ENGL 121: British Literature, Wordsworth to Eliot

Course Overview and Objectives

This course covers literature written between 1789 and 1922. One of the goals of this course is to immerse you in some of the best and best known works from the three periods we will study—Romantic, Victorian, and Modern—so that you will have a good understanding of what kind of works emerged from each period. Further, we will study the historical and social conditions of these periods so that you will understand not only how and what writers from each period wrote, but also why they did so and why the shifts between the periods occurred.

We will read poetry, plays, and novels from three very different periods of literature. You will learn what you love and what you hate. Hopefully, you will come to appreciate those works you like least, as they will help you better articulate why you love those you do. The course will be divided into nine lessons:

1. Introduction to the Course and to Each Other

2. Introduction to the Romantic Age: The First Generation Romantics

3. The Second Generation Romantics

4. Introduction to the Victorian Age: The Major Victorians

5. Transitional Artists: Victorians to Moderns

6. William Butler Yeats: Transition to Modernism

7. Modern Fiction: Virginia Woolf and James Joyce

8. T. S. Eliot

9. Final Exam Preparation

The number of days given to each of the nine lessons depends on the amount and depth of the material to be covered. Each lesson includes reading assignments, discussion forum questions, and a writing assignment. Lessons 2-5 and 7 are divided into several topics, each with its own readings and discussion forum questions. At the end of the course you will arrange to take a final exam. Sections below describe these elements of the course in detail.

top of page

Required Texts

You can purchase your books from Higher Grounds, a bookstore located in the Friday Center. You can also purchase your books online from Higher Grounds. The required texts are

• The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th edition, Vol. II (W.W. Norton, ISBN 0393925323)

• Hard Times, Charles Dickens (Signet Classic, ISBN 0-451-52672-4)

• To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf (Harcourt Brace, ISBN 0-15-690739-9)

You will also need a good dictionary. It is not necessary to purchase a new dictionary—the one you have on hand is probably sufficient. The best dictionary for this course, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), is available online: The UNC-Chapel Hill Library has purchased subscriptions to several dictionaries, including the OED, that you can access through the Quick Reference page. Many dictionaries are available online without a subscription—see the One Look dictionary search Web site.

The Norton Online Archive is an optional resource that offers summaries, review, and self-grading multiple-choice quizzes on some of the material in The Norton Anthology of English Literature.

The main text for this course, The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th edition, Vol. II, will be referred to as "The Norton Anthology" throughout the course.

top of page

Reading Assignments

It is essential to keep up with the reading assignments.

Reading assignments include primary sources, introductory materials on the period covered, biographical introductions of the authors, and Internet resources. All, plus my introductions and notes in each lesson, are required reading.

top of page

Discussion Forums

A discussion forum is our online classroom, and has the potential to bring meaning to all of the material you read on your own. You need to have certain information and tools in order to read literature, but in order to read literature well, you need to consider different perspectives. With thoughtful and respectful responses and questions from you, our forums will enable us to broaden our view of the literature we read and of ourselves.

Each lesson has its own discussion forum. I expect you to read the required works carefully before posting to the forum. With careful reading, your responses will be thoughtful and worthwhile. Please do not be afraid to ask questions in the forum. If you're puzzled, know that somebody else is too, and your question may spark good discussion. Further, if your interpretation of a piece is far different from the others that have been discussed, all the more reason to post it!

To participate fully in the class, you must post at least three times a week (note: not three times a lesson).  One of these should be a response to a question of your choice from “Questions for the Discussion Forum” and at least one of these posts should be a response to another classmate’s thread.  When we are reading several authors, you should post at least two times on each author (which may be more than three times a week).  You must post before the last day of that lesson.

These requirements are the minimum. Don't feel you must limit your responses to two per topic!

It is best to visit the forum for a given lesson and read posts from your classmates several times a week. We all benefit when every student contributes to the discussion by reading and posting thoughtful ideas, questions, and responses frequently. If you have never used an online discussion forum before, it's best to dive in fearlessly. Every discussion forum assignment has a link to our forums on Blackboard. See Course Mechanics for technical details on accessing Blackboard. Please use the same name throughout the course so that I can easily find all your posts.

top of page

Writing Assignments

You will write five papers of varying lengths. Writing assignments are explained in each lesson.

The writing assignments for each lesson follow. You will choose between writing a paper for lesson 3 or lesson 4, and you will choose to write a paper for either lesson 6, lesson 7, or lesson 8; thus the total of five papers for the course.

1. Sorting out the Stereotypes: What is it to be Romantic, Victorian, or Modern? (1 page)

2. Interpreting Meter and Rhyme (2 pages)

3. Nature in Romantic Poetry (2 pages)

4. Science and Religion in Victorian Literature (3 pages)

5. A Theoretical Approach to the Transitional Artists (4 pages)

6. Modern Symbol in Yeats (2 pages)

7. Modern Symbol in Woolf [or Joyce] (3 pages)

8. Fragments in Eliot (2 pages)

Please e-mail your papers as attachments in Microsoft Word document format (.doc), not as text pasted into the body of the e-mail message. Papers must be in my inbox by 11 pm on the day they are due.

