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Schedules
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Presentation on Popular British War Poetry
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Romantic Circles has made available online Betty T. Bennett's invaluable but long
out of print anthology British War
Poetry in the Age of Romanticism, 1793-1815. We will be examining this
collection of popular poetry throughout the quarter to understand both the
prevailing popular sentiment of the times and the role of the
periodical press in reflecting or reacting to that sentiment.
At our first meeting, we will determine a presentation schedule for the
remainder of the quarter. Each week, from the second to the tenth,
presenters (one or two per week) will read the popular poems assigned for
the week and develop a short (ten minute) presentation for the class. The
presentations should minimally include the following elements:
- Brief background on the political atmosphere contemporary to the
year (or years) covered by the presentation (political atmosphere
includes both domestic developments and those of the war)
- An overview of the general political attitudes represented by the
poems with emphasis on how those attitudes reflect or react to the
contemporary political atmosphere
- A specific discussion of one poem that is representative of these
general political attitudes
- A specific discussion of at least one poem that might represent a
more complex or ambivalent response to the contemporary political
atmosphere (this task might not be possible for each week)
- A handout for the class that supplements/supports the
presentations--the handout should clearly identify the poem selected
as representative of the general political attitudes of the year (or
years) under discussion (the poem could even be reproduced on the
handout)
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Weekly Presentations
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At our first meeting, we will determine a presentation schedule for the
remainder of the quarter. Each week, from the second to the tenth,
presenters (one or two per week) will offer short (ten minute) presentations
on the following topics:
| 4/7 |
The Sedition Trials of the
1790s (historical)
Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution
Paine's The Rights of
Man
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| 4/14 |
Female Conduct Guides
(historical)
Wollstonecraft's Vindication
of the Rights of Woman
Blake's Visions of the Daughters of Albion
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4/21
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Thomas Clarkson
(historical)
Equiano's Interesting Narrative
Yearsley's A Poem on the Inhumanity of the Slave Trade
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4/28
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1797 Navy Mutinies
(historical)
Wordsworth's "Preface" to Lyrical Ballads
Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
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5/5
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Surveillance and the Fear
of Invasion (historical)
Coleridge's "Once a Jacobin Always a Jacobin"
Wordsworth's The Prelude, Book X
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5/12
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The Duke of Wellington
(historical)
Southey's The Life of Nelson
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5/19
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Gillray's Napoleonic
Satires
Austen's Politics (in a novel other than Persuasion)
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5/26
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Ludditism (historical)
Wordsworth's "Laodamia"
Wordsworth's "Thanksgiving Ode"
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6/2
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The Six Acts (historical)
Shelley's The Cenci
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Presenters will examine subjects in greater detail than the rest of the
class and then prepare a short presentation and handout. Some
presentations are historical and/or biographical in nature. Some expand
upon a short reading selection that the entire class will have read, and
so require the presenter to read more extensively in the primary source.
Others focus on reading that the class will not prepare, and so require
the presenter to provide an overview and contextualization of the
text.
Presenters are encouraged to discuss their presentations with me well
in advance of their presentation. (Of course, those volunteering to
present in the first two weeks will benefit from my reciprocal kindness.)
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Annotated Bibliography
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As part of your preparation for the term paper, you will conduct research on
your paper topic and develop an annotated bibliography. Your annotated
bibliography should include an entry for each book, journal article or other
source that you consult during the research process, even if you are sure
that you will not use that source for your paper.
Each entry should be listed using MLA bibliographic format followed by a
short summary and critical evaluation of the source. While there is no
minimum or maximum number of entries, you should aim for more than ten but
no more than fifteen sources. Remember, the annotated bibliography lists all
materials you consult during the research process and not just the sources
you intend to use in your term paper.
The links below provide general information on annotated
bibliographies.
Cornell
Library Guide on Annotated Bibliographies
Purdue's
Online Writing Lab Handout on Annotated Bibliographies
(Note that most online discussions of annotated bibliographies include
both APA and MLA format and that most online examples are in APA format.)
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Term Paper
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The research and analysis paper will be based on the quarter's readings, and
focused on a topic that you will develop. Considerable flexibility will be
allowed on your choice of topic, but all topics should attempt to place the
literary text (or texts) into an appropriate historical and/or literary
historical context. One way of imagining this project is to see your
critical process as using history to read the text and using the text to
read history. Obviously, the goal of the annotated bibliography is to help you with your research for this paper.
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