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About the Course
About the Course
Brief Introduction
Brief Introduction
This course briefly introduces English prose in the British Isles, from 1660 to 1788. While doing that, the course has two foci: the formal development of various kinds of prose, both fiction and non-fiction, and the development of certain major ideas. Thus, the course is a survey of both the prose genres and intellectual currents of the time.
Course description including recommended edition of the texts [Link]
Academic Calendar of the University of Kalyani [Link]
Resources
Resources
History of English Literature books (Andrew Sanders 2004 and Ronald Carter and John McRae 2017)
For word meaning and usage from a historical perspective use, Online access to https://www.oed.com/ or the downloaded software of OED (not Google Search or Webster Online)
Google Search or Google Books will serve the purpose of finding out all the general references in the texts of the syllabus
Internal Assessment
Internal Assessment
Things to note
Students bearing roll numbers 1-74 appear at the assessment at the first-floor classroom where we have our usual classes. Rest sit at the smart classroom downstairs,
Enter the classroom by 13:45 AM carrying only your pen and perhaps a water bottle.
Leave everything else outside the room.
Leave your mobiles switched off in your bag, outside the classroom. Mobile phones in any state are not allowed inside the examination room.
Write your NAME IN CAPITAL LETTERS on top of the first page of the answer sheet.
Immediately below your name write the word 'Roll no.' followed by your roll number.
Only two students are supposed to sit at every bench.
Also, while contextualising in your answer you need to mention the name of the author as well as the specific section of the text. Sections can be specified either by referring to essay numbers 411-421 or by their own serial I-XI. Rest of our discussion on context also applies.
First Internal Assessment [10 Feb 2025, Mon, 10:30-11:30 AM]
Students will be required to answer four (4) [out of six] short questions of five (5) marks each.
This will be a gobbet test in which the excerpts from the text in Unit II, Sub-unit I will be required to be
(i) contextualized [1 mark] (ii) explained [3 marks] (iii) connected to other texts/contexts [1 mark]
The total time allotted will be forty minutes
The date and time of the test may be revised after the publication of the University academic calendar
Second Internal Assessment [7 March 2025, 2-3 PM]
Students will be required to answer four (4) [out of six] short questions of five (5) marks each.
This will be a gobbet test in which the excerpts from the text in Unit II, Sub-unit II will be required to be
(i) contextualized [1 mark] (ii) explained [3 marks] (iii) connected to other texts/contexts [1 mark]
The total time allotted will be forty minutes
The date and time of the test will be announced after the publication of the University academic calendar
* The score of the internals will not be posted on the notice board. Completion of evaluation of the scripts will be notified and students will be given a time window to go through their evaluated answer scripts.
Preparing for the Upcoming Classes
A thorough reading of the following sections of Andrew Sander's A Short Oxford History of English Literature (1994) is essential for placing the discussion in context. This is a book that we will repeatedly refer to throughout the course. Keep it handy and start reading it thoroughly to finish it as soon as possible.
(i) Introductory content of the fifth chapter (ii) Jonathan Swift (iii) Other Pleasures of Imagination: Dennis, Addison, and Steele (iv) Defoe and the ‘Rise’ of the Novel (v) The Mid-Century Novel (vi) Smollett and Sterne (vii) Sensibility, Sentimentality, Tears, and Graveyards (viii) The Ballad, the Gothic, the Gaelic, and the Davidic (ix) Johnson and his Circle
11/11: We will continue the discussion of the contours of the history of Britain and the history of English literature in the eighteenth century. It would be helpful for students to familiarize themselves with the following three chapters of John Richetti edited The New Cambridge History of English Literature (2008). You do not need to remember everything in these chapters but familiarity will go a long way.
(i) History and literature (ii) Publishing and booksellers (iii) Eighteenth-century periodical literature.
Communication
Communication
** Feel free to drop by to discuss any academic matters with me whenever I am at my office on the first floor. Usually, I have no scheduled assignments from 11:30 onwards on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Email me the day before to confirm my availability.
* If you do not know how to email your teacher, follow this Wikihow.
* For any inquiry or clarification email me at dhrubas[at]klyuniv.ac.in.
* Inappropriate emails that do not follow the guidelines linked above will not be responded to.
* However, before emailing the teacher make sure to read everything mentioned or linked to on this webpage.
[Pronouns: he/his/him; although the course tries to be consciously gender-neutral]
* Remind.com will be used as a one-way communication from the teacher to students for reminding the basics of the course. Students may use it voluntarily and use of the app is completely optional. If a student does not have reliable access to the internet and a smartphone, she should contact the teacher as soon as possible for an alternative mode.
* Click [Here] to join the Remind.com channel of this course.
* Any emoji or reaction to Remind messages is unnecessary and prohibited. The app has inherent functionality to track whether the recipient has read the message or not. Hence no reactions or emojis. A repeat of such unmindful posting will lead to removal from the channel.
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