Course Syllabus:

ENGL 2823 X20 Online– Survey of English Literature II

Spring 2025

Contact Information

Instructor: Dr. Peter Fields

Office: Bea Wood 230 (2^nd floor of Prothro-Yeager, towards the dormitories)

Student Office hours: MW 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM; TR 2:15 PM – 4:15 PM & by appointment.

Office Phone: (940) 397-4246 E-mail: peter.fields@msutexas.edu

Course Description

A survey of English Literature of the Romantic, Victorian, and Modern periods. Emphasis is on the works of principal authors as they reflect literary and historical backgrounds.

Course Goals

• Read English Literature of the Romantic, Victorian, and Modern eras in our ebook anthology.
• Demonstrate literary analysis by engaging in a writing process that produces two literary essays and one literary research project.
• Utilize supporting sources from Moffett Library databases (e.g., Gale Academic One File and Gale Literature Research Center) and follow MLA in-body citing and Works Cited formatting in two literary essays and a literary research project. Purdue Owl online helps with MLA format.
• Demonstrate proficient use of Standard Written English in two literary essays and a literary research project. Students have the option of GETTING EARLY HELP—i.e., preliminary feedback—on the working draft of their essay or research project. The instructor will address punctuation, phrasing, word-choice, and assignment criteria.
• Grading rubric for literary essays and research project is adapted from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) rubric for social, personal responsibility, critical thinking, communication skills, including documentation, syntax, and mechanics.

THECB Core Course Objectives and Assessments

• ·Critical Thinking
• o   To assess the student’s critical thinking, the Research Project rubric will be applied to the Research Paper.
• ·Communication
• o   To assess a student’s communication, the Research Project rubric will be applied to the Research Paper.
•  Personal Responsibility
• o   To assess a student’s personal responsibility, the Research Project rubric will be applied to the Research Paper.
• Social Responsibility
• o   To assess a student’s social responsibility, the Research Project rubric will be applied to the Research Paper.

Textbooks – Norton Anthology of English Literature, 11^th ed. Package 2 Ebook. Vols. D, E, F

On the navigation bar, click on Content. Then click on the module The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Eleventh Edition: Links to Package 2 Ebook Readings. Then click on Package 2 Contents. You will see “Contents”: that is, the titles of reading items and their respective page numbers. Each item is a clickable link. Click on the specific title you need to read based on our required titles in the Course Schedule, which may be found at the end of this syllabus.

The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Romantic Period. Volume D. 11^th edition, Ebook. Edited by Deidre Shauna Lynch and Eric Eisner. General Editor: Stephen Greenblatt, Norton, 2024. ISBN: 978-0-393-54331-5

The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Victorian Age. Volume E, 11^th edition. Ebook. Edited by Catherine Robson and Rachel Ablow. General Editor: Stephen Greenblatt, Norton, 2024. ISBN: 978-0-393-54332-2

The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. Volume F, 11^th edition. Ebook. Edited by Jahan Ramazani and Aarthi Vadde. General Editor: Stephen Greenblatt, Norton, 2024. ISBN: 978-0-393-54333-9

Course Schedule:

Here is the best method for finding our required reading in D2L: in Content, click on the module The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Eleventh Edition: Links to Package 2 Ebook Readings. Then click on Package 2 Contents. You will see what looks like a normal table of contents with reading titles and page numbers. Each one is a clickable link.

Week

Required Readings

Themes & Due Dates

Week 1

Jan 22-24

The Romantic Period. Introduction 3, Timeline 30

Anna Letitia Barbauld (1743-1825): 41: A Summer Evening’s Meditation 42. Epistle to William Wilberforce, Esq, on Rejection of the Bill for Abolishing the Slave Trade 45, The Rights of Woman 47, To a Little Invisible Being Who is Expected Soon to become Visible 48, The Mouse’s Petition 57.

Charlotte Smith (1749-1806): 76: Written at the Close of Spring 77, To Sleep 78, To Night 79, Written in the Church-Yard at Middleton in Sussex 80, To Fancy 80, On Being Cautioned against Walking on an Headland 81, To the Insect of the Gossamer 81, The Sea View 82.

William Blake (1757-1827): 117. All Religions are One, There is no Natural Religion (a & b), Songs of Innocence and Experience (all the poems provided from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience), The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Robert Burns (1759-1796): To a Mouse 173, Tom o’ Shanter 179, A Red, Red Rose 179, and Auld Lang Syne 188.

The Romantic era is deeply felt, given to flights of imagination, and idealistic about social progress (e.g., opposes British slave trade and supports equal education for women). The Romantic temperament can also be morose and melancholy. For the Romantic, sadness is a form of contemplation and insight.

Make a mental note of those poems that really speak to Romantic sensibility. You may come back to one of them for your Literary Essay 1.

