ENGLISH 425 (Spring 2005)

Romantic Studies:

The Case of Byron, Shelley and Keats

Professor Mark Lussier

I. Contact/Useful Information

Office = LL 547C

Phone = 480.965.3925

E-Mail = mark.lussier@asu.edu

II. Office Hours

Monday = 11:00 – 1:00 & 3:00 – 4:30

Tuesday = By Appointment

Wednesday = 11:00 – 12:30

III. Textbooks

Byron’s Poetry (Norton)

Shelley’s Poetry and Prose (Norton)

Selections from Keats (Xerox)

IV. Course Description & Requirements

This course will focus on what has been described as the “second” generation of English Romantic poets (Byron, Shelley, Keats), those major poets writing in the aftermath of the French Revolution and the global conflicts associated with Napoleon Bonaparte. The course will emphasize the primary work of these writers (both poetic and prosaic). The requirements are rather straightforward and include a midterm, a final, four short quizzes, and two papers. Attendance is required, although I will probably not take roll every class, but excessive absences (anything beyond two) can result in reduction of the final grade for the course. I expect you to complete all reading and any assignments before you arrive for class; your final grade will be calculated as follows:

Midterm 20%
Final 20%
Quizzes 20%
Paper 1 10%
Paper 2 20%
Participation 10%
Total 100%

V. Reading Schedule

01/19 Introduction to Course

Review of Syllabus

George Gordon, Lord Byron

01/24 Introduction to Lord Byron

Evans, “Lord Byron’s Pilgrimage” (341)

01/26 “Prometheus” (15)

“Darkness” (20)

Jump, “Byron: The Historical Context” (351)

01/31 Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (Canto the First: 24)

02/02 Childe Harold (continued)

Berry, “The Poet of Childe Harold” (376)

02/07 The Giaour (84)

Gleckner, “The Giaour as Experimental Narrative” (389)

02/09 The Giaour (continued)

02/14 Manfred (124)

02/16 Manfred (continued)

Thompson, “Byron’s Plays and Don Juan” (404)

02/21 Don Juan (182-230)

02/23 Don Juan (continued)

“Byron as Anti-Poet”

Percy Bysshe Shelley

02/28 Introduction to Percy Shelley

“On Love” and “On Life” (503)

“Shelley’s Reputation Before 1960: A Sketch” (539)

03/02 “Mutability” (91)

“To Wordsworth” (92)

O’Neill, “Shelley’s Lyric Art” (616)

03/07 “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” (92) and “ Mont Blanc” (96)

03/09 Midterm Examination

03/14 Spring Break

03/16 Spring Break

03/21 A Defense of Poetry (509)

03/23 “Lines Written Among the Euganean Hills” (110)

03/28 “Julian and Maddalo” (119)

Everest, “Shelley’s Doubles” (675)

03/30 Prometheus Unbound (202)

04/04 Prometheus Unbound (continued)

04/06 The Cenci (138)

04/11 The Cenci (continued)

04/13 “Adonais” (407)

Scrivener, “Defending the Imagination” (753)

04/18 “The Triumph of Life” (481)

John Keats (photocopy)

04/20 “To Lord Byron,” “To Chatterton,” and “Written on the Day . . . ”

04/25 Selected Letters

04/27 “La Belle Dame sans Merci” (original and revised)

05/02 “Ode to a Nightingale” and “Ode on a Grecia Urn”

05/04 “ Lamia”

05/07 Final Exam


VI. Description of Assignments/Due Dates

A. Midterm and Final (see syllabus)

B. Paper One: Select any poem (or section of a poem) not assigned for the class, and drawing upon class discussion and secondary reading, analyze the poetic construction of a particular element of the Byronic hero (e.g. hidden secret, existential isolation, ideological independence etc.). The paper is due on February 28. The scale for the paper should be approximately 4-5 pages, and the paper should offer your best analytic prose.

C. Paper Two: Construct your own small scale (8-10 pages) research topic (either thesis of problem resolution driven), and drawing upon the secondary reading for the course, as well as at least five other sources, strive to prove that thesis and/or answer your research question. The paper is due on April 27 th.


 
  Last updated: January 30, 2005