John Constable "Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows" 1831

ENGH 640:001 Special Topics in British Literature - Spring 2012
"Nature and Science in 19th-Century British Literature"
Wednesdays 4:30 - 7:10 Innovation Hall 137

Professor Rosemary Jann - Rob A425 - phone messages 703-993-1160
Mailbox Rob A487 - rjann@gmu.edu - http://mason.gmu.edu/~rjann
Office hours: Tuesdays 4-6 pm Rob A479 * most Wednesdays 2-4 pm Rob A425 * and by appt.
Syllabus and other course materials available on Blackboard (https://mymasonportal.gmu.edu)

The most significant intellectual revolution in the 19th century was arguably the one wrought by new scientific theories on conceptions of the natural and humanity's place in nature. This survey of 19th-century British poetry, fiction, and nonfiction prose will examine artistic responses to the natural world and to the impact of key scientific developments during this period. We'll consider the processes by which Wordsworth's moralized Nature turned into Tennyson's "Nature red in tooth and claw" as well as various strategies for reconciling nature,science and the divine. We'll examine key concepts in Darwinian thought and study the ways in which they influenced novelists' portrayals of romance and sexuality and inspired science fiction fantasies. We'll also pay some attention to movements in visual art, from the Pre-Raphaelites' hyperrealism to the Aesthetes' cult of artificiality. In addition to increasing your historical appreciation of major ideas during this period, this course aims to develop your understanding of the interplay between the history of ideas and literary works, your skills in close reading, literary analysis, and theoretical approaches to cultural texts, and your ability to synthesize primary and secondary sources in a researched essay.

REQUIRED READING:
The readings for Feb. 1 must be printed from pdfs on the Blackboard site.
For most weeks, 640 students will have additional assigned readings posted on Blackboard. Discussion prompts will address these.
Additional required readings will be available in the Course Pack in early February.
Abbott, Edwin A. Flatland. Ed. Jann. Oxford World Classics. NY: Oxford UP, 2006. ISBN 9780199537501
Butler, Samuel. Erewhon Ed. Mudford. NY: Penguin, 1985. ISBN 9780140430578
Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Ed. Grindell and Gatrell. Oxford World Classics. NY: Oxford UP, 1988. ISBN 0192818260
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. Ed. MK Joseph. Oxford World Classics. NY: Oxford UP, 2008. ISBN 9780199537167
Tennyson, Alfred. In Memoriam, A.H.H. Ed. Erik Gray. 2nd ed. Norton Critical Edition. NY: WW Norton, 2004. ISBN 978 0 393 979268
Wells, H. G. The Island of Dr. Moreau. Ed. Parrinder. Penguin Classic. NY: Penguin, 2005. ISBN 9780141441023
Wells, H. G. The Time Machine. Ed. Parrinder. Penguin Classic. NY: Penguin, 2005. ISBN 9780141439976

REQUIRED WORK:
32% discussion board posts [contributions to at least 8 discussions]
15% analytical essay
25% researched essay
5% research presentation
18% take-home final exam
5% participation, including discussion leads

Blackboard discussion posts: for most class meetings, I will propose one or more forums for online discussion on Blackboard. Many of these will be based on theoretical or additional primary readings required of 640 students and available on Blackboard or online. You are required to contribute substantive comments (at least 250 words) to at least 8 of these forums, 4 before spring break (through March 7) and 4 between March 21 and April 28. Posts may respond directly to the prompt or to other students' comments. I encourage you to contribute more than one comment to discussions that particularly interest you. Forums will remain available for approximately one week after the assignment date.
Analyical essay: 6-8 pages, typed double-spaced, in response to assigned topics. Due in class on March 7.
Researched essay: 12-15 pages, typed double-spaced. This essay analyzes an issue or problem related to course content and must incorporate at least 8 secondary sources. I will suggest some topics, or you may propose a topic of your own for my approval. You must commit to a topic by March 28; the final draft is due on May 2.
Research presentation: a 15-minute summary of your research findings in class on May 2.
Take-home final examination: exam questions will cover the entire course and lead you to compare texts and synthesize your judgments of the semester's readings. Questions distributed on May 2. Examinations due by 7 p.m. on May 9.
Participation: based on the quality and quantity of your participation in class discussion. Since you cannot participate if you do not attend, more than 2 absences may lower your participation grade. Each student will also be required to come up with two questions to lead off discussion twice during the semester for a class of your choosing.

