English 133 - Spring, 2024

19th-Century British Literature

Class Information

Instructor: Miller, Elizabeth
CRN: 56641
Time: MWF 11:00-11:50am
Location: Hart 1128
GE Areas: World Cultures Writing Experience

Description

This class will survey nineteenth-century British literature, focusing on major developments of the Romantic and Victorian periods. We will read novels, short stories, poetry, and drama, touching on an array of literary genres including realism, the Gothic, science fiction, children?s literature, detective fiction, lyric, dramatic monologue, and farce. We will also examine the historical and cultural changes that surrounded these literary developments, such as the industrial revolution, mass print, imperialism, feminism, Darwinism, consumer capitalism, and universal education. Our goals will be: 1) to develop a solid understanding of nineteenth-century British literature and its importance in literary history; 2) to situate that literature in a historical context; 3) to enhance your skills in reading and interpretation; 4) to strengthen your abilities as a writer and researcher.

Grading

papers, exams, in-class writing exercises, attendance, participation

Texts

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
The Sign of Four, Arthur Conan Doyle
The Jungle Books, Rudyard Kipling
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde