E 329R, unique #35360, THE ROMANTIC PERIOD

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1 E 329R, unique #35360, THE ROMANTIC PERIOD Instructor: Severine Letalleur-Sommer Requirements & Grading: Attendance, participation 10% Oral presentation 15% Test 10% Text commentary 20% Essay 20% Final exam covers all material 25% Description: Born out of a reaction against the Augustan era, Romanticism marks a watershed in literary history and the history of ideas. Starting with the age of revolutions ( ) and extending until Queen Victoria s accession to the throne (1837), the Romantic Period stands in clear contradistinction to the philosophy of the Enlightenment, embodying a move away from the rule of reason back to the realm of the imagination. Extolling intuition and feelings, the Romantics emphasize the poet as a visionary. Typical romantic heroes are monsters, social outcasts, rebels, as well as pristine characters, not yet corrupted by society. What prevails is a longing to recover a lost harmony with the natural world, with regained, nostalgic interest in folklore and the medieval. Stylistically, Romanticism achieves these goals by discarding conventional poetics, in favor of a more spontaneous, lyrical mode of expression. Flags: writing Texts (non-exhaustive list): This course will be threefold. We shall first focus on romantic poetry per se, examining the seminal work of Wordsworth and Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads (1798) and other poems; the illustrated poems of the prolific and versatile artist W. Blake (Songs of Innocence [1789], Songs of Experience [1794], The Book of Urizen [ ]), as well as the second generation of romantic poets, namely: Lord Byron (excerpts from the narrative poem Childe Harold s Pilgrimage [ ]), J. Keats ( La Belle Dame sans Merci [1819], Ode to a Nightingale [1819], Ode on Melancholy [1819], Ode on a Grecian Urn ) and P. Shelley (Prometheus Unbound [1820]). In a second part, a few lessons will be devoted to the core concepts and ideas underlying the movement, in particular treatises by E. Burke (A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful [1757]) and M. Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman [1792]). Thirdly, we will address the darker side of romantic prose with special emphasis laid on the particulars of the Gothic novel. We will study excerpts from The Castle of Otranto (H. Walpole, 1764), The Mysteries of Udolpho (A. Radcliffe, 1794), Frankenstein: or, the modern Prometheus (M. Shelley, 1818), Melmoth the Wanderer (C. Maturin, 1820), as well as J. Austen s parody of a gothic novel, Northanger Abbey (1817). If time allows, we shall end the semester examining two major works by the Brontë sisters both published in 1847: Jane Eyre (C. Brontë) and Wuthering Heights (E. Brontë). A booklet including some of the most important texts above mentioned will be provided (pdf and hardcopy). 1

2 Assignments & grading: During the semester students will be asked to do a short personal presentation on a book/excerpt of their choice taken from the syllabus (15%), a first test will take the form of a small MC questionnaire dealing with metrics, rhythm, rhymes and literary terms (10%). Students will then have to write a text commentary on an excerpt taken from one of the poems in the syllabus, focusing on how form relates to content (4/5 pages - 20%), and later on, a more general essay on a specific topic related to Gothic writings (4/5 pages - 20%). At the end of the semester, a final exam will take place covering all material (3 hours - 25%). In addition to the excerpts commented upon, all students will be required to have read at least four novels and/or essays and two books of poems at the end of the semester. Participation and attendance (10%) Please note that exercises may be submitted only in the assigned place on their due date, and only by you. Your TA may not accept them at any other time or location, or from any other person. They may never be submitted via . You may not submit an exercise for any other student. Prerequisite: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing. Plus and minus grades will be used in the class. A = ; A- = ; B + = ; B = 83=87.9; B- = ; C+ = ; C = ; C- = ; D = Below 65 = E. Recommended Material: Ring binder containing plastic document holders and/or composition notebook alongside a folder containing plastic sleeves. Class policies: This is a computer-free class; all notes must be taken in notebooks or sheets of paper. The use of computers, smart or cell phones is strictly prohibited; exception for full compliance to this rule will be granted only for students with a documented medical need. Cell phones should be turned off and put away. Your continued enrollment in this course indicates acceptance of course policies (including the foregoing grading policy), as well as any addition or modification thereto made orally or in writing during the semester. Ignorance of these rules will not excuse you from their effects. Please be aware of University policies and services for students with disabilities who may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities: Please be aware of the University Standard for Academic Integrity: Honor Code: The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community. Religious Holy Days: By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, I will give you an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence. Attendance: You must attend your assigned section meeting and only the section you signed up for (where your participation and submission of assigned exercises will count toward your final grade). Because you may be tested upon all information conveyed in the course lectures whether or not it appears in your assigned reading regular attendance during lecture is essential. If you miss lecture or section for any reason, do not 2

