200B S21 Uher

University of Waterloo

English Language and Literature

ENGL 200B

Survey of British Literature 2

Spring 2021

Wednesday 11:30-12:50 and Online

Instructor Information

Instructor: Valerie Uher

Office Hours: Tuesday 11-12 (drop-in to WebEx link); or, by appointment

Email: vuher@uwaterloo.ca

Please contact me with any course-related questions, or use the Ask the Instructor forum. I will respond within 24 hours, Monday-Friday. For technical support or problems with Waterloo LEARN, write learnhelp@uwaterloo.ca

Territorial Acknowledgment

I would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishnaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, land promised and given to Six Nations, which includes six miles on each side of the Grand River.

Course Description

An historical survey of major figures, types, and trends in British literature from the late 18th century to the present. - Undergraduate Studies Calendar

This course deals with British literature from the 1780s until the present, a period smack-dab in the middle of what is sometimes called “modernity.” We will approach British Literature as art which grapples with the primary questions of modernity, and critically assess the ways in which these works understand the major issues of their times: empire, slavery, war, inequality between genders, individualism and collectivity, poverty, industrial revolution and degradation of nature, technological advance, love, community, spirituality and the meaning of “being human” and living an ethical life.

While we will explore the meaning we observe in literature, much of this course will involve learning how writers create meaning through their formal choices, and how different genres have evolved across the last two centuries of British Literature. Accordingly, this course introduces students to the major figures, genres, and trends in British literature from the late 18th century to the present. We will focus on the literature of the Romantic, Victorian and Modern periods, as well as some contemporary works.

Course Goals and Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Understand the broad strokes of British literary history from approximately 1780 until the present
• Understand and engage critically with literature from the Romantic, Victorian and Modernist periods
• Recognize and understand key themes, historical events and cultural influences that predominate within each period
• Observe linkages and conversations between the periods
• Identify the defining characteristics of the major genres in each era
• Recognize how authors use literary devices and rhetorical strategies to create meaning in the texts, and speak and write critically about this
• Speak and write comparatively, critically and with attention to form about the major works of British literature from 1780 to the present

Required Text

• Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818). Ed. Nick Groom. Oxford World’s Classics, 2019

You must use the 1818 edition version of Frankenstein. Other publishers are fine, but it MUST be the 1818 version.

Readings Available on LEARN

• All other required texts other than Frankenstein will be available on LEARN

Course Requirements and Assessment

There will be no final exam for this course

Assessment Details

Weekly Group Discussions – 25%

Each Wednesday, there will be a short lecture by me and then groups of students will join breakout room discussions. I will “drop in” to listen throughout the class. If you are not able to take part in this, a discussion board question will be placed on LEARN, and you will be required to write 250 words in response. All lectures by me from Wednesdays will be recorded and posted on LEARN. This will be a participation grade (2% per class/discussion board post (1% bonus). The content of these discussions will change week to week, and will usually involve the assigned readings for the day, and will sometimes involve either short presentations or written responses on the discussion board.

Essay 1: Close Reading or Response – 20% (June 7)

For this assignment, you will write either a close reading or a response.

Close Reading: This assignment involves writing a short essay (750-900 words) based around an analysis of a short piece of text: one short poem or one page of prose. You will make a point about the whole text (poem, novel or essay) by analyzing just one short passage. The evidence to support your point will come from a close reading of your chosen selection, wherein you will comment on (at least 3 of) the diction, imagery, figurative language, versification, sentence construction, rhetoric or sound in your chosen passage. All comments on the language in your passage MUST be used as evidence to support an interpretative claim about the whole text. Your essay must be written in MLA format. Please do not use any secondary sources. Do not use Wikipedia, sparksnotes, or any other online resources. If I find evidence that you have done so, I will ask you to re-write the essay.

Response: This is a non-traditional assignment that allows you to explore the effect of language on you as a reader. Instead of making a claim about the meaning, your focus will be on how it makes you feel or what it makes you think about. In essence, you are exploring the text’s rhetoric (logos/pathos/ethos) by considering your own response to it. The evidence you use to understand your response will come from a close reading of your chosen selection, wherein you will comment on (at least 3 of) the diction, imagery, figurative language, versification, sentence construction, rhetoric or sound in your chosen passage, and how they produce a particular response in you. All comments on the language in your passage MUST be used as evidence to support your understanding of your own response to the text. Your essay must be written in MLA format. Please do not use any secondary sources. Do not use Wikipedia, sparksnotes, or any other online resources. If I find evidence that you have done so, I will ask you to re-write the essay.