Week 2

January 27-31 

The French Revolution Controversy 191

Edmund Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France 194

Mary Wolstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of men 201

Tomas Paine: Rights of man 206

Mary Wolstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Women

John Newton: Faith’s Review and Expectation (Amazing Grace) 534

Thomas Clarkson: Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species 535; Part III, Chapter 1 536; Part III, Chapter 3 538;

William Cowper: “The Negro’s Complaint” 540

Olaudah Equiano: 542, Chapter 3 542, Chapter 4 546, and Chapter 5 548.

Hannah More and Eaglesfield Smith: The Sorrows of Yamba 549.

Mary Prince: The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave 563

The Romantic era championed social liberty, equal rights (for women that especially meant equal education), and the abolition of the British slave trade. Make a note of where you see these values really stand out. You will come back to them in your Literary Essay 1.

Week 3

February 3-7

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) 630, Manfred 657

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) 314, Lines (Tintern Abbey) 333

William Wordsworth: Preface to Lyrical Ballads 337

The Subject and Language of Poetry 338

What is a Poet? 344

Emotion Recollected in Tanquillity 348

The Lucy Poems: Strange fits 349, She dwelt 350, Three years 351, A slumber 352

The World is too much with us 390, Surprised by Joy 390

1805 Prelude: Book Tenth 424-25, Book Eleventh 426, Book Eleventh 426, Book Thirteenth 429-32

Dorothy Wordsworth (1771-1855) 433. Alfoxden Journal 434, Grasmere Journal 436, Grasmere—A Fragment 445

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) 468, The Eolian Harp 471, Kubla Khan 491, Christabel 494, Frost at Midnight 509, Biographia Literaria 520, Chapter 4 520, Chapter 13 523, Chapter 14 523, Chapter 17 528, 529, 530.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) 759: Mont Blanc 780, Ozymandias 786

John Keats (1795-1821) 942: Ode to a Nightingale 969

The Romantic imagination saw itself as a kind of auxiliary power to the Logos. It had creator agency. It had its own divinity. We see this most dynamically in Byron and Coleridge. William Wordsworth saw the sublime in everyday life—in simple things and tried to capture common speech. His closest friend and inspiration was his sister, Dorothy.

For our first Literary Essay, pick out two poems (by two different poets) and two treatises (prose pieces, not poetry) by two different authors.

Paragraphs 2-5: each poem and treatise needs its own paragraph. Each paragraph answers this question: What makes this poem or treatise romantic?

Paragraph six is the student’s perspective on the Romantic imagination.

Paragraph seven is an epilogue. It recalls a detail from one of the two poems or two treatises which has not been mentioned as yet and offers a final reflection on the Romantic.

Paragraph one is a kind of mini-essay. It previews the poems and treatises in the body paragraphs and sets forth what the student means by the term “Romantic.”

Week 4

February 10 - 14

Option: You can submit an early draft to GET EARLY HELP. But don’t wait until just before the due date.

Our first Literary Essay should be about 2100 words (seven paragraphs) with MLA in-body citing and Works Cited.

Week 5

February 17-21 

Literary Essay 1 is due Friday February 21.

Week 6

February 24-28

The Victorian Age. Introduction 3, Timeline 26

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) 346: A Christmas Carol 348

Robert Browning (1812-1889) 407: Porphyria’s Lover 409

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) 616: The Blessed Damozel 617, My Sister’s Sleep 621

Christina Rosseti (1830-1894) 634: Goblin Market 641

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909) 699: Hermaphroditus 704

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) 720: God’s Grandeur 722, The Windhover 724, Pied Beauty 725. Terrible Sonnets: Carrion Comfort 728, I wake and feel the fell dark 729, No worst, there is none 729, That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire 730. Thou art indeed just, Lord 730

Romanticism idealized the human spirit as godlike. Victorianism saw the spiritual universe in Christian terms. We are capable of great virtue—and great evil. More than the Romantic, the Victorian has a propensity for the most dramatic of mood swings and from great heights might plunge into the emotional abyss, usually fueled by guilt and self-loathing. The Victorian is the quintessential Gemini: two sides—Janus faced. We have met the enemy and it is ourselves. Social reform in the Victorian era was suspicious of the individual: the corrective for social ills was escaping the self through empathy and compassion.

Week 7

March 3-7

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) 739

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 741

Notice the operating assumption of the novel: that one side of our nature serves as a check on the other. As long as the two sides are joined, the two sides may wrestle and neither have dominance. This jockeying for position is natural because we are never free of competing inclinations. We long to express fully the most perverse, the most unsettling impulses with complete abandon. At the same time, we are horrified by these impulses. The Victorian solution is self-effacement. We are set free in others. We forget ourselves through compassion and empathy. In Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” notice the Christian emphasis on conversion and spiritual transformation. Victorians are sinners in need of salvation. Addiction is a Victorian issue. Left to ourselves, we tend to destroy ourselves. We cannot save ourselves. The individual is never self-sufficient. We need help from beyond ourselves. At the same time, we must be that savior-figure for those who have lost themselves.

