St. Jerome’s University in the University of Waterloo
Department of English
Literature of the Romantic Period 2
ENGL 430B, LEC 001, Winter 2012
MWF 10:30–11:20, STJ 3012
instructor: Dr. Tristanne Connolly
office: STJ 3002
office hours: MWF 11:30–12:20 & by appointment
office phone: 519-884-8111 x 28244
e-mail: tristanne.connolly@uwaterloo.ca
website: http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~tjconnol
courses blog: http://tjccourses.wordpress.com
Texts
British Literature 1780-1830. Ed. Anne K. Mellor and Richard E. Matlak. New York: Harcourt Brace,
1996.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein; Or, the Modern Prometheus. 1818 Version. Ed. D. L. Macdonald and
Kathleen Scherf. Second edition. Peterborough: Broadview, 1999.
Note that there are books related to the course available on reserve in the St. Jerome’s library; please see
the list via the Course Reserves link on the UW library website.
Course description and objectives
The Romantic era spans approximately from 1780-1830, and this course considers writing from the later
part of this period in its historical and cultural context. Some concerns carry over from earlier Romantic
writers, such as sensibility and the sublime; others gain force, such as femininity and domesticity; and new
concepts emerge, such as the Byronic hero. We will sample a variety of writing: traditionally canonical
works, plus newer introductions into the canon; the lyrics and visions which previously defined
Romanticism, plus more popular verses; an unstageable “closet” drama; and prose including essays, fiction
and letters. Becoming acquainted with representative examples of later Romantic writing, students will gain
material to formulate their own position in the debate over the identity, and even the existence, of
Romanticism.
Course requirements and grade distribution
Short essay
25%
Long essay proposal
15%
Long essay with research
30%
Final examination
30%
The short essay will be 4-6 pages in length and will involve close reading of one or two texts; essay questions
will be distributed (with permission, students may write on alternative topics). The long essay will be 8-10
pages, will develop an original thesis and refer to 2-3 scholarly sources (articles or books). Students are
encouraged to invent their own topics, taking the opportunity to delve into an author, text or issue which
catches their interest. The proposal, 2 pages, will specify the topic in detail, giving an outline (in paragraphs,
not point form) including tentative thesis, organization and bibliography.
The final examination will be formal and closed-book. You will be asked to write on one of a choice of
broad thematic essay questions, referring to at least five authors studied in the course; the purpose is to
show your thorough knowledge of individual texts, and general formulations on the characteristics, or
inconsistencies, of Romanticism.
For grading criteria and essay writing advice, please see my website.
Policy on late assignments
Deadlines are indicated in the schedule below. Essays submitted on time will receive full written comments
and corrections as well as a grading checklist; essays submitted after the deadline will receive a grading
checklist only. Essays will be accepted without penalty up to a week after the deadline. After that a flat
penalty of 20% will apply, unless there is a valid, documented excuse. Regardless of when an assignment is
handed in, students can always have additional feedback on their work by dropping by during office hours
or making an appointment.
Schedule
The following schedule is flexible. Any changes will be announced in class. Each selection will be discussed
on the day listed; be sure to have the reading done in full for that day. Readings marked “Contexts” can be
found at the beginning of the anthology, under the section indicated.
Wed 4 Jan
Fri 6 Jan
Introduction
Thomas De Quincey, from Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
Mon 9 Jan
Thomas De Quincey, from Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
Wed 11 Jan
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria from Chapter 13 [Imagination]; Selections
from Coleridge in Contexts: Romanticism.
Fri 13 Jan
Guest lecture: David Shakespeare on Romantic perspectives on William Shakespeare.
