8:121
British Women Poets
Professor Florence S. Boos
Syllabus
August 26th, 2013 Monday
introduction, course information; metrics
August 28th, 2013 Wednesday
Discussion of two essays; Elizabeth Barrett Browning, life; "The Runaway Slave"
September 2nd, 2013 Monday
Labor Day
September 4th, 2013 Wednesday
some background on child labor; Elizabeth Barrett Browning,"The Cry of the Children"
First ICON posting Friday September 6th
September 9th, 2013 Monday
discussion of Linda Hughes, "Poetry and the Heart's Affections," Cambridge Companion to Victorian Poetry; Augusta Webster, "The Castaway"
September 11th, 2013 Wednesday
Augusta Webster, "Medea" (handout); "Mother and Child" sonnets
September 16th, 2013 Monday
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, books 1 and 2
September 18th, 2013 Wednesday
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, books 3 and 4
September 23rd, 2013 Monday
Aurora Leigh, books 5 and 6
September 25th, 2013 Wednesday
Aurora Leigh, books 7 and 8
2nd ICON posting due Friday September 27th
September 30th, 2013 Monday
Aurora Leigh, book 9; final discussion
Aurora Leigh; slides Victorian women artists
3rd ICON posting due Friday October 4th; extended to October 11th
October 7nd, 2013 Monday
test, Aurora Leigh
By October 14th you should choose a poet for class presentation. The week before your presentation, you will make an appointment to see me to go over the poems chosen and discuss the questions you will ask the class. Also you will need to post the poems for discussion on ICON for all to read, or to send a scan by e-mail to all your classmates at least 24 hours before class. If possible, you should bring in physical copies to the preceding class period and also bring extras to class on the day of discussion.
Suggested poets include: Eliza Cook, Emily Pfeiffer, Adelaide Anne Proctor, Toru Dutt, Alice Meynell, Mary Coleridge, May Kendall, George Eliot, Emily Bronte, Mathilde Blind, Louisa Bevington, A. Mary Robinson, Edith Nesbit, May Probyn, and Constance Naden. We'll discuss the poets in roughtly chronological order.
Additional selections may be found in Nineteenth-Century Women Poets, ed. Armstrong and Bristow and Victorian Women Poets, ed. Virginia Blain.
3rd ICON posting due Friday October 4th
October 9th, 2013 Wednesday
Christina Rossetti, life; "Goblin Market"
October 14th, 2013 Monday
Christina Rossetti, life; selections in Leighton and Reynolds; also please let me know which poet you have chosen for your presentation
October 16th, 2013 Wednesday
Songs of the unschooled/regional and working-class poems: Celtic ballads
title and bibliography of first paper due; should include articles, books and other reference materials
4th ICON posting due October 18th Friday
October 21st, 2013 Monday
Regional and working-class poems: Janet Hamilton and Ellen Johnston
October 23rd, 2013 Wednesday
first student presentation of poet
Friday October 25th thesis statement and short 2 pp. draft of first paper due
October 28th, 2013 Monday
second and third presentations of poet
October 28th, 2013 Wednesday
fourth poet presentation
November 2nd, 2013 Monday
fifth and sixth poet presentations
November 4th, 2013 Wednesday
seventh presentation of poet; first paper due
5th ICON posting due November 6th Friday
November 11th, 2013 Monday
eighth and ninth presentations of poet
November 13th, 2013 Wednesday
tenth presentation of poet
November 18th, 2013 Tuesday
eleventh and twelfth presentations of poet
November 20th, 2013 Wednesday
twelfth and thirteenth presentations of poet
6th ICON posting due November 22nd Friday
[thanksgiving break November 23rd-December 1st]
December 2nd, 2013 Monday
test on poets since Elizabeth Barrett Browning
December 4th, 2013 Wednesday
Michael Field (Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper), selections in Leighton and Reynolds
December 9th, 2013 Monday
Rosamund Marriott Watson, life, poems in Leighton and Reynolds, including "The Ballad of the Bird Bride" and "A Ballad of the Were-Wolf"
December 11th, 2013 Wednesday
Aftermath: Charlotte Mew, life and poems, including "The Trees Are Down"; final take-home exam/2nd essay: thesis statement, outline and 2 pp. draft due
December 16th, 2013 Monday
final class meeting and take home exam/student paper presentations; take-home exam/2nd essay to be summarized in final meeting; please also bring a printout of all your ICON postings to final exam session.
December 20th, 2013 Friday
final 6-8 page papers due; final ICON postings all due (though best to have tended to this earlier). Please submit assignments in both electronic and printed form.