English 560: Nationalism and Literature in Nineteenth-Century Britain

Prof. Jim Garrett Office: E & T A608 Office Hours: Monday 4:30-6:00, Wednesday 12:30-1:30 and by appt. Phone: (323) 343-4163 Email: jgarret@calstatela.edu Course web site: http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/jgarret/560n (available no later than March 15)

Course Information
Prerequisites: ENGL 501 and ENGL 502. Description: Research into nationalism has focused primarily on the emergence of twentieth-century nation-states out of the wreckage of nineteenth-century European colonialism. Central to much thinking on nations is Benedict Andersons identification of nations as imagined communities, not always co-equal with the physical geography of the modern nation. While Anderson is primarily concerned with how the colonial state imagines the other, the institutions of power he identifies were first used not on the peripheries of empire but at its center. The first object of national selfdefinition was not them, but us, the citizens, land, culture, and history of the British nation. In this course we will read theorists and historians on the nation, nationalism, and national identity, and focus our examination on texts produced in the last few decades of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth-century. The reading will draw on a variety of genres and will focus on works by Wordsworth, Coleridge, Scott, Barbauld, Austen, Cowley, Inchbald, and Dickens. Requirements of the course include a seminar presentation, short weekly response papers, class participation, and a seminar paper. Objectives: Students in ENGL 560 (Nationalism and Literature) will learn to Understand some of the basic theories of nationalism, nation-formation, and national identity specifically as they apply to England and Britain in the late eighteenth- and early nineteenthcentury; Understand the mutual relationship between the concept of the nation and competing national identities and literary form and production, specifically the effect of competition with France, the French Revolution, industrialism, and urbanism on ideas of citizenship and citizenry; Understand the essential role of literary texts in imagining the nation and its citizens; Understand the emergence of historicism and the use and invention of history and tradition in shaping the idea of the nation and national identity; Engage in critical discussions of language and literature; Continue development on becoming better readers, writers and thinkers through frequent discussions, examinations, presentations and writing tasks. Continue improving the ability to think critically about texts (in whatever form encountered).

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Ultimately, each of us must consider the acts of reading and writing as ways of making the world, of making it cohere or come apart, of inscribing it with purpose and meaning. Course Requirements: Listed below are the required assignments for this course: Seminar Presentation (15% of your grade): A seminar presentation is a 15-20 minute presentation to the rest of the class about an assigned reading. For the presentation, plan to go beyond regular class preparation, at the very least, providing background about your topic, a generous overview, and a discussion of its relation to other readings for that week (or read earlier). You should also be prepared to answer questions and help lead class discussion for that topic. You should prepare a handout for the class; however, do not simply read from your prepared handout or paper. Seminar Paper (50% of your grade): (approximately 15+ pages in length) (proposal, annotated bibliography and final draft constitute 50% of course grade) Weekly Response Papers (30% of your grade): Each response paper is a 1-2 page response to the readings assigned for the week. Use the keyword associated with the weeks reading to focus your attention on one or more of the readings. You must complete six weekly responses. Participation (5%): I expect full participation from all members of the class. Absences or failure to prepare are unacceptable. You will be graded on the following scale 5 points for being fully prepared and offering frequent and insightful comments in class 4 points for being well prepared and participating in discussion several times/class 3 points for being somewhat or superficially prepared and participating in discussion occasionally (once or twice/class) 0-2 points for absences, failure to participate significantly in class discussion In order to pass this course all assignments (papers and exams) must be legitimately attempted. Plagiarism (see description below) does NOT constitute a legitimate attempt of the assignment.

Policies
Grading Policy: The distribution of points for the individual assignments in this course is listed in Requirements above. Course grades are based on standard percentages (i.e. 90% and greater is some version of an A, 80%-89% is some version of a B and so on). Plus and minus grades are used in the class. Electronic Devices: Please turn off all computers, cell phones, pagers, portable radios, televisions, computers, MP3/CD/Disc/Mini-disc players, and any other electronic communication and/or entertainment devices before coming to class. Please do not use telephones, text messaging, instant messaging, IRC, email, snail mail, carrier pigeon, paper airplanes or any other means of surreptitious and distracting communication during class. Contacting the Instructor: Email is the most effective way of communicating with me outside of class and my office hours.

