English 202 Spring 2002

SYLLABUS SPRING 2002: ENGLISH 202: Romantic Feeling and Gothic Horror

"At certain distances, and with certain modifications, they [danger and pain] are delightful, as we every day experience. The cause of this I shall endeavour to investigate . . . ."
~ Edmund Burke

Dr. Michals
Website: http://mason.gmu.edu/~tmichals
Office: Enterprise 308 (inside the Honors suite); Ext. 31193
E-mail: tmichals@gmu.edu
Office Hours: W 10:00 - 11:00, R 1:00 - 2:00, and by appointment

REQUIRED TEXTS:
* Jerome McGann, Romantic Period Verse
* Peter Fairclough, Three Gothic Novels
* Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
* Electronic texts available through links in the on-line syllabus
* Xerox packet available at Barnes and Noble in the Johnson Center

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COURSE GOALS AND POLICIES

In the Romantic period (1798-1832) men and women experienced revolutionary change in how they understood politics, in how they loved and hated each other, and in how they wrote poetry. Perhaps not until the 1960s do we again see so many political and personal assumptions challenged so directly. Both in their lives and in their writings, the Romantics placed a new emphasis on understanding themselves and their world through the power of emotion rather than through the power of reason. This class will examine this Romantic idea of emotional response through comparing some central 'high' Romantic works, such as poems by William Wordsworth, to more sensational Gothic tales of terror that were popular with readers at that time. We will also look at some ways that both the Romantic emphasis on emotion and the more specific conventions of Gothic horror have been transformed today in contemporary versions of two famous gothic monsters created by Romantic writers: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and Lord Byron and John Polidori's vampyre. In keeping with the title of this course, "Texts and Contexts," we will think about how Romantic and Gothic literature relate to a number of quite different contexts, ranging from the violence of the French Revolution to the domestic ideals of the British middle class.

The central skill you will acquire or refine in this class is close reading: not only your formal essays, but also your informal pieces of writing, midterm and final, and class discussion itself will be designed to develop this central tool of literary analysis. By the end of this semester, both your written work and your participation in class discussion should show that you have mastered the following specific skills:

* reading for significant detail as well as for basic comprehension
* using some techniques and terms specific to literary analysis
* formulating an interpretive question
* developing and supporting your interpretation of a literary text using textual evidence

Attendance and Participation:
You are strongly advised to come to every class, on time, having read the assigned text slowly and carefully, having drawn stars, arrows, question marks, exclamation points or any other notation you find useful in the margins by striking or confusing passages, and having written down some questions or insights that you plan to bring up in class discussion. This is the way to get the most out of an English class.

Although there is no formal penalty for missing a class in this course, if you miss classes you will also miss reading responses, in-class writing assignments, or quizzes, which form part of your final grade and cannot be made up. Moreover, I value student participation in class so highly that I frequently use it to decide borderline grades, and if you do not come to class you cannot participate.

Reading Responses:
You must hand in one reading response each week, in class. Reading responses will help you to begin to analyze the reading so that you can more profitably participate when we talk about it in class. In addition, they give you a chance to start thinking on paper about the texts without the constraints of a formal essay. Because these responses are keyed to class discussion, they must be handed in during class - I will not accept responses that appear in my mailbox, under my office door, or anywhere else. I will accept only one response from each student each week. I want reading responses to show me only that you have thoughtfully engaged with the text, so express yourself as clearly as possible, but do not spend as much time editing your work for spelling or grammar problems as you do in your formal essays. Do not merely summarize the text! Reading responses must be typed and they must be from half a page to a page long. You may write on the topic I suggest, or pursue a question or insight of your own. I encourage you to use your reading responses as starting points for your formal essays, as long as you talk this over with me first. On reading responses, you will receive a check, check plus, or No Credit.

Plagiarism:
Taking words, phrases, ideas, or any other elements from another person's work and using them as if they were yours is plagiarism. Be sure to fully document any source you use, including introductions to editions of the text or study aids such as Cliffs Notes, following a standard citation format. We will discuss plagiarism in class. If you are ever unsure about this issue please discuss the work in question with me immediately, before you hand it in, because if someone else's words or ideas end up in your writing without being cited you have committed plagiarism, whether or not you intended to deceive.

Since this class emphasizes the development of your own close reading skills, you are not encouraged to consult secondary sources; that is, your essays are not intended to be research papers. If you're having trouble getting started with an assignment, I'd advise you to get help from the Writing Center or from me in my office hours rather than flipping through a random and quite possibly overwhelming selection of critics.

