English 3540: Survey of British Literature II
Cultures of the Book: from the Triple-Deckers to Kindles.

This class will examine the period from the late eighteenth-century to present, with particular focus on the cultures in which literary texts were written and the changing technologies we use to read. How has reading changed in the last 200 years? How will it continue to change? Our readings will be supplemented by visits to Special Collections in RBD Library to learn more about the physical properties of the texts we read.

Schedule of Readings & Assignments

Texts

There are eight required texts for this class, available at the University Bookstore:

‣ Sterne, Tristram Shandy (Norton) - 978-0-393-95034-2
‣ Gissing, New Grub Street (Broadview) - 9781551115023
‣ Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles (Broadview) - 9781551117225
‣ Gallon, The Girl Behind the Keys (Broadview) - 9781551114736
‣ Woolf, A Room of One's Own (Harvest) - 0156030411
‣ Wodehouse, Carry on, Jeeves - 1585673927
‣ Stoppard, Arcadia (Faber & Faber) - 0571169341
‣ Feather, History of British Publishing (Routledge) - 0415302269

I insist that you have the stated edition of these texts, because they contain valuable supplemtnal readings we will be using. These texts are also available on Amazon, but if you go that route, make sure you will receive your book in time for class. When I provide electronic readings, I expect that you bring some paper-based form to class to annotate and make reference to.

General Class Policies

Course-specific Guidelines

Grade Breakdown

30%

Exams

20%

Final

10%

Midterm

20%

Short Weekly Responses

20%

Papers (2, 10% each)

15% Discussion Leading
15% Class Attendance, Discussion, and Participation



Exams
You will be evaluated periodically for your mastery of content knowledge, i.e. your understanding of points of fact (time periods, vocabulary, etc.) which will have been presented in the readings and in class. I reserve the right to include pop quizzes, if necessary.

In-Class Discussion Leading
At the beginning of the second week, I will pass around a signup sheet listing days for in-class presentations, which will occur at the beginning of class. You (and a partner, if you choose) will be responsible for a 10-20 minute presentation on one of the texts for the day's class. Your presentation should aim to explain the work, situate it in its author’s larger body of work and in its moment, and evaluate it in some way (see my rubric here). You should prepare typed notes for your presentation; these should not be in essay or script form but rather should be an outline that allows you to structure your remarks, refer to particular passages (if necessary), and remember what the hell it was you were just talking about. These notes will be collected, along with an annotated works cited sheet. If our classroom is "smart," you may choose to take advantage of our ability to show DVD clips, pages of text, and the like.

Formal Papers
Formal writing in this discipline must conform to a consistent citation format (MLA, Chicago, etc.), in 12 point clear font, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins. Work is due by 5 PM on the specified due date, via the Blackboard site's "Paper Assignments" turn-in. We will run a test prior to the first submission. Extensions on formal paper assignments (including drafts and proposals) will only be granted with more than 48 hours' notice. Late work without a prior extension will not be accepted.

A complete grading rubric is included in this syllabus. Remember: I grade you on the work I see, not on your good intentions. I expect that you will have personally proofread (and ideally, had someone else read over) your formal writing prior to handing it in. Egregious grammar errors, typos, improper citation, formatting errors, etc. are unacceptable on formal writing assignments, as they imply sloppy thought and hasty writing. Papers with such errors will be marked down a letter grade.

Informal Weekly Writing
On weeks where we meet as a group, you will write once a week in response to each other and to our assigned readings, using Blackboard. Your responses should be at least 250 words in length and should demonstrate that you have read and carefully thought about the assigned reading.

You will be assigned one of two due dates - either Monday or Wednesday at 9 PM (in other words, the night before one of our class periods.) You should use this forum to:

‣ask substantive questions about the text assigned for the next class
‣to make connections among texts
‣to identify the central arguments of a given piece
‣to identify what you see as important themes and issues

I am less interested in what you liked or disliked about the reading (although that may be relevant to your response) than in what issues you found central and why. You might also think of these pieces as useful practice for your formal writing.

As we proceed, I will point out questions and responses that I think are particularly strong (and you can check some out from a prior class here), so that you may consider them as models for your future work. I will also provide additional feedback about your individual progress in this area when you request it. Each week, I will grade your online contributions as excellent (A/90-100), good (B/80-90), satisfactory (C/70-79), poor (D/60-69), and not adequate (F/below 60). You will be able to keep track of your grades via Blackboard.

Late work in this category will be accepted up to one week afterward but will not be graded higher than a C. Missed work is automatically recorded as an F. Multiple weeks of missing questions and responses will jeopardize your ability to pass the course.