Department of English and Humanities

ENG215: Survey of English Literature III

Semester Fall 2023
Schedule Mon/Wed 11:00 to 12:20 p.m.
Room number UB 10304
Instructor Rukhsana R. Chowdhury
Office UB 21304
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: To be decided in class (Mon/Wed 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.)
I. Rationale:
Being the third survey course on English literature, this course will focus on the literary texts that have shaped the canon of British Romantic literature and its

continuation and deviation in the Victorian period. The course material includes a combination of poems, literary essays and novels which reflect the tensions of

revolutions, collision with Enlightenment ethos and the struggle of Romantic poetry in its search for a new identity. The second half will focus on the changing ideals

and styles from Romanticism to Realism in Victorian Literature. Together it will enable students to have a sound knowledge of the passage of English Literature

through different epochs.

II. Course Description:

This 3-credit course aims to take the students through the main trends of writing in the nineteenth century in British Literary Canon, looking especially at Romantic
poetry and its Victorian successors. The nineteenth century was also the great age for English novels. Hence, the course includes three representative novels of this age.
The main objective of the course is to acquaint students with the great poets and novelists of nineteenth-century England which will serve as a foundation for their
future reading of literature. The first half of the course will look at the beginning and growth of British Romantic Poetry. The second half will concentrate on the rise
and variations of English Novels in the nineteenth century.
However, the reading is not limited to the outline. Students are encouraged to read other texts having similar aspects to get a better understanding. They may share
their ideas in the reading sessions.
Please note that most of the texts chosen for this course have electronic versions available online. Please make sure to bring any version of the relevant texts to
respective classes. Read the text before coming to the class to create a more meaningful discussion.

III. Course Aims and Outcomes:

With the completion of the course, the students are expected to develop a well-informed and deeper sense of knowledge of British Romantic literature, its beginning,
pretext and its growth. Students are expected to explain how poetry has revolutionized society and how poetry could be used as a means to carry political as well as
personal thoughts. The second half of this course talks about the Victorian vortex, an era equally important for its imperial, political, social and literary values. As a
part of the course, students will be able to articulate different concepts and literary elements related to the Romantic Movement and Victorian novels and poetry and
their varying styles. Major poets and authors will also be studied thoroughly. This elaboration should help them to write well-structured papers and build concepts on
the thematic issues of these periods.

IV. Format and Procedures:

Classes will mainly be lecture and group-discussion-based. Reading assignments will be due at the beginning of the class. Reading materials will be available on the

Facebook group of the course. Students are expected to go through them as homework to create more lively discussions. It is compulsory to attend all classes and to

participate in class discussions. Students are urged to be present in the classes without being late. However, reported cases of absence due to sickness may be (not

always) considered. However, the sole responsibility of collecting materials, class notes, etc. lies with the student concerned. Cell phone use and side talking are strictly

prohibited.

Course Assignment
Students have to write an assignment, give a presentation and participate in pair works on the discussed topics.

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Quizzes:

The evaluation of the course includes multiple quizzes, mid-term, oral presentation and the final exam. The topics for the presentation must be consulted with the
instructor and then can be finalized.

Grade Breakdown:

Attendance 5%

Quizzes (15)//PPT (10) 25%

Assignment 10%

Mid-term 20%

Term Final 40%

100%

V. Expected learning Behavior:

During the exam, poems and books containing notes, annotations and answers are NOT allowed. Any student found carrying such materials will not be allowed to sit
for the exams. Participation in the classroom activities is a part of the total grade. Make sure that you have adequate information about classroom activities. Make-up
exams are strongly discouraged and will only be allowed if the student is able to prove a medical emergency. Plagiarised papers will receive a zero. Typed papers
should be cited in the latest edition of either MLA or APA or Chicago Manual Style. The list should be consistent in the use of citation style.

VI. Primary Texts:

William Blake. Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience (Selections)

William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Lyrical Ballads (Selections)
Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights
Thomas Hardy. Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Poems:
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner-Coleridge
Ozymandias- Percy Bysshe Shelley
Ode to a Nightingale- John Keats
Dover Beach- Matthew Arnold
Ulysses- Alfred Lord Tennyson
My Last Duchess-Robert Browning
Porphyria's Lover-Robert Browning

Reference Books:
Dictionary of Literary Terms, J A Cuddon.
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 2.
How to Study Romantic Poetry. O’ Flinn Paul.
The Romantic Imagination. Maurice Bowra.
Romantics, Rebels and Reactionaries: English Literature and its background. Butler Marlyn.
Early Victorian Novelists. David Cecil.

Students are encouraged to come up with thoughtful analysis and a critical approach to the text.

VII. Academic Integrity

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Plagiarism Policy: BRAC University has a strict plagiarism policy. The presentation of another person’s words, ideas, judgment, images or data as though they were
your own, whether intentionally or unintentionally, constitutes an act of plagiarism.

It is expected that BRACU students will understand and follow the concept of Academic Honesty. Please note that any case of plagiarism shall be penalized and the
grades shall be hampered. Use primary and secondary resources as a way to better understand the texts, not to directly copy and paste them into the answers scripts.

Delivery Plan

Topics Dates

Introduction.
Day 1
Overview of Course materials
th
25 September (Mon)
Primary discussions

Poems from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience Day 2

th
“Holy Thursday”, “Chimney Sweeper” 27 September (Wed)

Poems from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience Day 3

nd
“Nurse Song” “London” 2 October (Mon)

Day 4
Selections from Lyrical Ballads
Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey th
4 October (Wed)

Day 5
Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey
Daffodils th
9 October (Mon)

Day 6
Quiz -15 marks th
11 October (Wed)

Day 7
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
th
(I-V) 16 October (Mon)

Day 8
Continued (VI-VII) th
18 October (Wed)

Day 9
PUBLIC HOLIDAY (Durga Puja) rd
23 October (Mon)

Day 10
“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley
th
“She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron 25 October (Wed)

Day 11
“Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats th
30 October (Mon)

Day 12
“Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats
st
(Midterm syllabus ends here) 1 November (Wed)

Day 13
Midterm Exam-20 marks th
6 November (Mon)

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 Day 14
Midterm Week th
8 November (Wed)

Day 15
Introduction to Victorian Poetry: “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold th
13 November (Mon)

Day 16
“Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
th
Assignment -10 marks (submission.22/11/23) 15 November (Wed)

Day 17
“My Last Duchess” & “Porphyria's Lover” by Robert Browning th
20 November (Mon)

Day 18
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë nd
22 November (Wed)

Gothic, Class, Gender.

Day 19
Continued. th
27 November (Mon)

Day 20
Continued. th
29 November (Wed)

Day 21
Student Presentations- 10 marks th
4 December (Mon)

Day 22
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy th
6 December (Wed)

Day 23
Continued. th
11 December (Mon)

Day 24
Continued. th
13 December (Wed)

Day 25
Conclude Tess of the d’Urbervilles th
18 December (Mon)

Day 26
Final Exam Review th
20 December (Wed)

All the best!