description
This semester we will
explore what is now called English Romantic literature meant to the writers who
produced it during the years 1780-1830 and to the readers who responded to
it. For the historian Paul Johnson, the
early 19th-century witnesses the “birth of the modern,” when many of
the lasting issues of the modern world—the relation of the individual to
society, the relations between genders, and those between the “West” and the
rest of the world, to name a few—are framed in what are still recognizable
terms. To many during the period, the literature produced was revolutionary in
its call for the abolition of slavery, the recognition of women’s rights, the righting of class injustices, and the
development of what were seen as new literary forms. Other voices responded to such revolutionary
calls with amusement or alarm; still others chose to withdraw to imagined
worlds. We will consider many different English
Romantic voices and texts to try to determine for ourselves what was important
about the period and its literature for its writers and for us as readers two
hundred years later.
Texts
Austen,
Dacre,
Charlotte. Zofloya, or the Moor. (Broadview) [Ordered late
for the course.]
Wu and Miall, eds., Romanticism:
An Anthology with CD-ROM. 2nd edition.
(Blackwell)
·
I ordered the 2nd edition of this text;
however, a 3rd edition was published this summer and at least one of
the local bookstores is having trouble getting copies of the 2nd. So we will have to make do with a mix of
both.
Course
Goals
- To provide students with significant background in the texts and
historical contexts of Romantic period of English literary history;
- To enhance students’ close reading and critical thinking skills,
with practice primarily in lyrical and narrative poetry, and non-fiction
prose and the novel.
- To enhance students’ critical writing skills, through guidance in
literary critical writing and the opportunity for feedback and revision.
Course
Requirements
- Two 5-7 page (1250-1750 word) essays analyzing the literature in
relation to historical/cultural contexts (topics to be suggested; revision
allowed) 40%
- Group Research Project on an issue or writer of your (collective)
choice 20%
- Quizzes/Homework: 100 points worth throughout the semester 20%
- Weekly participation in online study group (textual analysis and
response to peers; detailed instructions will be found at Blackboard site)
10%
- Class participation (measured through oral performance and group
work) 10%
NOTES: You must complete
the three major assignments in order to earn a “C” or higher in the course. This
class is Writing Emphasis and will include instruction
in literary critical writing.