Course Syllabus—Fall 2010
Eng 337: Nineteenth-Century English Literature
———Poetry in an Age of Prose
Professor: D. F. Felluga
Office: HEAV 430
Hours: MWF 10-11
Class: MWF 2:30-3:20; HEAV 129
E-mail: felluga@purdue.edu
Course Description
Is life worth living without an appreciation of that within life that is poetry? This is one insistent question that will pursue us throughout this course, as it did the Romantics and Victorians throughout the nineteenth century. Other questions we will pursue include: can poetry survive in our modern age? What effect does a mass market have on poetry? What are the generic parameters of poetry as a form of expression? What debt do we owe to the poetry of the nineteenth century? In the course of responding to such questions, this class will come to understand the development of literature and culture from the eighteenth and into the twentieth century; indeed, the class is organized by date rather than by author to ensure we keep the historical situation of these authors in mind as we proceed through the semester. The class will also seek to understand and appreciate poetry: how does one read poetry? How does one analyze verse form? How does one make sense of poetic "license"? As a result, a significant part of many classes will be spent analyzing individual poems, particularly shorter lyrics. By the end of this course, students should gain both an understanding of nineteenth-century verse forms and a facility in analyzing those forms. They will also learn about the major social, cultural, and historical developments of the nineteenth century.
Students can learn about significant terms and concepts at the following Guide to Terms : http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~felluga/guide337.html.
GRADE
BREAKDOWN
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Participation/Attendance: 10% | Mid-Term Exam: 15% |
First Essay (4-5 pages): 15% | Final Exam: 25% |
Second Essay (5-6 pages): 25% | Sonnet: 10% |
REQUIRED READINGS
Poetry readings available at password-protected site
Aurora Leigh (Oxford UP—0-19-283653-6), by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Available at Von's Books.
WEEK ONE: 1789-1794
In every voice, in every ban,/ the mind-forg'd manacles
I hear.
Monday, August 23
Wednesday, August 25
- Introduction to Blake and "The Tyger" (published 1794)
- William Blake, "The Tyger" (published 1794)
Friday, August 27
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
- Images, architecture and music presented in class
- William Blake, "London" (published 1794)
WEEK TWO: 1795-1802
all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings
Monday, August 30
Wednesday, September 1
Friday, September 3
- William Wordsworth, "Ode: Intimations of Immortality" (written 1802-04; published 1807)
WEEK THREE: 1803-1808
Our destiny, our being's heart and home/, Is with infinitude, and only there
Monday, September 6
Wednesday, September 8
- William Wordsworth, Prospectus to The Recluse (written 1798-1814, published 1814)
- William Wordsworth, The Prelude, Books I, VI and VII (written 1798-1839, published 1850)
Friday, September 10
WEEK FOUR: 1804-1808
War, war is still the cry, 'War even to the knife!'
Monday, September 13
Wednesday, September 15
Friday, September 17
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
WEEK FIVE: 1808-17
I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!
Monday, September 20
Wednesday, September 22
Friday, September 24
WEEK SIX: 1817-19
Beauty is truth, truth beauty
Monday, September 27
Wednesday, September 29
Friday, October 1
WEEK SEVEN: 1819-1823
O damned vacillating state!
Monday, October 4
Wednesay, October 6
Friday, October 8
NOTE: FIRST ESSAY DUE
- Introduction to Robert Browning
- Robert Browning, "Porphyria's Lover" (written 1834; published 1836)
- Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess" (written 1842; published 1842)
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, "The Blessed Damozel" (written 1846; published 1850)
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
- Loreena McKennitt, "The Lady of Shalott"
- Check out The Romantic Chronology again, specifically the years 1830-1837 and 1838-1851
- The Victorian Web, by George Landow at Brown University
Examples of 'A' Papers in Response to the First Essay Assignment
WEEK EIGHT: 1823-1834
True genius, but true woman!
Monday, October 11
Wednesday, October 13
Friday, October 15
- MID-TERM EXAM: be sure to purchase and bring exam booklets (blue books)
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
WEEK NINE:
This world's no blot for us/ Nor blank
Monday, October 18
Wednesday, October 20
Friday, October 22
- POETRY WORKSHOP (read Yeats, "Leda and the Swan"; Poems in Progress: "Leda and the Swan)
WEEK TEN: MARCH BREAK
This is living art,/ Which thus presents, and thus records true life
Monday, October 25
Wednesday, October 27
Friday, October 29
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, Books 4-6 (published 1856)
WEEK ELEVEN: 1834-1847
Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices
Monday, November 1
Wednesday, November 3
Friday, November 5
- Christina Rossetti, "Goblin Market" (written April 1859; published 1862)
WEEK TWELVE: 1847-1853
Dear guests, you now have seen Love's corpse-light shine
Monday, November 8
Wednesday, November 10
Friday, November 12
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
WEEK THIRTEEN: 1853-1856
This is that Lady Beauty, in whose praise/ Thy voice and hand shake still
Monday, November 15
Wednesday, November 17
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The House of Life (written 1848-80; published 1870 and, expanded, in 1881)
Friday, November 19
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The House of Life (written 1848-80; published 1870 and, expanded, in 1881)
WEEK FOURTEEN: 1856-1862
We have had enough of action, and of motion we
Monday, November 22
NOTE: SECOND ESSAY DUE
Wednesday and Friday, November 24 and 26
- NO CLASS: Thanksgiving
WEEK FIFTEEN: 1862-1870
"all/ Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
Monday, November 29
Wednesday, December 1
- Second Part of the Final Exam (in class): be sure to purchase and bring exam booklets (blue books)
Friday, December 3
NOTE: SONNET DUE
- Gerard Manley Hopkins, "As Kingfishers Catch Fire" (written 1877; published 1918)
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
WEEK SIXTEEN: 1870-1899
I wretch lay wrestling with (my God!) my God
Monday, December 6
Wednesday, December 8
Friday, December 10
- POETRY READING
Last Revised: November 6, 2010
Paintings courtesy of
Carol L. Gerten-Jackson
Morris prints courtesy of
The William Morris Gallery