Please read Hints for Writing a Strong Paper. In addition to offering guidelines for writing, this page suggests the criteria I will use to evaluate your papers.

top of page

Final Exam

For the final exam, you will be responsible for all assigned readings, including the biographical information of the authors we read, all introductory materials, all materials from assigned Web sites, and the discussion forums.

I will e-mail the exam to you a few minutes before 7:30 pm and you will have until 9:30 pm to complete it and e-mail your response to me.

The exam will consist of essay questions. More details will be given in Lesson 9, and through the discussion forum as we get near the final exam period.

top of page

Grading

Your final grade for the course will depend on the following:

• participation in the discussion forum = 30 percent

• the five writing assignments = 50 percent

• the final exam = 20 percent.

top of page

Honor Code

Remember that as a student of UNC-Chapel Hill, you are bound by the University's Honor Code: "It shall be the responsibility of every student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code, which prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing when these actions involve academic processes or University students or academic personnel acting in an official capacity." An especially serious Honor Code violation is plagiarism. See the UNC-Chapel Hill Writing Center's page on plagiarism—what it is and how to avoid it.

top of page

Course Mechanics

Blackboard

Some of your class components (discussion forums and the class listserv) are accessed through a software package called Blackboard, and you will need to log into Blackboard using a unique identifier known as your UNC Onyen (Only Name You'll Ever Need) and Onyen password.

Use your Onyen to log into Blackboard, then click on the link for the course. You will see navigation buttons on the left taking you to the Discussion Forums.

If you experience problems accessing Blackboard, this is what you should do:  

• If you do not already have a UNC Onyen, go to the Onyen Web site and follow the instructions for creating an Onyen.
• If you have an Onyen but have forgotten it (or the password), go to the Onyen Web site.
• If you have your Onyen but can't log in to Blackboard, contact Janice Durham at the Friday Center.
• If you can log in to Blackboard but can't find this course listed, contact Janice Durham at the Friday Center.
• If you can't locate an exam or discussion forum in Blackboard, contact the Instructional Designer.
• If you have other technical problems while using Blackboard, contact Blackboard Help use the Help button in Blackboard, or call 919-962-HELP).

Library Services and E-reserves

Students enrolled in Carolina Courses Online can access online library resources from the UNC Library System by linking to Library Services for Distance Education Students. This site includes information on using general online reference works as well as accessing e-reserves and e-journals.

E-mail

All communication from your instructor will go to your UNC Onyen e-mail address (the one that appears when you post to the discussion forum). Off-campus users can access their UNC e-mail account using Webmail. You can have your Onyen e-mail forwarded to a different e-mail address by clicking “Forward email” on the Onyen Web site.

If you use a filter on your e-mail account, you are responsible for ensuring that it does not prevent you from receiving messages from me, the course listserv, or Friday Center staff. Hotmail users should be aware that Hotmail will block messages sent from within Blackboard because Blackboard uses "blind carbon copy" to protect privacy. We recommend that you use your UNC Onyen e-mail account rather than Hotmail for this course.

It is extremely important for you to save copies of any work you send to your instructor via e-mail. If your instructor doesn't receive your work, you must have a copy of the e-mail with the attached file, indicating the date sent, to prove that you submitted the assignment on time. It is your responsibility to maintain copies of your sent e-mails, as there is no way to guarantee that any e-mail message will be delivered.

Please check your e-mail software to see how it manages sent and saved messages. Some software automatically deletes messages one month after they have been sent; others only save messages if they are filed in folders; others save messages received but not those sent. You may need to send yourself a copy of your e-mailed assignment at the same time you send it to your instructor, or you may need to print a copy of the e-mail message and any attachments to keep in your paper files. No matter how your system works, make sure you know how to save a copy of all work that you submit to your instructor and that you save the copy for several months beyond the end of the course.

Other Questions

Contact your instructor with questions regarding the content of the course and your progress. (There is an e-mail link at the top of every lesson page.) Please include “ENGL 121 CCO" in the subject line of your e-mail.

Contact the Instructional Designer at the Friday Center about problems with this Web site, including bad links. Please include “ENGL 121 CCO" in the subject line of your e-mail.

If you have any logistical questions as you work through the course (enrollment, Onyen, credits, withdrawal, and so on), contact the Student Services staff at the Friday Center for Continuing Education (phone 919-962-1134 or 800-862-5669).

[top of page]

Lesson Schedule

The lesson schedule follows the UNC-Chapel Hill academic calendar, and you are not expected to participate in class during approved holidays and breaks.

The number of days given for a lesson depends on the amount and depth of the material as well as these breaks.

top of page

Lesson 1