Romantic Poets
Michael Gamer profile
Students should note first and foremost that this class will run as an open discussion, and not as a lecture course. Its first 3-4 weeks will run as a typical survey in which we read individual poems by several poets of the Romantic Period (in this case, 1770-1841), paying special attention to economic and political context. Once we've become acquainted the poetry and with the significant events and issues of the period, we will then do a second run-through of this same historical period. This time, however, we will not read individual poems but rather the actual and entire collections of poetry that our writers published during their lifetimes. These will likely include Barbauld's *Poems* (1773), Blake's *Songs* (1787, 1794), Wordsworth and Coleridge's *Lyrical Ballads* (1798, 1800), Robinson's *Lyrical Tales* (1800), Shelley's *Alastor* (1815), Keats's *Lamia* (1820), Byron's *Don Juan I-II (1819), and Hemans's *Records of Woman* (1828). The course also requires that you have an e-mail account and that you use it. There will be four short paragraphs, six listserv responses, two short essays, a long essay, and an annotated bibliography assignment. There will also be a comprehensive final exam.
Note: Students may use this course to complete HALF the usual English 202 requirement. A second course in British poetry of either the 18th century or Victorian poetry is required.
updated 2006-11-03
