English 10B-2 - Spring, 2011

Literatures in English II: 1700-1900

Class Information

Instructor: Fong, Ryan
CRN: 32229
Time: TR 10:30-11:50
Location: 105 Olson

Description

English 10B is a continuation of English 10A, and the second part of the required three-part Literatures in English sequence. As with other courses in the 10 series, this class is reading- and writing-intensive, designed to prepare you for upper-division courses in the English major.

Our focus in this class will be on American and British literature written between 1700 and 1900. The course is composed of five interrelated units that explore key issues and topics that span these two centuries. Within these units, we will move across historical and national contexts, looking for points of connection and difference. We will also pay close attention to form and genre, as we read poetry, novels, autobiographical accounts, short fiction, and drama.

The first unit will focus on the topic of slavery and explore British and American responses to it. Our second unit will look at empire and the processes of nation building, thinking about how literature serves as a vehicle for creating national mythologies. In the third unit, we shift to analyzing the increasingly tense relationship between religion and science, especially with the development of evolutionary theory. Next, we will turn to the role of industrialism by reading texts that measure its costs and look to resist it. Finally, we will close with a unit on marriage, gender and sexuality—-which will bring us to the brink of the twentieth century—-by paying particular attention to the changing roles and depictions of women.

Grading

Grading will be based on the following categories:
Close-reading paper
Research paper
Final exam
Regular pop quizzes
Participation and attendance

Texts

The Longman Anthology of British Literautre, Vol. 2B, 4th Ed., Damrosch and Detmer, eds.
Course Reader
The History of Mary Prince, Mary Prince
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Stephen Crane
Persuasion, Jane Austen