SYLLABUS FOR E335 VICTORIAN LITERATURE
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY, SPRING 2003
*2023 Note. Most links have been removed from this archival version of the syllabus.
COURSE INFORMATION. English 335. Wed. 4:00 – 6:50 p.m. Location: Beckman Hall 107. Instructor: Alfred J. Drake, Ph.D. Office hours: 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. Wed. in Cyber Café. Email: e335_at_ajdrake.com. Catalog Description: ENG 335: The Literature of Victorian England. Prerequisite, Written Inquiry. This course explores the tensions—artistic, moral, and social—of Victorian England from 1832-1900. 3 credits.
REQUIRED TEXTS AT CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE
Mermin, D. and H. Tucker. Victorian Literature: 1830-1900. Harcourt, 2002. ISBN: 0155071777.
Hardy, Thomas. Jude the Obscure. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. ISBN: 0192833790. (Bookstore)
Wilde, Oscar. Lady Windermere’s Fan. Dover, 1998. ISBN: 0486400786.
Wilde, Oscar. Salome: A Tragedy in One Act. Dover, 1997. ISBN: 0486218309.
COURSE RATIONALE AND ACTIVITIES
FOCUS AND OBJECTIVES. This course will cover a selection of literary, critical, and dramatic texts written during the Victorian Period (1837-1901). Queen Victoria’s long reign was a golden age of prose, with abundant social, political, and aesthetic critics to sample: on our slate are Thomas Carlyle, J. S. Mill, John Ruskin, J. H. Newman, Matthew Arnold, Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde, and William Morris, along with the scientific writers Charles Darwin and T. H. Huxley. Together, texts by these authors will give us an excellent, if by no means exhaustive, introduction to this aspect of the age. Poetry, drama and fiction are also well represented on our syllabus. In all, the Victorian Period has much to say to us about cultural, social, and political issues similar to those that still confront us in the twenty-first century, and its literary production has hardly lost its appeal even after the passing of more than a century. A broad survey such as ours aims to acquaint you with a variety of excellent work from the periods studied and to point you towards further exploration of the areas that most interest you. My method is not to impose ambitious claims of universal coherence, thematic unity, etc. on the material, but instead to follow a roughly chronological order and to note themes and issues as they arise, connecting them when appropriate.
ACTIVITIES. In class, there will be a mix of lectures, whole-class and smaller-group discussion, occasional quizzes, an essay, and a final exam. I encourage questions and comments—class sessions improve when students take an active part. Outside class, do the assigned readings before the relevant discussion dates, complete your journal sets as outlined below, start planning and drafting your essay early, and work on your presentation drafts. In literary studies, the aim is to read and discuss actively and thereby to develop your own voice in response to the texts you read. Insightful interpretation and the ability to make compelling connections are central goals. The essay, discussions, presentations, and journal-keeping should combine to help you work towards these goals.
HOW YOUR PERFORMANCE WILL BE EVALUATED
COURSE POLICIES. Please review the course policies page early in the semester because it addresses matters such as attendance, academic integrity, and late or missing work.
JOURNALS REQUIREMENT. Responses to a choice of questions on each author. Due by email anytime on class day Week 5, Week 10, and Final Exam Day. Electronic format required. (30%)
PAPER REQUIREMENT. By Week 13, a one-paragraph description addressing the topic and argument of the projected paper will be due by email. (Full rough drafts are also encouraged.) Not providing this description on time may affect the final draft grade. Please read the term paper instructions carefully since they contain the prompt, some possible topics, and advance draft comments. I reserve the right to require proof of the final paper’s authenticity, such as notes or an early draft. Final draft (5-7 pages) due by exam day or as specified towards the bottom of the syllabus page. Follow MLA guidelines. Chapman’s academic integrity policies apply: see Academic Policies and Procedures in the catalog. For undergraduates, research is optional. (30%)
FINAL EXAM REQUIREMENT. The exam will consist of substantive id passages, mix-and-match questions (match phrase or concept x to author/text y), and short questions requiring a few paragraphs in response. There will be more choices than required responses. Books and notes allowed for all sections. No laptops during the exam. Exam date: see below. (20%)
EMAILING ASSIGNMENTS TO E335_AT_AJDRAKE.COM. Email journals, presentations, and term paper as attachments. Don’t send more than one document in the same email. Label subject lines appropriately: “E335 Journal 1, Jane Smith” etc. You can paste journal sets into a regular email or send them as an attachment. (Journal “sets” include responses to questions about several authors; do not send entries on each author in a given set separately.) Contact me if you don’t receive a prompt email confirmation.
