Brit Lit Survey: 1790 to Modern Day
Course Guidelines

"'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' -- that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn" (1819)


the basics / course goals / path 1 / path 2 / miscellany

THE BASICS

English 231.01: Masterworks of Brit Lit from the Late 18th century to the Present (4) GE C1
thematic touchstone: Variations on a Theme of Beauty
class time & location: T/R, 2:10-4:00 p.m. & 4:10-6:00 p.m. (Bldng 8, rm 121)
instructor: Dr. Paul Marchbanks
email: pmarchba@calpoly.edu
office: 805-756-2159 / building 47 (the "maze"), hallway 35, office A / available hours
home: 805-593-0192 (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.)

The in-class discussion of poetry, non-fiction, and one novel ("Path 1" readings) will complement outside novel-reading and regular writing assignments ("Path 2" readings).

COURSE GOALS

• to promote close reading and analysis
• to augment student recognition of tone and voice
• to hone critical thinking, writing, and argumentation skills
• to deepen students' comfort with public speaking through poetry readings and class discussion
• to cull ideas from and analytical methods inspired by other fields (e.g. psychology, ethics, cultural anthropology) and employ them in literary analysis
• to encourage the technologically minded student to consider what literature might possibly accomplish better than other, faster means of conveying information
• to combine a socio-historicist and stylistic overview of traditional literary periods with a sustained consideration of beauty as constructed in contemporary art, aesthetics, and sexual politics

PATH 1: In-Class Discussion and Exams

Materials (purchase these editions)

• The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vols D-F, 8th ed. Eds. Stephen Greenblatt, M.H.Abrams, Jack Stillinger, Deidre Shauna Lynch. Norton, 2005. ISBN: 0393928349
• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. 3rd ed. Ed. Deidre Shauna Lynch. Norton, 2009. 978-0393929744 [packaged FREE w/ the Norton Anthology set, in the bookstore]
• Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), Oxford World's Classics, 2008. ISBN: 978-0199535989
  

Assignments

• participation & class discussion (10%--2 grades of 5% each, awarded at 5 and 10 weeks; students most commonly earn 4-4.5 pts). Grades will be determined by: 1) frequency and quality of participation during class discussion and group activities, 2) apparent familiarity with Path 1 assigned readings, 3) timely arrival to class, complemented by infrequent departures during class, 4) turning off and avoiding use of cell phones, 5) staying abreast of course updates (check the website & your email regularly)
• pop quizzes (10%): ten orally delivered, randomly scheduled quizzes will be given, often (not always) composed of five questions each. Questions will occasionally draw from daily "points of reflection" posted before each day's meeting. Receiving 1 pt on a quiz requires correctly answering three of five questions. Pop quizzes can cover both the current day's materials and those from the previous class period.
• midterm exam (10%): an in-class, 45-50 minute exam composed of passage I.D.s and short answer questions. Date: Thurs, Jan 31.
• final exam (20%): a comprehensive evaluation composed of I.D.s,, short answer questions, and one essay. Date: Thurs, Mar 20 (sec 01: 4:10-7:00 p.m., sec 04: 7:10-10:00 p.m.)
• attendance: given the relative infrequency with which we meet, and the brief duration of the quarter system, missing class will begin to hurt your grade almost immediately. You get one absence free. Your second absence will cut 1 pt from your final grade, your third absence will cut 3 more pts from your final grade, your fourth absence will cut 5 more pts from your final grade, etc. In other words, 3 absences will remove 4 pts from your final grade, 4 absences will remove 9 pts from your final grade, 5 absences will remove 16 pts from your final grade, etc. Excused absences are difficult to come by. (Doctor visits, for instance, will not earn you an excused absence.)