If you do choose to look at some criticism, you must include a Works Consulted list at the end of your essay, listing in MLA format each article or book that you looked at. You must also give a parenthetical citation in MLA format in the body of your essay for each idea or direct quotation that appears in any of these sources.

You are strongly encouraged to go to the Writing Center (Robinson A116) for help at any stage of the writing process: call 993-1200 to make an appointment in advance.

PLEASE NOTE:
Your essays must be typed, double-spaced, proofread, and have reasonable margins. Always keep a copy of the work you hand in. Except in cases of personal tragedy, I will deduct one letter grade for each class period that the assignment is late.

Exams:
There will be a mid-term exam and a final examination, both of which will include take-home essays that focus on close reading of particular passages. Take-home essays must be typed. There may also be unannounced quizzes on the reading.

Grades:
Here are the percentages for your final grade; please note that the quality of participation in class will affect borderline final grades.

Reading responses, quizzes, and other short, unrevised pieces of writing: 15 %
Essay 1 (three to four pages): 15 %
Essay 2 (five to six pages): 30 %
Mid-term Exam: 15 %
Final Exam: 25 %

Here is the grading scale I use:

A = 4 B- = 2.7 C-/D+ = 1.5

A- = 3.7 B-/C+ = 2.5 D+ = 1.3

A-/B+ = 3.5 C+ = 2.3 D = 1

B+ = 3.3 C = 2 D- = .7

B = 3 C- = 1.7 F = 0

Midterm Grades:
In ENGL 100, ENGL 101 and ENGL 200s, students receive a midterm letter grade based on the work of the first seven weeks of the course. The purpose of this grade is to help students find out how well they are doing in the first half of the course in order to make any adjustments necessary for success in the course as a whole. Instructors calculate letter grades based on the completed course assignments as weighted on the syllabus through the seventh week. The work in the second half of the semester may be weighted more heavily, and so the midterm grade is not meant to predict the final course grade. Students may view their grade online at WebGMU.

Individual Conferences:
You are each required to have at least one individual conference with me by February 28 because I want to get to know who you are and to work with you on setting specific goals for your writing during the first part of the semester. Remember to come to your conference! When you come, be ready to discuss your own goals for the class and for your own writing. This conference counts towards your final grade as much as a reading response. Further details will be discussed in class.

Jan. 22: Introduction: How do texts relate to contexts? Why do we enjoy representations of danger and pain?

Jan 24: On-line selections from Burke's A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. Please read, print, and bring to class: "Of the Sublime" http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/107.html and "The Effects of Sympathy in the Distresses of Others" http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/114.html and "Obscurity" http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/203.html and "Power" http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/205.html
and "Beautiful Objects Small" http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/313.html
Reading Response: What do you think of Burke's claim that "love approaches much nearer to contempt than is commonly imagined" ("Power")? Alternatively, explain how Burke relates the ideas of pain and delight.

Jan 29: Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, "Preface to the First Edition"21, Chapter I 27, Chapter II 45
Reading Response: Identify a moment in Otranto that seems to exemplify the sublime, or another of Burke's ideas. Quote it; explain how it does.

Jan 31: Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, Chapter III 61, Chapter IV 78, Chapter V 93
Reading Response: What do you think of Otranto's conclusion?

Feb 5: Selections from Thomas Paine's Common Sense and The Rights of Man (Xerox packet); "The Trumpet of Liberty" 78, Blake, "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" 80
Reading Response: What strikes you as Blake's most revolutionary idea? Quote it. Why?

Feb. 7: Blake, "Introduction" 93, "Earth's Answer" 94, "Holy Thursday" 94, "The Sick Rose" 95, "The Tyger" 96, "My Pretty Rose Tree" 96, "Ah! Sun-Flower" 97, "The Lilly" 97, "London" 97, "The Human Abstract" 98
Reading Response: Compare one of these poems to one of the Proverbs of Hell.