Hazlitt, Selections from Hazlitt in Contexts: Romanticism; DeQuincey, “On the Knocking at the
Gate in Macbeth”; Keats, Letter to George and Tom Keats, December 1817; Joanna Baillie,
“Introductory Discourse” (Plays on the Passions) pgs. 443-8 (from para. commencing “Our desire
to know...” to end of 448), and final note on pg. 458
Mon 16 Jan
Wed 18 Jan
Fri 20 Jan
Coleridge, “Frost at Midnight”, “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison”, “The Eolian Harp”
Coleridge, “Christabel”
Coleridge, “Kubla Khan: or A Vision in a Dream”
Mon 23 Jan
Wed 25 Jan
Fri 27 Jan
Jane Austen, Lady Susan
Jane Austen, Lady Susan
Charles Lamb, all selections
Mon 30 Jan
Wed 1 Feb
Fri 3 Feb
Mary Lamb, “On Needle-Work” in Contexts: Rights of Woman
Jane Taylor, “The Star”, “Accomplishment”, “A Pair”, “Recreation”
Short Essay due. Session on research strategies for the long essay
Mon 6 Feb
III
Wed 8 Feb
Fri 10 Feb
George Gordon, Lord Byron. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, from Preface, from Cantos I, II,
Mon 13 Feb
Wed 15 Feb
Fri 17 Feb
Byron, Don Juan Canto I
Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound
Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound
Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
Byron, Don Juan Canto I
20-24 Feb Reading Week
Mon 27 Feb
Wed 29 Feb
Fri 2 Mar
Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound, “Song to the Men of England”
Long Essay Proposal Due. Percy Bysshe Shelley, A Defence of Poetry
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Appendix G: Introduction to 1831 edition, Vol. I
Mon 5 Mar
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Vol. II
Wed 7 Mar
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Vol. III
Fri 9 Mar
Felicia Hemans, poems from Records of Woman: “The Bride of the Greek Isle”,
“Properzia Rossi”, “Indian Woman's Death Song”, “Joan of Arc in Rheims”
Mon 12 Mar Hemans, “Casabianca”, “The Homes of England”
Wed 14 Mar John Keats, from Sleep and Poetry; John Gibson Lockhart, “Cockney School of Poetry” in
Contexts: Literary Criticism
Fri 16 Mar
Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
Mon 19 Mar Keats, The Fall of Hyperion: A Dream
Wed 21 Mar Keats, from Letters to Benjamin Bailey (Nov 1817), Reynolds (Feb 1818), Taylor (Feb
1818), Reynolds (May 1818), Bailey (July 1818), Dilke (Sept 1818), Woodhouse (Oct 1818), Fanny
Brawne (Jul 1819)
Fri 23 Mar
Long Essay due. Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale”, John Clare, “The Nightingales Nest”
Mon 26 Mar
Wed 28 Mar
Fri 30 Mar
John Clare, “The Mores”, “Pastoral Poesy”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Lost Pleiad
Landon, “Felicia Hemans”
Mon 2 Apr
Conclusion
Other information
Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo and its Federated
University and Affiliated Colleges are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility.
Discipline: All students registered in courses at St. Jerome's University are expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to
avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for their actions. 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 professor, academic advisor, or the Associate Dean. When misconduct
has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under St. Jerome's University Academic Discipline Policy
and UW Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer to
Policy 71 - Student Discipline, www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm.
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. In such a case, contact the St. Jerome's University Grievance Officer. Read St. Jerome's
University Handbook, Section4, item 8, www.sju.ca/faculty/SJU_handbook/grievance_policy.html.
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Policy or Grievance Policy if a ground for an appeal can be established. In such a case, contact the St. Jerome's University Appeals
Officer. Read St. Jerome's University Handbook, Section 6.4,
www.sju.ca/faculty/SJU_handbook/examinations_grades_standings_and_appeals.html.
Academic Integrity website (Arts): http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/arts/ugrad/academic_responsibility.html
Academic Integrity Office (UW): http://uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/
Note for students with disabilities: The Office for Persons with Disabilities (OPD), located in Needles Hall, Room 1132,
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 the OPD at the beginning of each academic term.