MONSTERS, MAN-EATERS & MURDERERS IN VICTORIAN LITERATURE

Course Description:

This course will examine the monstrous "other" in Victorian Literature with attention paid to the order and disorders of empire, sexuality and class as they were channeled through the figure of the monster, the savage, the cannibal, the homosexual and the lunatic.

Texts:

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein 1818 [220 pages]

Mary Prince, The History of Mary Prince 1831 [70 pages]

Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone Oxford 1868 [520 pages]

Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 1886 [70 pages]

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray 1890 [180 pages]

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness 1902 [100 pages]

Assignments:

Three 5-6 page papers

Two response papers

Papers must be typed, double-spaced and with one-inch margins.

Written assignments are due at the beginning of the class for which they are assigned. Late work will drop one third of a grade per day (e.g. from B to B-), unless you have met with me in advance of the due date and we have made a special arrangement.

Attendance & Participation:

Class discussion is an essential part of this course. Attendance and class participation are therefore required. I expect you to have completed the assigned reading for that class and to be prepared to make thoughtful contributions to discussion. More than five unexcused absences will constitute grounds for a "No Entry." If you are struggling with attendance or with the class workload, you must let me know: if you communicate with me about it, we can work on the problem.

Grading:

Papers and re-writes: 70%

Class participation, preparation and presentation work: 30%

Schedule:

Wednesday Sept 6	Introduction
Friday Sept 8	Frankenstein have read to vol. 1, ch. 2 inclusive Bring a 1-2 page response paper
Monday Sept 11	Frankenstein vol. 1, ch. 3-8 inclusive In-class group work on close reading
Wednesday Sept 13	Frankenstein vol.2, ch.1-6 inclusive
Friday Sept 15	Workshop: Forming a Reading Including review of response papers Arrange outside class group work on paper #1
Monday Sept 18	Frankenstein vol.2, ch.7-vol.3, ch.2
Wednesday Sept 20	Frankenstein vol.3, ch.3 to end
Friday Sept 22	Workshop: Draft Paper #1 Report on group work on paper #1
Monday Sept 25	PAPER #1 DUE: Workshop: Writing a Reading
Wednesday Sept 27	Have read: The History of Mary Prince
Friday Sept 29	Have read: Supplement to the History of Mary Prince
Monday Oct 2	Harriet Martineau: "First Sight of Slavery in 1834" in reader
Wednesday Oct 4	Robert Browning "My Last Duchess" (1842) in reader
Friday Oct 6	Workshop: Issues from Paper # 1
Monday Oct 9	FREE DAY
Wednesday Oct 11	Have read: The Moonstone Prologue-ch.5 inclusive
Friday Oct 13	No class: sign up for individual conferences
Monday Oct 16	AUTUMN RECESS
Wednesday Oct 18	AUTUMN RECESS
Friday Oct 20	AUTUMN RECESS
Monday Oct 23	No class: sign up for individual conferences
Wednesday Oct 25	Have read: The Moonstone ch.6-3rd narrative ch. 8 Bring 1-2 page response paper
Friday Oct 27	Have read: The Moonstone ch.8-end of 4th narrative
Monday Oct 30	Have read: The Moonstone to end
Wednesday Nov 1	More Moonstone discussion!
Friday Nov 3	Have read: Sherlock Holmes story in reader PAPER # 2 DUE
Monday Nov 6	Workshop: Minutiae Exercise
Wednesday Nov 8	Workshop: Partial Revision of Paper #2
Friday Nov 10	NO CLASS
Monday Nov 13	NO CLASS
Wednesday Nov 15	Have read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Friday Nov 17	Guest speaker: Professor K. Linehan Norton editor of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Monday Nov 20	Dorian Gray ch.1-6 inclusive
Wednesday Nov 22	Dorian Gray ch.7-10 inclusive
Friday Nov 24	FREE DAY
Monday Nov 27	Dorian Gray ch.10-end
Wednesday Nov 29	Visualizing monstrosity: slide show!
Friday Dec 1	Workshop: Peer Review of Final Paper Topic
Monday Dec 4	Heart of Darkness ch. 1
Wednesday Dec 6	Heart of Darkness ch.2
Friday Dec 8	Chinua Achebe "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" in reader
Monday Dec 11	W.S.Gilbert lyrics
Wednesday Dec 13	LAST CLASS: PAPER #3 DUE