QUESTIONS FOR JOURNALS AND DISCUSSION
*2023 Note. Visitors may download the following questions in PDF format: VICTORIAN AUTHORS.
Carlyle | Newman | Mill | Tennyson | Eliz. Browning | H. Martineau | Nightingale | Ruskin | Darwin | Lyell | R. Chambers | Arnold | D. G. Rossetti | C. Rossetti | Hopkins | Wilde | Hardy
SCHEDULE: WORKS DISCUSSED ON DATES INDICATED
WEEK 01
1/29. 1st: Introduction to the Course and to the Victorian Period.
WEEK 02
2/5. 1st half of session: Thomas Carlyle. “Signs of the Times”; On Heroes.
2/5. 2nd half of session: Thomas Carlyle. From On Heroes; from Past and Present.
WEEK 03
2/12. 1st: Thomas Carlyle. From Past and Present.
2/12. 2nd: John Henry Newman. From The Idea of a University; from Apologia Pro Vita Sua.
WEEK 04
2/19. 1st: John Stuart Mill. On Liberty; The Subjection of Women.
2/19. 2nd: John Stuart Mill. From Autobiography.
WEEK 05
2/26. 1st: Alfred Tennyson. From In Memoriam A. H. H.
2/26. 2nd: Alfred Tennyson. From In Memoriam A. H. H.
WEEK 06
3/5. 1st: Elizabeth Barrett Browning. “Sonnets from the Portuguese”; “The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point.”
3/5. 2nd: Harriet Martineau. All selections. Florence Nightingale. From Cassandra; Notes on Nursing.
WEEK 07
3/12. 1st: John Ruskin. From The Stones of Venice; from Unto this Last.
3/12. 2nd: John Ruskin. From The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century; from Praeterita.
WEEK 08
3/19. 1st: Midterm Exam.
3/19. 2nd: Charles Darwin. From The Voyage of the Beagle; from The Origin of Species; from The Descent of Man; from Autobiography. As introductory science material, read also Charles Lyell (50-52) and Robert Chambers (58-62).
WEEK 09
3/26. 1st: Matthew Arnold. “Preface to Poems, 1853”; “The Buried Life”; “Stanzas from the Grand Chartreuse”; “Dover Beach.”
3/26. 2nd: Matthew Arnold. “The Function of Criticism at the Present Time.”
WEEK 10
4/2. 1st: Dante Gabriel Rossetti. “The Blessed Damozel”; “The Woodspurge”; The House of Life.
4/2. 2nd: Christina Rossetti. All poems from M-T anthology.
WEEK 11
4/9. 1st: Gerard Manley Hopkins. All poems from the Mermin-Tucker anthology.
4/9. 2nd: Gerard Manley Hopkins. All poems from Mermin-Tucker anthology.
WEEK 12
4/16. 1st: No class, spring break.
4/16. 2nd: No class, spring break.
WEEK 13
4/23. 1st: Oscar Wilde. “The Decay of Lying.”
4/23. 2nd: Wilde. Lady Windermere’s Fan.
WEEK 14
4/30. 1st: Oscar Wilde. Lady Windermere’s Fan; Salome.
4/30. 2nd: Oscar Wilde. Salome. May begin discussing Hardy’s Jude the Obscure.
WEEK 15
5/7. 1st: Thomas Hardy. Jude the Obscure. (This is a long read, so please make it a project beginning with the week after the midterm.)
5/7. 2nd: Thomas Hardy. Jude the Obscure. (This is a long read, so please make it a project beginning with the week after the midterm.)
FINALS WEEK
5/14. Final exam is 4:15 – 6:45 p.m.