PATH 2: Outside Research and Writing

Materials

• Group 1: Jane Austen
  • Mansfield Park (1814). Broadview, 2001. ISBN: 1551110989
• Group 2: Jane Austen
  • Emma (1815). Broadview, 2004. ISBN: 155111321X
• Group 3: Charlotte Brontë'
  • Jane Eyre (1847). Oxford, 2000. ISBN: 0192839659
• Group 4: Anne Brontë'
  • The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848). Oxford, 2005. ISBN: 0192834622
• Group 5: Virginia Woolf
  • Mrs. Dalloway (1925). Harvest, 1990. ISBN: 0156628708
  • To the Lighthouse (1927). Harvest, 1989. ISBN: 0156907399
• Group 6: D. H. Lawrence
  • Sons and Lovers (1913). Penguin Classics, 2006. ISBN: 0141441445
• Group 7: Joseph Conrad
  • Heart of Darkness (1899). Norton Critical Edition, 2005. ISBN: 0393926362
  • The Secret Agent (1907). Oxford, 2004. ISBN: 0192801694
• Group 8: James Joyce
  • Dubliners (1914) [online]
  • A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). Penguin (Viking Critical Ed.), 1977. ISBN: 0140155031
    

Assignments

• short essay responses (18% of grade, 6% each): each student will belong to a group of 3-6 students assigned to a list of weekly Path 2 readings. Students in a given group will engage their touchstone texts and each others’ ideas through short essays of 400-500 words. Multiple prompts will be provided each of the first six weeks, and students will respond to a total of three prompts. These compact essays should be creative, focused, highly structured, and supported by appropriately detailed evidence. Essay responses are due on Blackboard by 11:59 p.m. the Saturday after an essay prompt has been assigned. Go here for strong sample essays. Students must complete one essay during Wk 1 or Wk 2, a second essay during Wk 3 or Wk 4, and a third essay during Wk 5 or Wk 6. Please turn in essays and the term paper the day they are due. Late essays will lose 1 pt/day, and late term papers 5 pts/day.
• small group office visits (9% of grade, 3% each): each student must participate in at least three half-hour, small group sessions during my office hours, one during Wks 1-2, a second during Wks 3-4. Each such session must include every member of your Path 2 group. Please go here to choose a block of time which works, then email me with your selection. A full 3 pts will be earned by those who demonstrate profound familiarity with the Path 2 reading for the week in which they meet with me (complete the reading for the week in question--even if you meet with me early in the week--and bring your text filled with helpful marginalia).
• term paper prep (3%): students will construct a detailed outline (go here for samples) and a single page of their term paper, submit both items to a Wk 7 forum on Blackboard (the same place they post Path 2 essays), and attend a joint paper conference with me and two other members of their group (1 hr session) to discuss these two creations. Students who do not complete these three requirements CANNOT TURN IN THEIR TERM PAPER.
• term paper (20%): students will construct a 5-6 page argument that engages their Path 2 text(s). Due the end of Wk 8, by midnight on Sun, Mar 2.
• extra credit film discussion (1-2 pts added to final grade): students who choose to discuss film adaptations with Dr. Marchbanks following either a personal viewing on their own or the screening their Path 2 group schedules at my house can earn up to 1 or 2 pts--to be added into their final course average (a 3rd pt is possible, but rarely given). To maximize the credit earned, show up to the screening 5-10 minutes early (so we can start on time), bring your book, and know the book well enough to talk authoritatively about the filmmakers' interpretive choices.
  

MISCELLANY

Grading: go here for an elaboration of terms used below

Contact
Take advantage of my frequent availability throughout the week. Go here to find an open slot, then email me to reserve that time for an office visit. The fastest way to contact me if you have a quick question is via email. You can also reach me in my office at 805-756-2159, or in the evening (before 9 p.m.) at 593-0192.

Writing Lab Center
Experienced writers at the University Writing & Rhetoric Center offer free assistance with writing assignments for any course. Using this service will improve even the best writer’s output. Visit their website to schedule an appointment in advance of your desired date.

Plagiarism and the Honor Code
I encourage you to improve your writing with the help of peers, instructors, and myself. Remember, however, that all work you submit must be your own. Any paper containing borrowed but undocumented thoughts or words will receive a failing grade, and I am obligated to report all instances of plagiarism to the Vice President of Student Affairs. Let me know if you have further questions concerning this important issue.

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu