English 150: The Victorian Age


    Fall Semester 2001

    San José State University

    Professor Carolyn Sigler








    Office: FO 111 Office Hours: TR 10:30-11:30, R 2:30-3:30

    Phone/Voicemail: 4-4457 .

    E-mail: csigler@email.sjsu.edu and by appointment

    Web: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/csigler/

  • Required Items

    • The following texts may be purchased online (just click on the title), or at the Spartan Bookstore and/or Roberts' Bookstore; they may also be ordered at local Barnes and Noble Bookstores.  Please purchase only the editions indicated below so that we will all have the same pagination.

  • Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret (Oxford UP)
  • Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (Penguin)
  • Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (Oxford UP)
  • Carol Christ, ed., The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Victorian Age (Norton)
  • Charles Dickens, Hard Times (Penguin)
  • Bram Stoker, Dracula (Penguin)
  • Short works and critical essays, available on reserve at the SJSU library or online through this Web site.
  • An activated SJSU email account.
  • Recommended Items
    • MLA Handbook, 5th Edition
    Sharon W. Propas, Victorian Studies: A Research Guide (Garland)
    Links to Victorian resources on the WWW can be accessed below.

    COURSE OBJECTIVES
    We will study the literature of Victorian Britain in the context of the great cultural and social issues of the time, such as the extension of empire, the conflict of science and religion, the economics of industrial society, and the progress of political reform, which included the "Woman Question." In particular, our class will focus on the separate Victorian "spheres" of domestic and public life, to explore how popular domestic ideology constructed the domestic sphere as a political and economic alternative to the public world, calling into question the structures of Victorian society, and becoming a major event in political history which continues to shape modern culture.

    COURSE REQUIREMENTS
    Your careful reading of each text, and active participation in class discussions are essential and required. Be sure to see me immediately if you have a serious attendance problem. Your final grade will be based on the following: a short (10-15-minute) oral report (10%), a midterm and final exam (20% each), a critical research essay, 12-15 pages (30%), and class participation (20%).

    ORAL REPORTS
    Each student will present to the class one historical report of 10-15 minutes about his or her research topic. On the day of your report, please present to each student (and the professor) a 1-2 page handout on your topic, which includes an annotated bibliography of at least five scholarly sources. If you find sources with helpful illustrations, please feel free to bring those along to share with the class. All reports should include information from primary sources, as well as modern critical sources. While some Victorian newspapers and journals are available over the internet, this may mean that you will need to order some materials, such as microfilms of Victorian journals, through interlibrary loan, so please plan to begin gathering materials for your report early. You will be graded on the quality of both handout and oral presentation. The handout may be a written paper, a detailed outline with explanations, xeroxed artwork with commentary below, or some creative written presentation of the topic youíre covering.

  • Biographical reports should provide an overview of the authorís life and milieu, with particular reference to the critical reception (contemporary reviews and commentary) of the work(s) covered in class. Sources should include contemporary information about the author and text (letters by or to the author, contemporary biographies, reviews, and, if possible, obituaries), as well as modern biographical assessments.
  • Topic reports should include contemporary commentary on the topic (this could include journal essays or articles as well as fictional depictions of the subject) as well as information from modern critical sources.
    • Please feel free to meet with me prior to your report; I'll be happy to offer suggestions. An excellent handbook by Sharon W. Propas, Victorian Studies: A Research Guide (New York: Garland, 1992), provides valuable descriptive listings of many reference sources, including specialist bibliographies, from cross-disciplinary perspectives. You might also consult Lional Maddenís classic How to Find Out About the Victorian Period (Oxford: Pergamon, 1970).

    RESEARCH PAPER
    The research project will consume more of your effort in this class than anything else, apart from doing the assigned readings. Your essay should be on one of the assigned texts for the class, and must be based on original research as well as historical and critical research. Your research paper is yours: find something to research that you are interested in and want to know more about, then schedule an appointment to meet with me for a 15-20-minute individual conference. Conferences need to be scheduled before October 18, even if your ideas are not set in stone by then.

    GRADING
    The following statement has been adopted by the English department for inclusion in all syllabi:
     In English Department Courses, instructors will comment on and grade the quality of student writing as well as the quality of ideas being
    conveyed. All student writing should be distinguished by correct grammar and punctuation, appropriate diction and syntax, and well-organized
    paragraphs.

    The department of English reaffirms its commitment to the differential grading scale as defined in the official SJSU catalogue ("The Grading System"). Grades issued must represent a full range of student performance: A = excellent; B = above average; C = average; D = below average; F = failure. Courses graded according to the A, B, C, No Credit system shall follow the same pattern, except that NC (No Credit) shall replace D or F. In such classes, NC shall also substitute for W (Withdrawal) because neither grade (NC or W) affects studentsí GPA.

    ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
    The misrepresentation of another's work as one's own, whether the original work is published or not, is plagiarism and will result in a failing grade. The incident will also be reported to the dean of students for possible further action. All quotes must be enclosed in quotation marks or, when more than three lines, put in an indented block. Full citation of the original author and source must also be included. Copies of SJSUís Policy on Academic Dishonesty are available in the office of the Dean of Student Services.

    DISABLED STUDENT SERVICES
    Students with disabilities who need special accommodations should register with the Disabilities Resource Center (DRC) located in ADM 110, where a wide range of resources are available. Any student needing test accommodation must be registered with the DRC and inform the instructor at the beginning of the semester. Please advise the professor immediately of any other special needs.

    READING SCHEDULE
    To Be Announced.

    LINKS TO VICTORIAN RESOURCES ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB

     

    GENERAL

    W.W. Norton Victorian Age Online Resources
    A Tour of London 150 Years Ago
    City of Shadows: A Gothic Tour of Victorian London - includes texts of classic Victorian ghost stories
    by Mary Braddon, Elizabeth Gaskell and others.
    Victorian Research Web
    The Victorian Web
    Mitsuharu Matsuoka's Victorian Web Sites
    Victorian British Literary Resources

    ELECTRONIC TEXTS

    Project Bartleby
    The Victorian Women Writers Project
     
     

    LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES and MUSEUMS 

    The British Museum
    COPAC: a consortium of British university libraries
    Victorian and Edwardian Literature Collection - University of California at Riverside
    Clark Library - UCLA
    Victoria and Albert Museum - London
     
     

    VICTORIAN PERIODICALS

    The Punch Cartoon Page
    Internet Library of Early Journals: A Digital Library of 18th and 19th Century Journals
     

    WORKING-CLASS LIVES

    Factory Life in the Nineteenth Century
    Child Labor
    Letters from a Victorian Governess
    The Penny Magazine online - weekly magazine aimed at the working class

    DOMESTIC LIFE

    Domestic Life in 19th-Century England
    Introdiction to a Victorian Woman's World
     

    EDUCATION

    A Journey Through the History of State Education in England
    A History of Education and Childhood
     

    CHILDHOOD

    The New Child, 1730-1830
    The Sepia Child - photographs of children by Lewis Carroll
    Images of Victorian Children - from Professor Robin Love's Concepts of Childhood class (CD106)
    Child Labor in the Nineteenth Century
     

    INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS

     

     

      • Charlotte Bronte 
    The Bronte Sisters Web
    The Jane Eyre Page
    Jane Eyre, An Introduction - Joyce Carol Oates
    Jane Eyre (annotated text)
    The Life of Charlotte Bronte - Elizabeth Gaskell (text)
     
     
    • Mary Elizabeth Braddon
    The Mary Braddon Website
    "Sensation Novels" (from Quarterly Review, 1863)
    Victorian Sensationalism Online
     
     
      • Lewis Carroll
    Lewis Carroll: An Overview
    Lewis Carroll Homepage
     
  • Charles Darwin
    • The C. Warren Irvin, Jr., Collection of Charles Darwin and Darwiniana
    Biography of Charles Darwin
     
  • Charles Dickens
    • The Dickens Page
    The Dickens Project - University of California
    Charles Dickens: An Overview
     
     
     
      • The Pre-Raphaelites
    The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
    The Magnificent Seven
    The Pre-Raphaelite Critic
     
     
      • Christina Rossetti
    Christina Rossetti Archive
    Christina Georgina Rossetti
    Christina Rossetti Overview
     
    • Bram Stoker
    Bram Stoker's Dracula pages
    Dracula (text)
    The Life of Bram Stoker
    Dracula's Homepage - Fact and Fiction
     
     
      • William Makepeace Thackeray
    Vanity Fair (text)
    William Makepeace Thackeray
     
     
      • Oscar Wilde
    Oscar Wilde Overview
    Oscariana: The Life and Times of Oscar Wilde 
    The Importance of Being Earnest (e-text)
    Oscar Wilde in San Fancisco-1882:An account of Wilde's visit to San Francisco in 1882 that includes a nasty cartoon from the San Francisco Wasp. Be sure to read the San Francisco Chronicle's review of Wilde's lecture on "Art Decoration," and local humorist Ambrose Bierce's denunciation of Wilde. (Museum of the City of San Francisco)