Victorian Literature

Meeting Time/Location: TBD

Office Hours: TBD

Note: you are more than welcome (encouraged, even) to buy used or rent your books. The site gettextbooks.com is a good place to find cheap used copies, as is Better World Books, which unfortunately doesn’t appear in the former.

1. The Turn of the Screw, Henry James (1898)
2. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (1847)
3. The Odd Women, George Gissing (1893)
4. Bleak House, Charles Dickens (1852-3)
5. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett (1910-11)
6. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte (1847)
7. Agnes Grey, Ann Bronte (1847)
8. Provided as searchable PDFs on eLC:
   1. Selections from the diaries of Hannah Cullwick
   2. “The Wives of England,” Sarah Stickney Ellis
   3. “What is Women’s Work?”, Eliza Lynn Linton
   4. “The Angel in the House,” Coventry Patmore
   5. “The Greatest Plague of Life,” the Mayhews
   6. Other short stories, poems, nonfiction, etc.

1. A minimum of four “musings,” to be completed throughout the semester as they wish, with the exception that one must be completed in each of the three units. These are 2-4 page, double-spaced documents in which you will informally bring at least three texts (primary or secondary) from the unit into conversation with your own thoughts and knowledge about the literature. Other than the two required texts from the unit, you are welcome (but not required) to pull from course discussions, readings from other units, your personal interests and reading lists, readings and discussions from other classes, periods, etc. These assignments should not ultimately seek to agree or disagree with our readings, nor need they necessarily put forward a strong argument, though you should feel free to address disagreements or discomforts you have with the texts we read. Rather, you will focus on cultivating a conversation: ask questions, work through difficulties, seek common ground. Read to understand, not to refute.
2. At least twice during the semester, you will bring in a Victorian-era text that is not on our syllabus. As this class seeks to expand and complicate our understanding of Victorian authorship, you are encouraged to seek out marginal, unrecovered, or often ignored authors and texts from various digital archives and databases. There is no required length for the text you choose: an advertisement or caricature in a periodical is as acceptable as a three-volume novel. While you won’t be asked to write a written report, you will be expected to introduce the text to the class in a clear and comprehensive manner, emphasizing how the text supplements our official reading list. Consider this as preliminary research for your final project.
3. Create and cultivate a “mind map” on Mural (free account). What’s a mind map? More on this later, but for now, consider it a way to track the ideas, networks, and connections you make throughout our class. During or after each class session, you’ll be asked to update your mind map with at least three new nodes and at least two connections. I fully expect that everyone’s map will be radically different, not only in content but also design. Choose a format that makes sense for you. Ideally, these maps will help you: organize the knowledge you produce this semester; prepare for writing assignments; visualize the networks of ideas, people, and works that we’re tracing; and cultivate complex webs of thought that will feed into your final project.
4. A final project that explores the lives and works of marginalized workers in the Victorian period. You are welcome to follow your own interests within that broader category, and may, if desired, use the above short assignments to build towards your final project. The final project can take a variety of forms. You may wish to write a traditional critical paper. You may choose, instead, to create a digital project that explores one of the marginal authors/texts you discovered during the semester. If you’re planning to apply to graduate school, you might see this as an opportunity to work on a writing sample. Planning to teach in the future? Consider designing a class that deep-dives into one of the connections you discovered through your mind map. I’m open to any of these options and many more. We will discuss the final project throughout the semester, and you will be encouraged to experiment, explore, and share your knowledge. Our last class meeting (or two) will be dedicated to sharing our projects and discussing future opportunities for scholarship and community.

This course employs a labor-based grading contract system. You begin the class with an A, and as long as you continue participating in a satisfactory manner, you will receive an A. Satisfactory work includes completing, in a good-faith effort, the assigned reading and writing when it is due (or requesting an extension if you need more time); showing up to class on time; participating in class discussions (see below for a breakdown of participation methods); and maintaining a respectful, supportive attitude towards your classmates. Because this class emphasizes writing, you, your classmates, and I will be sharing writing that we may not have time to pore over or revise. I do not expect that our work will be perfect, but I do expect each of us to produce the best work we can in the time allowed us, and we all should be ready to respond to each other’s writing with enthusiasm, thoughtfulness, and grace.

If at any point I feel that you are not meeting these A-level standards, I will reach out to you and we can discuss your progress in the course. You are also more than welcome to contact me with any questions or concerns you have about the grading system or your grade in the course.

What counts as engagement in the course? A lot of things! We all learn and pay attention differently. Here’s an incomplete list of things that count as participating in this course: showing up to class on time;* taking notes in class; annotating the readings; contributing to class discussions (large or small group);* submitting note cards with discussion questions at the beginning of class; engaged listening; completing reflection journal posts before or after class; answering/asking questions; bringing the assigned reading to class;* reflecting on class topics in your head; discussing course topics with classmates, the instructor, family, or friends outside of regular class time; reading extra materials about our topics outside of class; and much more!

Does this mean you have to engage in all of those activities to fully participate in the course? Absolutely not! Find a selection (two or three nonmandatory in addition to the mandatory ones) that works for you and that allows you to get the most out of the course, and run with it. A short assignment early in the course will ask you to list the ways you expect to participate during the semester, and you’ll have opportunities to self-evaluate. All I ask is that some of the forms you choose have a physical or visible/aural aspect to them: in other words, I can’t grade participation if it only happens in your head and nowhere else. Intellectual participation should be a component of what you do in this course, but not your sole outlet. Do you have an idea about participation that doesn’t appear on this list? Run it by me in an email—I’ll likely approve it.

* = mandatory participation methods

Responsibility & Respect

I acknowledge that racism, classism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and other forms of oppression exist. My intention is to facilitate a classroom that is an anti-racist, inclusive, and brave space for all students. Any critical examination of oppression requires us to recognize that
we have been systematically taught misinformation about our own group as well as about members of other groups. It also means that, if we are a part of a dominant group (that is, white, male, upper/middle class, able-bodied, cis-gender and/or heterosexual), we have unearned privilege that carries into the classroom and for which we are responsible. Being responsible means examining our words and actions and considering how we can be allies to others. We cannot be blamed for the misinformation that we have learned and for taking unconscious advantage of our privilege, but we will be held responsible for repeating misinformation or
engaging in oppressive behavior once we have learned otherwise.

It is my intent that students from all diverse backgrounds and perspectives be well-served by this course, that students’ learning needs be addressed both in and out of class, and that the diversity we all bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength and benefit.

Everyone in the class (including the instructor and each student) is to be treated with dignity and respect. The development of a supportive learning environment is essential for the success of this class. A supportive learning environment is fostered by listening to the ideas and views of others, being
able to understand and appreciate a point of view that is different from your own, articulating clearly your point of view, and linking experience to readings and assignments. Our classroom environment will be characterized by openness and acceptance of all voices and points of view. I appreciate your contributions to making this a safe and respectful class for learning and growth.*

*Borrowed and adapted from Dr. Jennifer Elkins