POLICIES:
1. I expect you to attend class regularly, to complete the assigned readings before class, to bring your texts with you, and to be prepared to discuss the readings in class.
2. Please silence cell phones and all other electronic devices at the start of class and refrain from texting. You may not use a laptop computer in the class unless you obtain explicit permission from me.
3. University policies require me to use your GMU email address to communicate with you. You will need to activate your masonlive.gmu.edu account if you have not already done so. You are welcome to set up automatic forwarding to a different email address if you wish, but you remain responsible for any communications I send to your GMU email account.
4. If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodation, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Resources at 703-993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through that office.
5. I expect you to adhere to the GMU Honor code, which means that plagiarism or cheating in any form will not be tolerated. For a statement of what constitutes plagiarism, see this webpage: http://english.gmu.edu/faculty/plagiarism . For policies concerning the Honor Code, see http://academicintegrity.gmu.edu/honorcode/

IMPORTANT DATES:
Tuesday Jan. 31: last day to drop with no tuition penalty
Tuesday Jan. 31: last day to add
Friday Feb. 24: last day to drop

COURSE SCHEDULE

Jan. 25: Introductions; William Wordsworth, "Lines Written in Early Spring," "Expostulation and Reply," "The Tables Turned" (handout)

Feb. 1: William Wordsworth, "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey"; "Ode: Intimations of Immortality"; "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"; "Nutting"(print these texts from Blackboard site); Edmund Burke on the sublime and the beautiful (handout)

Feb. 8 Shelley, Frankenstein

Feb. 15: Varieties of Nature Poetry (all are in the Course Pack):
John Clare, from "The Village Minstrel"; "Pastoral Poesy"; "The Pettichap's Nest"
Emily Bronte, "The Night Wind," "Aye, there it is," "Stars," "Shall Earth no more inspire thee?"
John Keats, "To Autumn"; Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Mont Blanc"; "Ode to the West Wind"

Feb. 21 Tennyson, In Memoriam, A.H.H. Read entire poem sequence, plus A.C. Bradley, "The Structure and Effect of In Memoriam" 122-34 and Mattes, "The Challenge of Geology to Belief in Immortality and a God of Love," 139-44.

Feb. 29: In Memoriam, continued
Tennyson, "The Higher Pantheism" and Algernon Charles Swinburne, "The Higher Pantheism in a Nutshell" (Course Pack)
Pre-Raphaelite Nature: John Ruskin, from "Pre-Raphaelitism" (Course Pack)

March 7: Charles Darwin, Chap. XIV: Recapitulation and Conclusion from On The Origin of Species (Course Pack)
"General Summary and Conclusion" from The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (Course Pack)
Due in class: analytical essay

March 14: SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS

March 21: Thomas Henry Huxley, from "Agnosticism" and from "Evolution and Ethics" (Course Pack)
Robert Browning, "Caliban upon Setebos" (Course Pack)
Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach" (Course Pack)

March 28: Samuel Butler, Erewhon
Deadline for choosing a research paper topic

April 4: H.G. Wells, The Time Machine and The Island of Dr. Moreau

April 11: Edwin Abbott, Flatland
George Meredith, "The Woods of Westermain" (Course Pack)
Charles Algernon Swinburne, "Hertha" (Course Pack)
Thomas Hardy, "Hap," "In a Wood," "Nature's Questioning" (Course Pack)

April 18: Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Phase the First through Phase the Fifth (chaps. 1-44)

April 25: Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Phase the Sixth and Phase the Seventh (chap. 45-end)
Walter Pater, "Conclusion" to Studies in the Renaissance (Course Pack)
James McNeill Whistler, from "Mr. Whistler's 10:00" lecture (Course Pack)
Oscar Wilde, from "The Decay of Lying," "Symphony in Yellow," Impression du Matin" (Course Pack)
Arthur Symons, "Maquillage," "Violet-Prelude" (Course Pack)
Theodore Wratislaw, "Hothouse Flowers," "Orchids" (Course Pack)

May 2: Graduate research presentations; exam review; course evaluation
Due in class: researched essay

May 9: take-home final examination due by 7 p.m.