ENGLISH 479C VICTORIAN SENSATION FALL, 2007 PROFESSOR JASON R. RUDY TTH 11:00-12:15PM SUSQUEHANNA HALL, ROOM 1103 OFFICE HOURS: TTH12:30-1:30PM & BY ARRANGEMENT OFFICE: SUSQ. 4131; EMAIL: [email protected] WEBSITE: http://www.english.umd.edu/englfac/JRudy/479cSpring2007.htm This course will focus on the intersection of Victorian literature, British empiricist philosophy (which identifies bodily sensation as central to the acquisition of knowledge), and nineteenth-century advances in the physiological and technological sciences. We will first read from the classics of British empiricism, including Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding and works by Berkeley and Hume. We will then consider how developments in the nineteenth century – everything from the invention of the electric telegraph to the advent of psychoanalysis – changed the way the Victorians thought about knowledge and communication. Our focus will be on the role of the human body – fleshliness, sensations, nerve impulses – in the process of acquiring knowledge and communicating knowledge to others. COURSE REQUIREMENTS TEXTS (available at the University Book Center) The Empiricists (Anchor Books: 0385096224) Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (Broadview 1551116448) Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet (Oxford 0192837656) George Eliot, The Lifted Veil (Oxford 0192832956) Sigmund Freud, Dora (Touchstone: 0684829460) Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (Broadview 1551111268) GRADING Attendance & Participation 15% Term Paper (due 12/4) 30% Quizzes & Responses 20% Final Exam 25% Essay #1 (due 10/2) 10% WRITING ASSIGNMENTS The first essay (3-4 pages), due in class October 2nd, will use the empirical theorists of the first three weeks (Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Bain, Allen, Mill) to analyze a poem by Keats or Tennyson. You will choose the poem from among several we have not read in class (a more detailed assignment will follow). The term paper, due December 4th, will be developed throughout the semester. A project proposal is due October 23rd and a revised thesis statement and annotated bibliography is due November 8th. The details of these assignments will be elaborated in a separate hand-out.2 Responses should be no longer than 1 page in length; they should present an idea you had while reading the text under consideration. Responses are not summaries of texts – they are ideas, insights, curious observations, etc. You must turn in the response before we discuss the work you write about; if absent, the response must be turned in on the day you return to class. Responses will be marked on a scale of 1 (weak) to 5 (strong); they will be averaged at the end of the term and then converted into a letter grade. QUIZZES AND EXAM Quizzes will be easy for those who have done the reading. That said, we all have bad days, so I will drop your lowest quiz grade at the end of the semester. The final exam will ask you to synthesize material from the entire semester. You will be expected not only to know the material (to be able to identify passages, for example), but to say something interesting and intelligent about it. Failing the final exam will result in a final grade no higher than a C-. ATTENDANCE & PARTICIPATION · Enthusiastic participation is expected at all times. Come to class with thoughts and questions about the reading. Asking a good question about a text is often as helpful, and sometimes more helpful, than making a brilliant point. · Each unexcused absence will result in down-grading for the attendance and participation part of your final grade. More than four unexcused absences will result in an “F” (60% at best) for this portion of your grade. Each absence beyond 5 will further lower the percent-grade. · Missing class for an “excusable” reason does not excuse you from doing the reading for that day, or from handing in work due on that day. Therefore to be fully excused from a class, you must hand in a 1-page report on whatever reading was set for the day you missed. Failure to hand in this report will make your absence “unexcused.” · If possible, let me know in advance when you will be missing class for a permissible reason: e.g. a religious holiday. It is your responsibility to find out about materials handed out and discussed during classes you have missed. PLAGIARISM I will adhere strictly to University policy with respect to plagiarism. Students who plagiarize will fail this class and will risk suspension from the university. Follow MLA guidelines for proper citation when quoting passages and when paraphrasing ideas. Do not hesitate to speak with me if you have any ques-tions regarding this matter. I quote below from the University policy on academic honesty: "The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit http://www.studenthonorcouncil.umd.edu/whatis.html." OFFICE HOURS Come talk to me! Bring questions about your papers, thoughts on the reading, suggestions for the class – or just come to chat. If you cannot make my office hours, I will meet you at a mutually-convenient time. It is in your best interests to make the most of this one-on-one time.3 CLASS SCHEDULE (W) = course website Week 1 (8/30): Introduction and Course Overview Week 2 (9/4 and 9/6): Empiricism I I. RESPONSE 1 DUE: on Locke Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, pp. 7-37 Tennyson, “The Splendor Falls” (W) James Clerk Maxwell, “Lectures to Women on Physical Science” (W) II. Locke, Essay, pp. 75-97 Alexander Bain, from The Senses and the Intellect (W) Week 3 (9/11 and 9/13): Empiricism II I. Berkeley, Of the Principles of Human Knowledge, pp. 151-60 Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, pp. 307-22 II. RESPONSE 2 DUE: on Hume Hume, Enquiry, pp. 417-30 Week 4 (9/18 and 9/20): Poetics of Sensation I. Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale,” “Ode to Fancy,” “This Living Hand” (W) Grant Allen, from Physiological Aesthetics (W) II.