Literary Essay 2 is looking for the duality of Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in three other titles from our list. Paragraphs 2-3 focus on and quote from Stevenson’s novel. Paragraphs 4, 5, and 6 each examine another Victorian work for similar duality. Paragraph 7 offers the student’s perspective on the Victorian temperament. Paragraph 8 is an epilogue focusing on something you did not mention as yet about one of the four works and offers a final refection on Victorianism. Paragraph 1 is a mini-essay previewing the body paragraphs and offering preliminary statements about Victorian sensibility and imagination. Literary Essay 2 should be 2400 words (eight paragraphs) with MLA in-body citing and Works Cited.

March 10-14 SPRING BREAK

 Week 8

March 17-21

GETTING EARLY HELP. If you would like preliminary feedback on your working draft, please do not wait until the day before the due date.

OPTION: You can submit your second essay for early feedback—but don’t wait until the day before the due date.

Week 9

March 24-28

Literary Essay 2 is due Friday March 28.

Week 10

March 31-April 4

Twentieth Century -Modernity.

Introduction 5; Timeline 31. Voices from World War I 142

Rupert Brooke 145: The Soldier 145

Siegfried Sassoon 154: They 155, The Rear-Guard 156, The General 156, Glory of Women 156, Everyone Sang 157, On Passing the New Menin Gate 157, Memoirs of an Infanty Officer 158, Opening of the Battle of the Somme 158.

Wilfred Owen 167: Anthem for Doomed Youth 167, Apologia Pro Poemate meo 168, Dulce Et Decorum Est 170.

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) 215: The Second Coming 230, Leda and the Swan 233, Sailing to Byzantium 234.

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) 276: The Mark on the Wall 278, Modern Fiction 283, Mrs. Dalloway 288. A Room of One’s Own 398, Professions for Women 406.

James Joyce (1882-1941) 410: Araby 413, The Dead 422.

T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) 495: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 498, The Waste Land 503, The Hollow Men 517, Journey of the Magi 520, From The Four Quartets: Little Gidding 521.

Yeats’s poem “The Second Coming” says it best: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” World War I—with its gigantic guns and grinding trench warfare—blew up conventional notions of what made life meaningful. We have returned from the war, so to speak, different people.

Week 11

April 7-11

Think of the 20^th century “modern” era as a search for meaning. The 20^th century psyche is haunted and alienated. It is haunted by the colossal failures of 20^th century wars and military conflicts beginning with World War I which was supposed to end all wars. We are exiles, so to speak, from a social model that has become a haunted house. We are refugees from a failed state—the lost promise of 20^th century progress. Forward is uncertainty; behind us is post-apocalyptic ashes and debris.

See revised instructions below for The Literary Research Project.

Purdue Owl is a good online resource for MLA formatting of in-body quotes and the Works Cited bibliography. We use the MLA cross reference style. See below the WORKS CITED.

Week 12

April 14-18

OPTION: Submit draft to GET EARLY HELP. But don’t wait until just before the due date.

Week 13

April 21-25

OPTION: Submit draft to GET EARLY HELP. But don’t wait until just before the due date.

Week 14

April 28- May 2

OPTION: Submit draft to GET EARLY HELP. But don’t wait until just before the due date.

Week 15

May 5-9

Literary Research Project due Friday May 9, our last official class day.

Finals Week

May 12-16

We have NO exam during Finals Week.

All late work must be in the drop box by Monday May 12.

Twentieth Century -Modernity.

Introduction 5; Timeline 31. Voices from World War I 142

Rupert Brooke 145: The Soldier 145

Siegfried Sassoon 154: They 155, The Rear-Guard 156, The General 156, Glory of Women 156, Everyone Sang 157, On Passing the New Menin Gate 157, Memoirs of an Infanty Officer 158, Opening of the Battle of the Somme 158.

Wilfred Owen 167: Anthem for Doomed Youth 167, Apologia Pro Poemate meo 168, Dulce Et Decorum Est 170.

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) 215: The Second Coming 230, Leda and the Swan 233, Sailing to Byzantium 234.

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) 276: The Mark on the Wall 278, Modern Fiction 283, Mrs. Dalloway 288. A Room of One’s Own 398, Professions for Women 406.

James Joyce (1882-1941) 410: Araby 413, The Dead 422.

T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) 495: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 498, The Waste Land 503, The Hollow Men 517, Journey of the Magi 520, From The Four Quartets: Little Gidding 521.

Literary Research Project - due in the drop box before 11:59 PM Friday May 9

Writing style

For paragraphs two through seven, you may only have ONE generality. That's the topic idea. Frame it as a modernist value with "we": e.g., Modern people believe we must make up for the failures of our institutions and organized religion. We must be better than they are.

