Département des littératures Chargé de cours : Bruce Gilchrist

Département des littératures
Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines
Chargé de cours : Bruce Gilchrist
Session : Hiver 2014
ANG-2401 — Victorian Poetry
Course Description
This course offers a critical survey of the major English poets in the Victorian era (1830-1900); its emphasis will
be on the long narrative poems that stud this period of creative verse and on breadth of theme and form.
The first half of the course tracks the two great poems of the age: Tennyson’s long elegy in A-B-B-A quatrains
on the loss of his intimate friend and future brother-in-law, In Memoriam: A.H.H.; and Elizabeth Barrett
Browning’s Aurora Leigh, a ‘novel-in-blank-verse’ tracing the education, marriage affairs, and artistic
development of a young female poet as she travels from Italy to Britain to France.
The second half of the course offers a miscellany: Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue about a wayward
Italian monk/painter, Fra Lippo Lippi; Edward FitzGerald’s influential translation of a famous Persian wisdompoem; Christina Rossetti’s allegorical verse for children (& adults), The Prince’s Progress; the amusing
nonsense and ‘mirror’ poems in Lewis Carroll’s Alice sequel, Through the Looking Glass; George Meredith’s
sonnet cycle on the devastation of a failed marriage, Modern Love; and Houseman’s evocation of countryside
childhood sacrificed to grown-up war, A Shropshire Lad.
Care has been taken to schedule the significantly longer readings in the first half; the average reading length
drops to a quite manageable 400 lines per week in the second half, ie. to under 2 hours reading per week.
Evaluation
Each student will be asked, twice, to give a 10 minute oral presentation to the class on a date and topic of her
choice, one per each half of the course; the presentation should speak to a major theme in the poems, to their
form and style, analyze a particular poem or long passage, or should offer pertinent external context. [10% +
10%]
There will be two short essay assignments, each 1500-1750 words. The essays should be direct assessments of
the poems or should introduce historical or theoretical frames of interpretation. Though topics will be given in
advance, each student may develop her own (with my approval). Papers must be written in proofread English;
secondary sources are welcome but not required and must be used transparently to good effect. [30% + 30%]
Last, there is a very strong participation component; as reading aloud and around-the-room discussion will be
given priority over lecture, please be generous and constructive in class. It will aid your experience of the class
immeasurably and bring these poems to life. [10% attendance and preparation; 10% quality of discussion]
There is no final examination.
[*Note: if the number of students enrolled is greater than 18, the evaluation will switch from in-class
presentations to short tests, the assigned essays will be shorter, 1250-1500 words, and participation will be
reduced to 10%.]
Quality of Language + Plagiarism Notice
Quality of English will be one of the factors in evaluating work. Lectures and group discussions are held in
English. During the tests no bilingual dictionaries are permitted; students will have access to a class set of
unilingual English dictionaries. For rules concerning plagiarism see Plagiat/Règlement des études
www.lit.ulaval.ca/index.php?id=493
• Plagiat / voir Règlement des études de l’Université Laval http://www.lit.ulaval.ca/index.php?id=493
• L’usage de la nouvelle orthographe est permis à condition que l’étudiant l’ait dûment signalé dans son travail, sans quoi
les graphies jusque-là considérées comme incorrectes seront pénalisées.
Échelle de conversion de notes
Excellent :
Très bon :
Bon :
A+ = 94-100
B+ = 82-84
C+ = 72-74
A = 89-93
B = 78-81
C = 68-71
A– = 85-88
B– = 75-77
C– = 65-67
Passable :
Insuffisant :
D+ = 61-64
E = 0-54
D = 55-60
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Required Texts (to be purchased at La Maison Anglaise)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Edward FitzGerald
Lewis Carroll
Selected Poems
Aurora Leigh
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam
Alice’s Adventures...Through…
Penguin Classics
Oxford Classics
Oxford Classics
Penguin Classics
01404 24431
01995 52339
01995 80502
01414 39761
$ 17
$ 13
$ 10
$ 10
Total cost (estimated) $ 50
Chargé de cours: Bruce Gilchrist
Schedule
[email protected] [email protected]
Mercredi 15:30-18:20
Bureau: 5275
Jeudi: 17:15-18:15
Introduction
Matthew Arnold
“Dover Beach”
1851*
37 lines
Jan. 22
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Matthew Arnold
“The Lotos Eaters”
“The Scholar Gipsy”
1832
1853*
170 lines
250 lines
Jan. 29
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
In Memoriam, A.H.H.
1849
1400 lines
Fév. 5
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
In Memoriam, A.H.H.
1849
1500 lines
Fév. 12
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Aurora Leigh
[I-III]
1850
Fév. 19
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Aurora Leigh
[IV-VI]
1850
Fév. 26
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Aurora Leigh
[VII-IX]
1850
Mars 5
Semaine de Lecture
Mars 12
Robert Browning
“Fra Lippo Lippi”
Short Essay One Due (30%)
1855*
392 lines
Mars 19
Edward FitzGerald
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam
1859+
404 lines
Mars 26
Christina Rossetti
“The Prince’s Progress”
1866*
534 lines
Avril 2
Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking Glass
1871
Avril 9
George Meredith
from Modern Love
1862*
≅ 320 lines
Avril 16
A.E. Houseman
from A Shropshire Lad
1896*
≅ 320 lines
Avril 23
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Thomas Hardy
“Ulysses”
“The Darkling Thrush”
“Channel Firing”
1833
1900*
1914*
70 lines
32 lines
36 lines
Jan. 15
Koninck 3E
Short Essay Two Due (30%)
Course Evaluation
*poems sent by .pdf
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