Feb. 12: On-line selections from Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. Please read, print, and bring to class:
http://www.bartleby.com/24/3/5.html (Start reading at the third sentence of paragraph 116. "History will record...." Read through paragraph 119.)
http://www.bartleby.com/24/3/6.html (Read paragraphs 125-138 and 144-149)
Reading Response: In what ways does Burke describe the Queen of France as a Gothic heroine? Alternatively, which does Burke think is a better guide for political action: reason or feeling? Why?
(Feb. 13: Last day to drop classes)

Feb. 14: Lewis, "The Erl-King" 129, "Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogine" 130, William Taylor, "Ellenore" 121, Burns, "O My Luve's like a red, red rose" 118, Scott, "Proud Maisie" 472
Reading Response: Which of these poems is your favorite? Why? Describe its formal qualities (rhyme scheme, meter, etc.)as well as its content.

Feb. 19: Wordsworth, Excerpt from the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads (773), "The World Is Too Much With Us" 263, "Expostulation and Reply" 176, "The Tables Turned" 177, "We Are Seven" 161, "My Heart Leaps Up" 265, "The Idiot Boy" 164
Reading Response: How does Wordsworth relate feeling, thought, and the act of writing poetry? Alternatively, do these poems follow Wordsworth's own rules for writing poetry, as these are stated in the "Preface"?

Feb. 21 Wordsworth, 'A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal" 200, "Lucy Gray" 200, "Song [She dwelt among th'untrodden ways]" 200, "Strange Fits of Passion I Have Known" 199, "There Was a Boy" 198, "I wandered lonely as a Cloud" 266. In the Xerox Packet, read "A Night Piece, "Dorothy Wordsworth's Alfoxden Journal entry for January 25^th,1798, and Grasmere Journal entry for April 1802.
Reading Response: Compare "I wandered..." or "A Night Piece" to Dorothy Wordsworth's journal description of the same scene. Alternatively, compare one of the other poems to a Gothic treatment of death or mysterious disappearance.

Feb. 26: Individual Conferences Enterprise 308: remember your conference time and remember to bring your typed draft.

Feb. 28: Individual Conferences Enterprise 308: remember your conference time and remember to bring your typed draft.

Mar 5: Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancyent Mariner, In Seven Parts" 143
Reading Response: Which moment in this poems seems most clearly Gothic to you? Quote it. Where have we seen something like this before? Is there anything different about Coleridge's version?

Mar 7: Austen, Northanger Abbey: "Biographical Notice," "Postscript, " Chapters 1-6
Reading Response: What do you think of the way the "Biographical Notice" represents Austen? Or, compare Catherine to another heroine we've already met.
Essay 1 Due at the Beginning of Class

Mar 12: SPRING BREAK

Mar 14: SPRING BREAK

Mar 19: Austen, Northanger Abbey: Chapters 7-19, re-read the last paragraph of Chapter 5 (it's about novels) 59, British Critic Review of Northanger Abbey 252
Reading Response: Whose attitude towards novels and novel-readers do you like best: Catherine , Henry, the narrator, or the British Critic Review? Why?

Mar 21: Austen, Northanger Abbey: Chapters 20-31, Radcliffe, Romance of the Forest, 243 and The Mysteries of Udulpho 250
Reading Response: How would you describe Austen's attitude towards Radcliffe? Alternatively, what do you think of Northanger Abbey's conclusion?

Mar 26: MID-TERM EXAM

Mar 28: Byron, From Lara [a description of the Byronic hero] 356, "Messalonghi. January 22, 1824. On this day I Complete my Thirty-Sixth Year" 695, Stanza 97 of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (Stanza 3 - Stanza 6) 402; (Stanza 97 "Could I embody and unbosom now") 412
Reading Response: Compare the Byronic hero to a Gothic hero we've already met, or to Burke's ideas of love, power, or the sublime. Alternatively, compare Byron's description of the experience of writing to Wordsworth's, or to another that we've seen.

Apr 2: Polidori, "The Vampyre: A Tale" 265 and Byron, "Fragment of a Novel" 287
Reading Response: Compare Polidori's Lord Ruthven to Lord Byron's Augustus Darvell. Alternatively, compare either of these vampires to the Byronic hero, or to your own image of the vampire.

Apr 4: Percy Shelley, "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty" 412, "Ode to the West Wind" 559
Reading Response: Identify one or more Gothic elements in one of these poems. Quote them. Where have we seen them before? Are they at all different here?

Apr 9: Wollstonecraft and Godwin (Xerox Packet); Selection from Maria, or The Wrongs of Women in Frankenstein 197
Reading Response: Are you surprised any of Wollstonecraft or Godwin's claims? Why or why not? Which writer do you agree with more? Why?

