English 314: British Literature After 1800

Professor Kathryn Conrad
Fall 2004
7-10 pm
4019 Wescoe Hall
Office hours:  2035 Wescoe, TBA, by appointment other days & times

Course Description and Texts

This course is a survey of British literature of the Romantic, Victorian, Modernist, and contemporary periods. We will be concerned in this course not only with literary form but also with some of the political and social issues that serve as context for the literature. Our readings will include essays, poetry, drama, short fiction, and novels. Do note that this will be a poetry-intensive course.

These books are available for purchase.

• Damrosch, David, ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature, 2nd edition, vols. 2A, 2B, and 2C.
• Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre.  Norton.

Grades (consist of three major components)

1. 15%: Attendance, participation in discussion (online and in class), group work, and short assignments. Students will be expected to access materials online and participate in Blackboard discussion boards. Students must participate in the first Blake forum and the Virginia Woolf forum (and those fora that take the place of any days cancelled by the University), and in at least three others. All readings to be completed by date listed on the syllabus.  Students are expected to attend every class and should contact me by e-mail or phone before your absence if you must miss class. Three unexcused absences will result in failure of this course.
2. 30%: Exams: a midterm and final examination (identification and short essay) as listed on the syllabus. (15 % each.)
3. 55%: Two papers of 5-6 pages. (27.5% each.) Paper topics will be available here two weeks prior to the due date. At least one paper must be on a poem. Please see plagiarism policy below.

Other Resources

Students with Disabilities: The staff of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD), 135 Strong (Lawrence), 785-864-2620 (V/TTY), coordinates accommodations and services for KU courses. If you have a disability for which you may request accommodation in KU classes and have not contacted them, please do as soon as possible. Please also see me privately in regard to this course (Adopted from SSD statement).

Writing Center:  Most colleges and universities have a writing center, a place for students to talk about their writing with trained peer consultants. At KU, we call our writing centers Writer's Roosts.  When you visit, bring your work in progress and an idea of what you would like to work on-organization, support, documentation, editing, etc.  The Roosts are open in several different locations across campus; please check the Writing Center website for current locations and hours. The Roosts welcome both drop-ins and appointments, and there is no charge for their services. For more information, please call 785-864-2399 or send an e-mail to writing@ku.edu (Adopted from Writing Center Statement).

External links:  The Blackboard website contained a list of relevant external links.

Weather cancellations:  Call 785-864-SNOW to discover whether classes have been cancelled by the University due to inclement weather.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is stealing and passing off someone else's ideas or words as one's own or using information from another's work without crediting the source. Any detected cheating offense--including but not limited to plagiarism; the unauthorized use of crib sheets, texts, or other materials during an examination or quiz; the copying of another student's work (even with the permission or aid of that student, who is thereby culpable); the use of prewritten essays (the student's own or someone else's); the uncredited adoption of another writer's interpretation of a work; or the unauthorized use of work written for another assignment or class--will be reported to the University. A record of each verified offense will be kept throughout the student's association with the University (Adopted from FSE statement).

Plagiarism is not a game, nor is it simply a "shortcut" when time presses. It is a very serious form of academic misconduct and will be treated as such in this class. If you consult outside sources for ideas--a practice against which I recommend--you must cite those sources in your work. If after reading the statement above, you are still unclear about what constitutes plagiarism, ask me before turning in an assignment. A plagiarized assignment will result in failure of the assignment (no credit given) and will probably result in failure of the course. Formal records are currently kept by the department and the University.