ENGLISH 4/865: ROMANTICISM

Presession 2001

Stephen C. Behrendt
314 Andrews; 472-1806
sbehrendt1@unl.edu
office: 1230-130 MWR,
and by appointment

Course Information and Objectives

This senior/graduate-level introduction to the literature and culture of early 19^th-century Britain focuses primarily upon the Romantic period (roughly 1780-1835). Because of time constraints we will not study prose fiction of the period but will instead focus on poetry and non-fiction prose. We will consider how the literature and other cultural artifacts of the Romantic period define, elaborate, interrogate, or otherwise revisit some of the principal themes, issues, and concerns that occupied the Romantics. In doing so, we will to some extent also consider some of the complex relationships that exist between the Romantics (and their culture) and their predecessors from the later eighteenth century, as well as those that exist between them and their Victorian successors.

We will approach selected materials in terms of continuities and discontinuities which we will explore among the themes and topics we find in them. We will pursue our central preoccupation with the literature, literary artifacts, and literary community of the Romantic period as a whole against the broader backdrop of history (social, political, and intellectual), the arts, economics, and culture generally.

We will be busy.

John Constable. The Valley Farm (1835)

Additional Information: Expectations about Learning Objectives and Skills

As part of its reorganization of the undergraduate major in English, the Department has adopted a number of expectations about the sort of work students can expect to do in courses at the four numbered levels of the curriculum. In a course at the 400 level (like this one) all students should expect to do the following:

• possess and apply a general knowledge of the history and conventions of language, rhetoric, and literary creation;
• be able to choose from at least a limited repertoire of critical or theoretical perspectives from which to frame analyses they undertake as part of the course work;
• engage in a focused research project appropriate to the subject matter of a course in British Romanticism, and to report the results of this project in writing (and perhaps orally) in a clear, well-documented fashion;
• regard themselves as active members of an intellectual community that stretches beyond the boundaries of the classroom walls and the class hour;
• understand the scope and purposes of English studies and be able to situate objects of study and intellectual activity (whether literary or otherwise) within both;
• address important issues relevant to English studies in general; and,
• if majors, actively consider the value of the English major in their future professional and personal lives.

Graded Course Requirements

Undergraduates:

- class contributions: 50%
- final examination: 50%

Graduates:

- class contributions: 40%
- synoptic final essay examination: 30%
- course project: a detailed description of a research project that might arise from your work in this course: 30%

A Note about Class Contributions

We will be engaging in a variety of activities in this course, and I expect each of you to contribute to making our class meetings "interactive." You will not do much writing; the final examination will be the principal writing assignment. This means that a large portion of your grade will rest on your daily contributions to our classroom discussion.

How to aim at the grade you want for the course:

To get a "C," do the minimum: miss no class meetings, read and prepare assigned readings so you are never at a loss if you are asked a question, but speak only when called upon, contribute "ordinary," plain-vanilla presentations and responses. Earn a grade of "C" or better on the final examination. This is the "bottom line" for getting a "C" in this course.

To get a "B," miss no class meetings, prepare assigned readings thoroughly, initiate discussions about them by asking good questions or suggesting ways to interpret readings, do presentations that reveal that you have done good additional work that you can make both interesting and meaningful to our discussions, and participate actively in those discussions. Earn a grade of "C+" or better on the final examination.

For an "A," take it up another level: earn a grade of "B" or better on the final examination, miss no classes, prepare readings thoroughly, find and talk about connections among them and among other aspects of culture (then and now), take a real leadership role in class discussions, including working actively to get others involved in the talk, make your presentations and responses "sparkle" by bringing to them something really special in terms of your own contributions, interests, skills, and abilities to think in broad - even interdisciplinary - terms. Most of all, remember that an "A" indicates the very best grade a person can get; that should tel l you what sort of work you need to do to earn the grade.

Comments, Questions, etc.

Required Course Text