Apr 11: Mary Shelley, Introduction, Preface, Frankenstein, Chapters I - V
Reading Response: What strikes you about the way Shelley presents herself as an author? Or, how does Victor react to the success of his work? Why?

Apr l6: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Chapters VI-XIX; Rousseau, Selection from Emile, or On Education in Frankenstein 205 - 207
Reading Response: What strikes you about the creature's description of his education? Quote a key moment. How does this compare to what Rousseau says about children and education?

Apr 18: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Chapters XX-XXIV
Reading Response: What do you think of Frankenstein's conclusion?

Apr 23: James Whale's 1931 Frankenstein (film on reserve in Johnson Center); Contextual illustrations 224-233
Viewing Response: Which visual image of the creature interests you the most? Why?

Apr 25: Essay 2 In-Class Workshop

Apr 30: Contemporary Gothic film - to be chosen by class
Viewing Response: Which scene in this film seems most powerfully Gothic to you? Why? How does this version of the Gothic differ from a version we have seen earlier?

May 2: Conclusion
Essay 2 Due at the Beginning of Class

Final Exam: May 14, 7:30 am - 10:15 pm

A = 4	B- = 2.7	C-/D+ = 1.5
A- = 3.7	B-/C+ = 2.5	D+ = 1.3
A-/B+ = 3.5	C+ = 2.3	D = 1
B+ = 3.3	C = 2	D- = .7
B = 3	C- = 1.7	F = 0

