English 10B - Spring, 2022

Literatures in English II: 1700-1900

Class Information

Instructor: Roy, Parama
Time: TR 12:10-1:30
Location: 119 Wellman
GE Areas: Writing Experience

Description

English 10B constitutes the second part of the three-part Literatures in English sequence required of English majors. We will focus on literature produced between 1700 and 1900 on either side of the Anglophone Atlantic (England, Scotland, Ireland, the United States) and in the British empire. The course will combine detailed close reading with a consideration of the intellectual, aesthetic, social, economic, and political contexts out of which these cultural texts emerged. The topics we will explore in this class include the following: colonial exploration, slavery, revolt, and empire; money, labor, leisure, and the capitalist order; the human relation to the natural world; autobiographical narrative; and the emergence of new literary genres such as the novel, detective fiction, and science fiction. This is a reading- and writing-intensive class designed to prepare you for upper-division courses in the English major.

Grading

Attendance and participation; quizzes; weekly posts to a Discussion forum on Canvas; one 4-page paper; one 6-page paper; and one take-home final.

Texts

The Island of Doctor Moreau, ed. Mason Harris, H.G. Wells
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, ed. Angelo Costanzo (Broadview), Olaudah Equiano
The Importance of Being Earnest, ed. Peter Raby, Oscar Wilde
Melville's Short Novels, ed. Dan McCall, Herman Melville
Robinson Crusoe, ed. Michael Shinagel (Norton Critical Edition; 2nd edition), Daniel Defoe
Sultana's Dream, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain