Introduction
Syllabus
Requirements
Grading

Paper 1 topics!

 

 

English 430 & 535| Spring 2004

Victorians and the Problem of “Character”

(Dan Bivona | Cajsa Baldini). Th 6-9

In this course we will examine the idea of “character” in Victorian culture. This is especially pertinent in light of the recent claims by social conservatives interested in reviving “character” as an explanatory category. Many are drawn to the Victorians who, as Gertrude Himmelfarb has recently argued, had the courage to believe in “social stigmas” – the necessary corollaries of “values.” In this discourse, among other things, the term “character” seems to perform plenty of ideological work as shorthand for the difficult-to-explain “causes” of behavior.

In this course we will pose a number of questions about the Victorian meanings of that mysterious entity “character.” Questions include: What kind of work does the notion of “character” do? Are “subjects” and “characters” identical? Is the Victorian notion of “character” adequate to account for human agency or is it simply a shorthand term obscuring rather than illuminating a field of multiple determinations? What does Victorian fiction have to say about “character” as the origin of behavior? What role did the emergence of a self-aware middle class have in constructing the notion of “character”? Can “character” be thought in the absence of its opposite number – “degraded character” or “corrupt character”?

Our focus in the course will be both theoretical and literary. Readings include Foucault’s Discipline and Punish, Elias’ The Civilizing Process, Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle and “Character and Anal Eroticism,” and excerpts from James Kincaid’s Child-Loving. The literary texts include a selection of classic Bildungsromanen including Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, Tom Brown’s Schooldays, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, What Maisie Knew, Child of the Jago, and The Jungle Books. These will be supplemented by some shorter poems including “Goblin Market” and “Little Seal-Skin.” Requirements for ENG 430 include 3 critical papers, occasional in-class quizzes, and regular contributions to class discussion both online and in-class. Requirements for ENG 535 include 4 critical papers, occasional in-class quizzes, and regular contributions to class discussion both online and in-class.

Syllabus
Date Topic Reading Assignment
1/22 Introduction to Course: What is Victorian "Character"?
1/29 Discipline and Character Foucault, Discipline and Punish
2/5 The Erotics of Self-Discipline Jane Eyre
2/12 Jane Eyre cont.
2/19 The Dubious Character of the "Gentleman" Great Expectations* Newman, The Idea of the Gentleman
2/26 Great Expectations; Freud, "Beyond the Pleasure Principle"**
3/4 Growing Up as Self-Misunderstanding Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Selections from Elias, "The Social Constraint Toward Self-Constraint" , "Diminishing Contrasts, Increasing Varieties" , Elias, "Changes in Attitude Toward Relations Between Men and Women"

3/11 Can Character Be Lost? Christina Rosetti, "Goblin Market" and Eliza Keary, "Little Seal-Skin"
3/18 No Class: Spring Break
3/25 Introduction to Muscular Christianity and Masculinity Tom Brown's Schooldays; "Character and Anal Eroticism"***
4/1 What Not To Say to Children What Maisie Knew; Kincaid selection
4/8 cont.
4/15 Animal Character The Jungle Books****
4/22 cont.
4/29 Lower-Class Character Child of the Jago
5/6 cont.*****
* Due date of paper #1, ENG 535
**Due date of paper #1, ENG 430
***Due date of paper #2, ENG 535 and ENG 430
****Due date of paper #3, ENG 535
*****Due date of final critical research paper, ENG 535 and 430


Requirements

ENG 430: The grade breakdown is as follows:

25%: quiz grades, class and online participation, attendance
20%: critical paper #1
20%: critical paper #2
35%: final critical research paper

The first two critical papers should be 5-7 pages in length. Topics can be found on Blackboard. These papers are to be submitted to the digital drop box in Blackboard no later than 11:59.59 pm on the due date. Papers will be reduced a grade for every day they are late. Use MLA Format for citations.

The final paper, a critical research paper, should be 10-12 pages in length. You should use at least three secondary sources.

Quizzes are given periodically on the reading. You are also given a grade for the quality and frequency of your online responses on Blackboard and on your contributions to class discussion. Attendance at all classes is mandatory. You have the option to revise 1 of your critical papers. If you submit a revision, the grade of the original paper and the grade of the revision will be averaged together.

ENG 535: The grade breakdown is as follows:

25%: quiz grades, class and online participation, attendance
15%: critical paper #1
15%: critical paper #2
15% critical paper #3
30%: final critical research paper

The first three critical papers should be 5-7 pages in length. Topics can be found on Blackboard. These papers are to be submitted to the digital drop box in Blackboard no later than 11:59.59 pm on the due date. Papers will be reduced a grade for every day they are late. Use MLA Format for citations.

The final paper, a critical research paper, should be 12-15 pages in length. You should use at least three secondary sources.

Quizzes are given periodically on the reading. You are also given a grade for the quality and frequency of your online responses on Blackboard and on your contributions to class discussion. Attendance at all classes is mandatory.



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