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Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. I will take attendance at the start of every class. If you are not present I will mark you absent. Arriving late will count as half of an absence. You are allowed one absence without penalty. Each absence beyond the first one will reduce your course grade. If you miss more than four classes you will be disqualified from taking the final and therefore will fail the class. Please read the assigned texts before class. Often I will offer some guidelines about future reading assignments in class. For example, I might tell you to focus on a particular text for the next class meeting. If you are absent, you are responsible for getting the assignment from a classmate. Written Assignments: Please note the following carefully when preparing your written assignments for this class: Written assignments must be typed following standard formatting practices for college writinguse a readable type style and size (12 point type), indent paragraphs, double space between lines, and use one inch margins. Any style guide will contain information on formatting your written assignments for submission. Before handing in written assignments, edit and proofread your work carefully. Do not use plastic covers or report folders or title pages on your written assignments. Each assignment, though, should have your name, the course number, the date, and my name on separate lines (double-spaced) in the upper left corner of the first page. If the paper has a title, center it on the first page, after the above information. Use page numbers and place them in the upper right corner of the page. If you are uncertain how to have word processing software generate the correct page number in the header of your document, ask someone in one of the labs. MLA format and style conventions should be followed for all written assignments (essays and responses). For more information on MLA format and style conventions, see The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, the appropriate section of a recent (published after 2000) writers handbook, or one of the many reputable online sources. Late papers are not accepted. The assignment due dates are distributed on the first day of class, and the assignments are made available often weeks before they are due.

Academic Dishonesty/Cheating: Collaborating with others is encouraged when you are planning your papers, reviewing each others work, preparing for presentations or for exams. Study or reading groups can be effective ways to study and learn. However, when you write your papers, the text needs to be your own. You must carefully observe the standard rules for acknowledging the sources of words and ideas. If you make use of a phrase or a quote or if you paraphrase another writers words or ideas, you must acknowledge the source of these words or ideas telling us the source of these materials. APA and MLA style differ on the exact format of this attribution, but the simple version is the name of the author and the page number (if appropriate) in parentheses at the end of the sentence containing the use of the source material. If you fail to acknowledge properly the source of your text, you will receive a zero on the assignment and be reported to the Student Disciplinary Officer. If you plagiarize or otherwise misrepresent the source of your work, you will receive a zero on the assignment and be reported to the Student Disciplinary Officer. Spring 2010 3

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Textbooks: The following texts are required for this class. Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. New York: Verso, 2006. (978-1844670864) Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park. New York: Oxford, 2008. (978-0199535538) Barbauld, Anna Laetitia. Selected Poetry and Prose. Peterborough: Broadview, 2001. (9781551112411) Colley, Linda. Britons: Forging a Nation, 1707-1837. 3rd Ed. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 2009. (978-0300152807) Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. (978-0199536238) Wordsworth, William. The Major Works. Oxford, Oxford UP, 2008. (978-0199536863)

Faculty Furloughs
The state of California is facing an unprecedented fiscal crisis that has resulted in a $26.3 billion deficit. The impact of this on the CSU system includes a reduction of approximately $564 million in the systems base budget. As one strategy among others, the CSU has implemented furloughs of most of its employees this coming academic year, including faculty, staff, and management employees. A furlough is mandatory un-paid time off; faculty and staff on each CSU campus are being furloughed two days per month. These cancelled class days are marked on the syllabus below. It is important to recognize that these days off are not holidays. Instead, they are concrete examples of how massive state budget cuts have consequences for you as students and for me as a faculty member. Each faculty member must designate six furlough days for each quarter. My furlough days for the Spring quarter will be: Friday, April 2 (mandatory university furlough day) Tuesday, April 6 Wednesday, April 14 Tuesday, May 4 Friday, May 21 (mandatory university furlough day) Thursday June 10 Please note that on designated furlough days faculty are prohibited from engaging in any teaching, research or administrative work, which includes responding to voice messages and emails.