Jan. 22:	Introduction: How do texts relate to contexts? Why do we enjoy representations of danger and pain?
Jan 24:	On-line selections from Burke's A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. Please read, print, and bring to class: "Of the Sublime" http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/107.html and "The Effects of Sympathy in the Distresses of Others" http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/114.html and "Obscurity" http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/203.html and "Power" http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/205.html and "Beautiful Objects Small" http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/313.html Reading Response: What do you think of Burke's claim that "love approaches much nearer to contempt than is commonly imagined" ("Power")? Alternatively, explain how Burke relates the ideas of pain and delight.
Jan 29:	Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, "Preface to the First Edition"21, Chapter I 27, Chapter II 45 Reading Response: Identify a moment in Otranto that seems to exemplify the sublime, or another of Burke's ideas. Quote it; explain how it does.
Jan 31:	Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, Chapter III 61, Chapter IV 78, Chapter V 93 Reading Response: What do you think of Otranto's conclusion?
Feb 5:	Selections from Thomas Paine's Common Sense and The Rights of Man (Xerox packet); "The Trumpet of Liberty" 78, Blake, "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" 80 Reading Response: What strikes you as Blake's most revolutionary idea? Quote it. Why?
Feb. 7:	Blake, "Introduction" 93, "Earth's Answer" 94, "Holy Thursday" 94, "The Sick Rose" 95, "The Tyger" 96, "My Pretty Rose Tree" 96, "Ah! Sun-Flower" 97, "The Lilly" 97, "London" 97, "The Human Abstract" 98 Reading Response: Compare one of these poems to one of the Proverbs of Hell.
Feb. 12:	On-line selections from Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. Please read, print, and bring to class: http://www.bartleby.com/24/3/5.html (Start reading at the third sentence of paragraph 116. "History will record...." Read through paragraph 119.) http://www.bartleby.com/24/3/6.html (Read paragraphs 125-138 and 144-149) Reading Response: In what ways does Burke describe the Queen of France as a Gothic heroine? Alternatively, which does Burke think is a better guide for political action: reason or feeling? Why? (Feb. 13: Last day to drop classes)
Feb. 14:	Lewis, "The Erl-King" 129, "Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogine" 130, William Taylor, "Ellenore" 121, Burns, "O My Luve's like a red, red rose" 118, Scott, "Proud Maisie" 472 Reading Response: Which of these poems is your favorite? Why? Describe its formal qualities (rhyme scheme, meter, etc.)as well as its content.
Feb. 19:	Wordsworth, Excerpt from the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads (773), "The World Is Too Much With Us" 263, "Expostulation and Reply" 176, "The Tables Turned" 177, "We Are Seven" 161, "My Heart Leaps Up" 265, "The Idiot Boy" 164 Reading Response: How does Wordsworth relate feeling, thought, and the act of writing poetry? Alternatively, do these poems follow Wordsworth's own rules for writing poetry, as these are stated in the "Preface"?
Feb. 21	Wordsworth, 'A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal" 200, "Lucy Gray" 200, "Song [She dwelt among th'untrodden ways]" 200, "Strange Fits of Passion I Have Known" 199, "There Was a Boy" 198, "I wandered lonely as a Cloud" 266. In the Xerox Packet, read "A Night Piece, "Dorothy Wordsworth's Alfoxden Journal entry for January 25^th,1798, and Grasmere Journal entry for April 1802. Reading Response: Compare "I wandered..." or "A Night Piece" to Dorothy Wordsworth's journal description of the same scene. Alternatively, compare one of the other poems to a Gothic treatment of death or mysterious disappearance.
Feb. 26:	Individual Conferences Enterprise 308: remember your conference time and remember to bring your typed draft.
Feb. 28:	Individual Conferences Enterprise 308: remember your conference time and remember to bring your typed draft.
Mar 5:	Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancyent Mariner, In Seven Parts" 143 Reading Response: Which moment in this poems seems most clearly Gothic to you? Quote it. Where have we seen something like this before? Is there anything different about Coleridge's version?
Mar 7:	Austen, Northanger Abbey: "Biographical Notice," "Postscript, " Chapters 1-6 Reading Response: What do you think of the way the "Biographical Notice" represents Austen? Or, compare Catherine to another heroine we've already met. Essay 1 Due at the Beginning of Class
Mar 12:	SPRING BREAK
Mar 14:	SPRING BREAK
Mar 19:	Austen, Northanger Abbey: Chapters 7-19, re-read the last paragraph of Chapter 5 (it's about novels) 59, British Critic Review of Northanger Abbey 252 Reading Response: Whose attitude towards novels and novel-readers do you like best: Catherine , Henry, the narrator, or the British Critic Review? Why?
Mar 21:	Austen, Northanger Abbey: Chapters 20-31, Radcliffe, Romance of the Forest, 243 and The Mysteries of Udulpho 250 Reading Response: How would you describe Austen's attitude towards Radcliffe? Alternatively, what do you think of Northanger Abbey's conclusion?
Mar 26:	MID-TERM EXAM
Mar 28:	Byron, From Lara [a description of the Byronic hero] 356, "Messalonghi. January 22, 1824. On this day I Complete my Thirty-Sixth Year" 695, Stanza 97 of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (Stanza 3 - Stanza 6) 402; (Stanza 97 "Could I embody and unbosom now") 412 Reading Response: Compare the Byronic hero to a Gothic hero we've already met, or to Burke's ideas of love, power, or the sublime. Alternatively, compare Byron's description of the experience of writing to Wordsworth's, or to another that we've seen.
Apr 2:	Polidori, "The Vampyre: A Tale" 265 and Byron, "Fragment of a Novel" 287 Reading Response: Compare Polidori's Lord Ruthven to Lord Byron's Augustus Darvell. Alternatively, compare either of these vampires to the Byronic hero, or to your own image of the vampire.
Apr 4:	Percy Shelley, "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty" 412, "Ode to the West Wind" 559 Reading Response: Identify one or more Gothic elements in one of these poems. Quote them. Where have we seen them before? Are they at all different here?
Apr 9:	Wollstonecraft and Godwin (Xerox Packet); Selection from Maria, or The Wrongs of Women in Frankenstein 197 Reading Response: Are you surprised any of Wollstonecraft or Godwin's claims? Why or why not? Which writer do you agree with more? Why?
Apr 11:	Mary Shelley, Introduction, Preface, Frankenstein, Chapters I - V Reading Response: What strikes you about the way Shelley presents herself as an author? Or, how does Victor react to the success of his work? Why?
Apr l6:	Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Chapters VI-XIX; Rousseau, Selection from Emile, or On Education in Frankenstein 205 - 207 Reading Response: What strikes you about the creature's description of his education? Quote a key moment. How does this compare to what Rousseau says about children and education?
Apr 18:	Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Chapters XX-XXIV Reading Response: What do you think of Frankenstein's conclusion?
Apr 23:	James Whale's 1931 Frankenstein (film on reserve in Johnson Center); Contextual illustrations 224-233 Viewing Response: Which visual image of the creature interests you the most? Why?
Apr 25:	Essay 2 In-Class Workshop
Apr 30:	Contemporary Gothic film - to be chosen by class Viewing Response: Which scene in this film seems most powerfully Gothic to you? Why? How does this version of the Gothic differ from a version we have seen earlier?
May 2:	Conclusion Essay 2 Due at the Beginning of Class