The Nineteenth Century - Romanticism
Romanticism Overview
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Overview
The Romantic period is a fascinating one to study not only because of its profound influence on our thinking — indeed, they give us many of the ideas we just “take for granted” as true, particularly the importance of individualism — but also because they strike an often-difficult balance between the rigid structure that marked the Enlightenment period (think of Pope and those marching Greek columns of heroic couplets!) and the apparently chaotic structure (if that isn’t too much of an oxymoron) of the Modernists. In fact, it’s often helpful to think of Romantic poetry as being “buried structure.” The structural moves of rhythm, rhyme, end-stopped lines or enjambment, and so forth are less “in your face” in this era’s poetry than basically at any other since the Metaphysicals, especially Donne. You could even make the argument that the Romantics have more in common with the Metaphysicals than they do with the folks who came immediately before them in time. We’ll look at some of the key elements of Romantic poetry in this unit. Preliminary Fun!
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Lecture Notes
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Romanticism Lecture Notes
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Background Reading
NOTE: Readings are mandatory unless specifically marked “Optional.” They are given to help you understand the course material. If you’re having a hard time understanding something, the optional materials can often be very helpful to you. If you have suggestions for optional material you would like to see on this page, please email me at [email protected] with your suggestions. |
Textbook Reading Assignments
Outline or take textual notes on all textbook information that you are asked to read. I will give occasional open-note quizzes, so taking notes will definitely help your understanding. Please note that all reading assignments, unless otherwise specified, refer to your text, The Language of Literature.
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Literature Readings
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The Poetry of the Romantics
All readings refer to pages in your text, The Language of Literature unless otherwise noted. William Blake
WORKSHEET: Blake, "Infant Sorrow" Worksheet William Wordsworth
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Lord Byron
Percy Bysshe Shelley
John Keats
POWERPOINT: "The Lady of Shallott" |
Discussion Questions
NOTE: Below are questions we will most likely be addressing in class. These are put here for your convenience and reflection. It would be helpful to you for you to review these questions and think about how you would answer them before we discuss these works together. |
Questions for Romantic Poetry
Blake, “Infant Sorrow” We’re going to be looking at Blake’s “Infant Sorrow” in detail as an example of how the Romantics used “secret structure” or “buried structure” in their apparently artless poems. Basing our investigations on pp. 29-32 of Helen Vendler’s Poems, Poets, and Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology, 2nd Ed. (not required — I just thought you might like having the reference handy, and it’s a wonderful book anyway), we will look at the following issues in the Blake, "Infant Sorrow" Worksheet. What we’re doing, as I hope you’ll see, is looking for patterns — and deviations from those patterns. Both the pattern AND the deviation from the pattern reveal crucial information — or at the very least, they signal to you that you should be asking “WHY?” The answer to that is usually well worth the effort of investigation. Questions About Keats, “Chapman’s Homer”
Using Helen Vendler, Poems, Poets, Poetry, pp. 125-133, we will explore this poem (and others!) from the following angles:
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Possible Assessments and Assignments
Note: These are possible assignments and assessments that may be given during this unit. They are placed here for your convenience and review if you would like to see a typical assessment for this course. |
Close Reading of
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Resources for the Media-Minded
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All of the following are optional.
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Written Assignments
NOTE: The following are possible writing assignments for this unit. Any writing assignment will be given and explained in class. In other words, please do not do these assignments unless you’re specifically asked to do so. They are put here for your convenience and reference if you're absent or missing the handout. |
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