Course
Description:
This course
explores the city as a vital site of transformation in texts from the 1830s
to the 1870s. As we read novels about nineteenth-century London and Manchester
(Britain's primary industrial center), we will consider how Victorian machinery
-- particularly trains and factories -- served as a suggestive metaphor
for different forms of labor, life, feeling, and consciousness. To complement
our literary study, we will investigate culturally and geographically specific
aspects of British architecture, visual art, urban life, industry, and
technology. The class will end by examining the importance of the
Victorians today, as a popular subject of speculation both in the cultural
history of technology and in fantastical alternate worlds proposed in recent
science fiction.
Note:
You do not have to be pursuing a British Studies emphasis in order to take
this course. The British Studies emphasis does, however, require
students to take two sections of English 5600.
Required Texts:
(available at
the University Bookstore)
Samuel Butler,
Erewhon
(Penguin)
Course packet(see
below)
Charles Dickens,
Dombey
and Son (Penguin)
Charles Dickens,
Hard
Times (Broadview)
Charles Dickens,
Selected
Short Fiction (Penguin)
Friedrich Engels,
The
Condition of the English Working Class (Penguin)
- The Engels is NOT AVAILABLE at the bookstore. Hard copies of Engels will
be placed on reserve.
Elizabeth Gaskell,
Mary
Barton (Broadview)
William Gibson
and Bruce Sterling, The Difference Engine (Ace)
Wolfgang Schivelbusch,
The
Railway Journey (U of California)
The course packet contains shorter excerpts and out-of-print material. It will be available on e-reserve (check the course web site) and in hard copy at the General Reserve desk at Marriott Library (1st floor). Copies are 8 cents in the library. The copy center at 109 OSH charges 5 cents a copy and can also bind them together into a handy notebook for a negligible extra charge.
Readings will
be approximately 250 to 300 pages per week.
Requirements:
Three papers
-- two of 3-5 pages and a final paper project of 8-10 pages. See
"paper
format" and "rewrites" below.
Midterm exam
Class presentation
Quizzes
Other short
writing assignments
Regular attendance
and active participation: See "attendance policy"
below.
Grading:
Papers: 70%
(paper 1 = 15%, paper 2 = 15%, final paper = 40%)
Midterm: 10%
Quizzes and
Short Assignments: 10%
Participation:
10% (Includes class presentation, regular attendance and intelligent
contributions to discussion.)
Attendance policy: Prompt and regular attendance is required. You are allowed up to two absences for reasons of illness, family/ work emergencies, etc: Consider this your ‘sick leave.’ Any additional absences will substantially lower your participation grade. If you know that you must miss class, call or email me ahead of time. In the case of excessive absences I will expect a doctor’s note or a note from your employer. It is YOUR responsibility to contact the instructor about missed assignments, late work, or incompletes. No work will be accepted after the final day of class.
Quizzes: Most quizzes consist of short answer and/or multiple choice questions and are graded numerically. Occasionally they may include essay questions. I reserve the right to quiz students at any time. I will drop your two lowest quiz grades. No make-up quizzes will be offered.
Paper format: All papers should be typed and double-spaced, in standard font (10-12 point) with one inch margins. Each paper should have a title of your own devising and should include on its first page all relevant information (your name, the class and instructor, the date, etc.). You are expected to meet the paper length requirements. Use the MLA format for all papers (including page numbers and bibliographic citation). Spelling and grammatical errors are unacceptable. Late papers drop a grade per day that they are late.
Paper rewrites: Papers may be rewritten and turned in no later than the next paper due date. Rewrites will be graded only if they are submitted along with a copy of your earlier paper. Simply submitting a rewrite is not a guarantee of a better grade. Rewrites must show signs of substantive conceptual and structural revision. Your rewrite grade will be averaged with your former paper grade. Final papers cannot be rewritten.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is absolutely unacceptable and will result in disciplinary action. Be forewarned that I am familiar with papers posted on the web and with printed scholarly work on the assigned material. It is extremely easy to detect plagiarism with these new technologies.
Disabilities: The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that reasonable accommodations be provided for students with physical, sensory, cognitive, systemic, learning and psychiatric disabilities. Please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to discuss any such accommodations for this course.
A note about the content of this course: We will be reading some texts and viewing some films that treat questions of sexuality and the human body fairly candidly. If you have any concerns surrounding this matter, please speak with me.
Important
Dates:
Last day
to DROP classes without tuition penalty: Friday, August 31
Last day
to ADD classes: Tuesday, September 4
Last day
to WITHDRAW from semester-length classes: Friday, October 19
Labor
Day (no class): Monday, September 3
Fall Break
(no class): Thursday-Friday, October 4-5
Class
CANCELLED: Wednesday, October 3 and Wednesday, November 21