Schedule
MW: Wordsworth, The Major Works SPP: Barbauld, Selected Poetry and Prose 3/29 Reading Assignment Theories of the Nation Anderson, Imagined Communities (pages 1-82) Gellner, Nations and Nationalism (excerpts online) Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism Since 1780 (excerpts online) Breuilly, Nationalism and the State (excerpts online) Assignments Due

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4/5

4/12 4/19

Reading Assignment The Case of Britain: Colleys Britons and the English Response to the French Revolution Colley, Britons: Forging a Nation (Introduction and Chapters 1-3) Readings on the Rights of Man Controversy (online); Barbauld, To a Great Nation (SPP), Coleridge, France: An Ode (online), Once a Jacobin Always a Jacobin (online); Wordsworth, Books 9-10 of The Prelude (MW) Defining Englishness: Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities The Poetics of the Nation and the National Poet: The Exemplary Case of William Wordsworth Anderson, Imagined Communities (pages 163-185) Colley, Britons: Forging a Nation (Chapters 4 and 7) Wordsworth, Michael, selections from Poems in Two Volumes (to be announced in class), Laodamia (online), additional Sonnets Dedicated to Liberty from 1815 (MW), Essay, Supplemental to the Preface (MW), Written with a Slate Pencil (online), View from the Top of Black Comb (online), Thanksgiving Ode, January 18, 1816, with other short pieces (online), Ode to Lycoris (online) Historicism and the Romantic Past: Walter Scott Colley, Britons: Forging a Nation (Chapter 5) Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel and Marmion (readings online) The Nation as Museum: Wordsworth, Landscape, and Preservation Wordsworth, The Ruined Cottage, selections from Lyrical Ballads (1800) (to be announced in class) (MW), selections from The River Duddon (to be announced in class), After Visiting the Field of Waterloo, The Cave of Staff, On the Projected Kendal and Windermere Railway (MW) Gender, Nation, and Empire Anderson, Imagined Communities (pages 83-111) Austen, Mansfield Park Speaking for the Nation: The Case of Anna Barbauld Colley, Britons: Forging a Nation (Chapter 7) Barbauld, The Mouses Petition, Epistle to William Wilberforce, To Dr. Priestley, Dec. 29, 1792, To the Poor, Sins of Government, Sins of the Nation, Eighteen Hundred and Eleven (SPP) Staging/Gendering the Nation: Hannah Cowleys A Day in Turkey and Elizabeth Inchbalds Such Things Are (readings online) Memorial Day Seminar Paper Presentations

Assignments Due Weekly Response: Nation

Weekly Response: France Weekly Response: People

4/26

Weekly Response: Past Weekly Response: Place

5/3

5/10

Weekly Response: English-ness Weekly Response: Female Politics

5/17

5/24 5/31 6/7

Weekly Response: Exotics Seminar Paper Due

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Presentation Schedule (entries in blue require supplemental reading) 4/5 Coleridge, France: An Ode and Once a Jacobin Always a Jacobin Wordsworth, Books 9-10 of The Prelude 4/12 Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Englishness in a Victorian Novel (Dickens, Bronts, or Eliot) 4/19 Wordsworth, Michael, Laodamia Wordsworth, Sonnets Dedicated to Liberty Wordsworth, Thanksgiving Ode 4/26 Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel Scott, Marmion Scott, any of the novels 5/3 Wordsworth, from Lyrical Ballads (1800) Wordsworth, from The River Duddon 5/10 Austen, Mansfield Park Austen, Mansfield Park Austen, Persuasion 5/17 Barbauld, Epistle to William Wilberforce, To Dr. Priestley, Sins of Government, Sins of the Nation Barbauld, Eighteen Hundred and Eleven Peacock, The Genius of the Thames 5/24 Cowley, A Day in Turkey Inchbald, Such Things Are

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GarrettEnglish 560

Spring 2010