3 approach your instructor or TA to find out what you missed: please get this information from a classmate. Lectures will not be made available in any other form. Courtesy requires that you alert your section leader in advance to any sections you will miss, regardless of your reason for doing so. Academic Honesty: The standard for this class is that any work submitted by a student is solely, entirely, that particular student s own work. Students caught cheating including the use of undeclared outside sources (including the net) for out-of-class work or electronic devices with recorded class matter during the exams, among other possibilities will receive an F for the course. While you may study with other students, the submission of others' ideas as your own is academically dishonest. SCHEDULE (subject to alteration upon notice) Session 1: Tuesday, January 17 General introduction History and meaning of the term Session 2: Thursday, January 19 General introduction continued Historical and cultural background - William Wordsworth, Preface to Lyrical Ballads (1802), Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria (1817) Edmund Burke, On The Sublime and Beautiful (1757), Percy Bysshe Shelley, "A Defence of Poetry" 1821 * 1 - POETRY Session 3: Tuesday, January 24 A reminder Rhymes, rhythm and meters in English poetry A selection of literary terms - Introduction to Lyrical Ballads William Wordsworth Simon Lee, the Old Huntsman (1798) Session 4: Thursday, January 26 post- Lyrical Ballads poem by William Wordsworth The Solitary Reaper (1798) Session 5: Tuesday, January 31 Test - Lyrical Ballads - William Wordsworth Lines Written a few miles above Tintern Abbey (1798) Session 6: Thursday, February 2 - Lyrical Ballads Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) Session 7: Tuesday, February 7 Samuel Taylor Coleridge Kubla Khan (published in 1816) [official enrolment count taken] Session 8: Thursday, February 9 William Blake - Songs of Innocence (1789) Introduction Session 9: Tuesday, February 14 William Blake Songs of Experience (1794) - The Tyger Session 10: Thursday, February 16 William Blake The Book of Urizen (1794) Deadline for text commentary Session 11: Tuesday, February 21 Lord Byron Lines Inscribed upon a Cup Formed from a Skull (1808) Session 12: Thursday, February 23 Lord Byron Childe Harold s Pilgrimage (1813) Session 13: Tuesday, February 28 John Keats La Belle Dame sans Merci (1819), Isabella; or, the Pot of Basil. A Story from Bocaccio (1820), Keats Ode on a Grecian Urn (1819) Session 14: Thursday, March 2 John Keats Ode to a Nightingale (1820) Ode on Melancholy (1820) Session 15: Tuesday, March 7 Percy Bysshe Shelley To a Sky-Lark (1820), Mutability (1816), Mont Blanc - Lines Written in the Vale of Chamouni (1817). Session 16: Thursday, March 9 Percy Bysshe Shelley Prometheus Unbound (1820). Spring break 2 A FEW CORE CONCEPTS AND IDEAS Session 17: Tuesday, March 21 The Sublime - Edmund Burke - A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful (1757). Session 18: Thursday, March 23 Edmund Burke - A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful (1757). 3

4 Session 19: Tuesday, March 28 Nature, art and literature - The Picturesque William Gilpin - An essay on prints: containing remarks upon the principles of picturesque beauty; the different kinds of prints; and the characters of the most noted masters (1768) Essay deadline Session 20: Thursday, March 30 Mary Wollstonecraft. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects (1792) 3 GOTHIC LITERATURE Session 21: Tuesday, April 4 Horace Walpole. The Castle of Otranto (1764) Session 22: Thursday, April 6 Matthew Lewis. The Monk. A Romance (1796) Session 23: Tuesday, April 11 Ann Radcliffe. The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) Session 24: Thursday, April 13 Ann Radcliffe. The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) Session 25: Tuesday, April 18 Mary Shelley. Frankenstein or, the modern Prometheus (1818) Session 26: Thursday, April 20 Mary Shelley. Frankenstein or, the modern Prometheus (1818) Session 27: Tuesday, April 25 - Charles Robert Maturin. Melmoth the Wanderer. A Tale (1820) Session 28: Thursday, April 27 Charles Robert Maturin. Melmoth the Wanderer. A Tale (1820) Essay deadline [course-instructor survey (CIS) 20 minutes] Session 29: Tuesday, May 2 Jane Austen. Northanger Abbey (1818) Session 30: Thursday, May 4 Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights (1847) Bibliography: Ø Primary sources (the students can choose any edition according to what is available to them) Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey (1818). London: Collins, Blake, William. The Book of Urizen (1795). and: Songs of Innocence (1789). Songs of Experience (1794) Burke, Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful (1757). London: Routledge, Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights (1847). London: Penguin, Coleridge, Samuel Taylor and Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads (1798). New York: Longman, Gilpin, William. An essay on prints: containing remarks upon the principles of picturesque beauty; the different kinds of prints; and the characters of the most noted masters. London: Robson, Keats, John. Poetry and Prose ( ). London: Norton, Lewis, Matthew. The Monk. A Romance (1796). London: OUP, Lord Byron. Poetry and Prose ( ). London: Norton, Maturin, Charles Robert. Melmoth the Wanderer. A Tale (1820). London: OUP, Radcliffe, Ann. The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794). Oxford: OUP, Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or, the modern Prometheus (1818). London: Macmillan, Shelley, Percy Bysshe. Poetry and Prose. London: Norton, Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. A Gothic Story (1764). London: OUP, Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). London: Norton Ø Secondary sources (non exhaustive): Bloom, Harold. Romanticism and Consciousness. Essays in Criticism. London: Norton, Butler, Marilyn. Romantics, Rebels and Reactionaries: English Literature and its Background, Oxford: OUP, Casaliggi, Carmen, Fermanis Porscha. Romanticism: A Literary and Cultural History. New York: Routledge, De Man, Paul. The Rhetoric of Romanticism. New York: Columbia University Press,

5 Engell, James. The Creative Imagination: Enlightenment to Romanticism. Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press, Frye, Northrop. Romanticism reconsidered. New York: Columbia University Press, O Donnell, Brennan. The Passion of Meter: A Study of Wordsworth s metrical Art. Kent (Ohio): The Kent State University Press, Thompson, Edward Palmer. The Romantics: England in a Revolutionary Age. New York: The New Press,