ENGL C232: Survey of British Literature: 1785-Present
Professor Gary Enns
Professor Gary Enns
Welcome to the liquid syllabus of English C231! Consider this page an early jumpstart to your semester, providing you an opportunity to preview the class and to dive into a few first assignments if you so choose. Reading through this page is your first bold step on the road to developing strong academic critical thinking and writing skills.
My name is Gary Enns, and I am your instructor and coach. If you need anything or have any questions, large or small, don't hesitate to reach out! I am here to help you succeed. You will find my college contact information through the Cerro Coso directory.
Here is a little about myself: I am a creative writer and an avid reader, local stage actor, traveler, backpacker, and tennis player, among many other things. I received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from California State University, Fresno. Some of my stories and poems have appeared in journals such as Granta, Crazyhorse, The Missouri Review, Southern Humanities Review, The Wayfarer, and others. For more on my travels and writing, visit GaryEnns.com, and feel free to follow my public-facing Instagram, @Gary.S.Enns.
To learn more about this course, scroll down. For a quick start into the first weeks' assignments and some great literature from the semester, visit Getting Started and Literary Works. For the course's academic honesty policy, including AI usage, see Academic Honesty.
Gary Enns
This course surveys British literature from the late eighteenth century to contemporary British and post-colonial texts.
You can expect to study weekly lessons on history and literature and enjoy readings of some of the English-speaking world's most cherished literary treasures, including
The Great Romantic, Victorian, and 20th Century poets
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
George Eliot's Silas Marner
Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest
James Joyce's short stories from Dubliners
In brief, here are the major units of the class:
Week 1-5: Romantic Age
Romantic Poets Charlotte Smith, William Blake, William Wordsworth, George Gordon, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Week 6-10: Victorian Era; Mid-term Exam
Victorian Poets Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina Rossetti
George Eliot's Silas Marner
Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest
Weeks 11-15: Twentieth Century to Present
Twentieth Century Poets William Butler Yeats, Mina Loy, T. S. Eliot, Stevie Smith, Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney
James Joyce's Dubliners
Week 16: Final Project; Final Exam
All that you need for any given week is provided in the weekly Canvas module. Simply move through the items in the module, study, and complete them in order.
For the purpose of this course, weekly modules run from Tuesday to Monday, allowing you the weekend plus a day to complete the work of the module.
A typical week will consist of written (and often video-accompanied) lessons, a quiz or two, a journal entry focused on the lessons of the week, and a discussion with peers and professor.
Plan ahead for the following due date pattern:
Mondays to Tuesdays: Finishing up readings
Wednesdays: Most journal entries or quizzes due
Thursdays: First discussion posts due
Fridays to Saturdays: Completing any readings/studies as needed
Sundays: Discussion responses to peers and professor due
This is a zero textbook cost course, meaning no book purchases are required. Good news! Save your money. For a list of titles and alternative modes, see Literary Works.
To navigate this course and to complete essential assignments, you will need the following:
Reliable computer (PC or Mac will do)
Up-to-date browser: Mozilla Firefox and/pr Google Chrome are recommended for full Canvas functionality.
Word processor: Google Docs is recommended and provided with your college Google account
PDF reader: Adobe Acrobat Reader is free to download.
Regular, active participation is expected of all students enrolled in the college. A student shall be dropped by the instructor for lack of active participation prior to the census (20%) date and any time up to the 60% date when the student is not actively participating.
This course prepares you to
Compose formal written analyses of texts that demonstrate appropriate academic discourse and the conventions of literary analysis.
Define, identify, and analyze literary and dramatic techniques in the works.
Identify key elements of literary genres in order to analyze and interpret texts.
Read actively and critically a selection of literary works of English literature from the Romantic Period to the present.
Relate literary works to their historical, cultural, and aesthetic contexts.
Research appropriate primary and secondary sources and apply documentation skills without plagiarism.
Demonstrate familiarity with important authors, works, genres, and themes of the period.
Analyze and interpret themes found in the literature and intellectual movements of the period.
Demonstrate understanding of appropriate academic discourse and the conventions of critical literary analysis.
Relate the literary works to their historical, philosophical, social, political, and/or aesthetic contexts.
Demonstrate comprehension of the above through class discussion, written exams, and essays using appropriate citation form.
To jump into the first weeks' assignments early, visit Getting Started.
For an explanation of this course's plagiarism and artificial intelligence policies, visit the Academic Honesty page.