Annotated Bibliography and Essay Proposal – 25% (July 16)

For this assignment (4-5 pages), you will propose an essay topic and do preliminary research on that topic. Based on your research, you will produce an annotated bibliography, composed of 5 secondary sources. 3 of these sources MUST be journal articles from peer-reviewed journals. You are not required to use all of these sources in your final research essay. You are also required to prepare a short (1-2 page) essay proposal, where you will provide your topic, preliminary thesis and rationale (why this topic is important and worthy of study). The purpose of this assignment is to prepare you to write the research essay.

Essay 2: Research Essay – 30% (July 26)

In this research essay (1800-2000 words) you will make an interpretive claim about one text or small group of texts from the course by one (only one) of the course authors. Your topic and choice of text(s) must be approved by me via the “Essay Proposal.” Your task for this essay is to discuss one aspect of the text’s meaning, and to make an argument about how this text illuminates one of the themes from the course. Therefore, you will need to do research for this essay. If you think, for example, that Thomas Hardy’s poem “The Darkling Thrush,” should be read as an ode to the ideals of Western enlightenment that have been diminished by British imperial expansion, war, and industrialization in the Victorian era, then you will need to do research into what other scholars have said about this poem, about Thomas Hardy, and into the historical and intellectual context of the time. 

Re. online lectures:

1. Previously recorded lectures: All lectures (including transcripts and ppt.) will be uploaded by Prof. Uher to LEARN on the Friday (5pm) of the previous week. In other words, lectures for May 17/10 will be uploaded to LEARN by Friday May 14^th at 5:00 PM.
2. Wednesday classes: All whole group discussions or talks by Prof. Uher will be recorded and uploaded to LEARN (with transcripts and ppt.) by the following Friday. In other words, May 19^th discussions (if any) will be uploaded by Friday May 21^st (5pm).

Course Outline

Course and Department Policies Late Work

Weekly Group Discussions: If you are not able to attend our weekly Wednesday meeting, you may provide a written response in the Discussion channel. These responses must be submitted in the week following the meeting. I.E., a response to the question from June 7 must be submitted by June 14. Failure to do so will result in a grade of zero.  

Please note that you will be required to abide by assignment deadlines and that your assignments are always due by 11:59pm EST on the date specified.

Other Assessments: I will accept late work if an extension is requested 48 hours before the submission deadline. You do not have to provide proof, or explain the reason, but you do have to tell me 48 hours in advance and we will agree on a new deadline. All late assignments without extensions will receive a deduction of 2% a day. Please contact me if you need an extension!

Mental Health Support

Your mental health is extremely important, and we all will need mental health support at some point in our lives. University can be especially challenging, and it’s important to seek out support. Please reach out to Campus Wellness to access resources, counselling and support. 

University Policies

Academic integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. [Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information.]

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt, please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing an academic offence, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. [Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information.] A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course instructor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate associate dean. For information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71, Student Discipline. For typical penalties, check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.

Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and

Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71, Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals.

Note for students with disabilities: AccessAbility Services, located in Needles Hall, Room 1401, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with AccessAbility Services at the beginning of each academic term.

Turnitin.com: Text matching software (Turnitin®) may be used to screen assignments in this course. Turnitin® is used to verify that all materials and sources in assignments are documented. Students' submissions are stored on a U.S. server, therefore students must be given an alternative (e.g., scaffolded assignment or annotated bibliography), if they are concerned about their privacy and/or security. Students will be given due notice, in the first week of the term and/or at the time assignment details are provided, about arrangements and alternatives for the use of Turnitin in this course.

It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor if they, in the first week of term or at the time assignment details are provided, wish to submit alternate assignment. 

¹ Course outlines may be distributed electronically.

June 15, 2009 (updated March 2018)

Cross-listed Course (if applicable)

Please note that a cross-listed course will count in all respective averages no matter under which rubric it has been taken. For example, a PHIL/PSCI cross-list will count in a Philosophy major average, even if the course was taken under the Political Science rubric.

Coronavirus Information

Coronavirus Information for Students

This resource provides updated information on COVID-19 and guidance for accommodations due to COVID-19.