Anna Blunden, "The Song of the Shirt," 1854

Instructor: Florence Boos, 319 English Philosophy Building
Office hour: Monday 4:15--5:15 and by appointment
Phone: 335-0434, 338-4383 (answering machine); e-mail, florence-boos@uiowa.edu

Texts: (in IMU Bookstore)

Thomas Collins and Vivienne Rundle, eds., The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Poetry

Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

John Ruskin, The Genius of John Ruskin, edited by John Rosenberg

Walter Pater, The Renaissance

William Morris, News from Nowhere

Wilde, Oscar, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Elaine Showalter, ed. Daughters of Decadence (short story collection)

Our class webpage, www.uiowa.edu/~c008098a, contains pages for “study questions” and “resources.” The latter contains bibliographies, art galleries, sample comps lists, links to Victorian sites and other materials (for a fuller version, see /~english/faculty/boos/links.html).
You are asked to post to the discussion page every other week, for a total of 7 roughly two page commentaries during the term. (Please number and title your postings, e. g. posting no. 1, "The Fallen Woman in 'The Castaway'"). Some of these postings, at least, should draw on outside sources (a painting, a book from special collections, a critical article, a periodical) and at least three should respond in some way to the posting of another student.

You may write two essays of 10+ pages each or one longer essay of +/- 20 pages which develops a sustained discussion or critical argument. You are welcome to discuss the topic/s and its/their organization with me. If you submit two essays, you should submit a title, description and bibliography for the first one by the last week in September, and for the second one by the week before Thanksgiving. If you choose the single paper option, you should submit a title, abstract, bibliography and rough outline by the first week of November. If you hand in a rough draft a week or more before the essay is due, I’ll give preliminary suggestions and comments. During finals week, in lieu of an official exam, we will have a class session in which students describe their respective projects.