Follow the topic idea only with SPECIFIC details. The paragraph must be mostly specific dynamics, details, and actions in your own words. A quote might come towards the end of the paragraph to reinforce some of your specifics and perhaps even connect back (indirectly or implicitly) to the topic idea. Avoid padding paragraphs with repeated generalizations. 

Revised Instructions

Modernist Values: Modern people believe that we...

Twentieth century people are in spiritual and psychological crisis. The vast slaughter of World War I wiped out a generation of young people for nothing. Why did western culture do this to itself? Something must be rotten at the core. World War II was the dark, stony end of imperial ideologies. The Cold War epitomized (literally) madness (or MAD): mutually assured destruction. As W. B. Yeats said in "Second Coming," the center cannot hold. All monolithic ideas come crushing down and some dreadful new messiah lurches towards Bethlehem to be born (it's not the baby Jesus). Cable news seems filled with signs and wonders of an apocalyptic end of the world. 

·         Modern people are naturally skeptical about traditional ideals and religion. People have a moral duty to be better than the group--better than society. 

·         Modern people make their own meaning. They must decide for themselves. 

·         Modern people are internalized. They are detached and filter the world through their own issues, doubts, dreams, fears, and anxiety. 

·         Modern people are crypto-religious. Their religion is based on personal experience that might be difficult to communicate to other people. 

·         Most modern people are secular to one degree or another. They do not closely identify with large groups. They resent being stereotyped or lumped in with others in a preconceived category.

·         Modern people are creative. They reinvent the world on their own terms. They reinvent what it means to be a person. 

Everyone must do three scenarios or passages from Mrs. Dalloway. Also: students have a unique option for Woolf and Woolf only (not anyone else on our list): their two other works from the list can also be by Virginia Woolf.

For Mrs. Dalloway, students need TWO essays or articles from peer-reviewed journals in a Moffett Library database. Don't use book reviews.

Students may choose their two sources from this list (below) of seven critical essays (articles) from the Moffett Library database Gale Academic OneFile. Simply copy and paste the title with quotation marks into the search box. The complete title and citation are below in the Works Cited model:

"Writing in the White Light of Truth"

"Enacting the Sacred in Mrs. Dalloway"

"Sexual Deviancy in Mrs. Dalloway"

"Railed in by a Maddening Reason"

"No Sense of Proportion: Urban Green Space and Mental Health"

"The Lingering Presence of Death." 

“Bad Religion: the irrational in Mrs. Dalloway.”

Paragraphs two, three, and four are about Virginia Wolf's Mrs. Dalloway:

Students need three passage or episodes from Mrs. Dalloway. The passage or episode should be of some length--perhaps several pages--and pertain to something that lets you support a topic idea about modernity with specific details. Paragraph two addresses one passage, paragraph three the second, and paragraph four the third.

Students need to start each paragraph with a topic idea the reflects a 20th century modernist value. The topic idea should be one to three (maybe four) sentences. That's the only generality this paragraph can have.

After the topic idea, students should provide specific details in their own words. This paragraph should be MOSTLY specific details in the student's own words. Towards the end of the paragraph, they might provide a quote.

For formatting prose and poetry from our E-book, see our previous the models in our NEWS ITEMS.  Here are some suggestions for passages or episodes along with a Modern value (a possible topic idea):

"Not for a moment did she believe in God," pp. 305-316. Clarissa Dalloway is an atheist, but she approaches life religiously. Notice that when she enters her foyer and bends over the phone messages, she seems to be a nun. What religion might this be? It is a secular religion--a new religion of life itself. She must pay forward, so to speak. She must renounce herself. She must give back for all the privilege and advantages she has enjoyed. She must connect with people, bring them together, and create a community. Modernist value: Modern people don't have to believe in God to be spiritual. If God does not exist, then we are all the more required to fill that void with our best efforts--good deeds and good will--especially if we are fortunate or privileged in some way. 

"My Name is Dalloway," pp. 316-325. Peter Walsh wept unashamedly when he met Clarissa again. They were both 30 years older than they were in their halcyon days when they and their friends gathered in Bourton (her father's home). Walsh's marriage is in collapse. He is in love with a woman in India named Daisy. He is back from India to arrange the divorce from one marriage, find a job, and set up house-keeping in expectation of Daisy joining him and their getting married. He remembers the painful experience of Clarissa Parry's rejection of him in favor of Richard Dalloway in Bourton three decades ago. She had thought Dalloway's name was Wickham and introduced him to people that way until he finally corrected her, making everyone laugh. Clarissa's friends used that statement--"My name is Dalloway"--as a kind of punchline to kid her. But Walsh is crushed by Clarissa choosing Dalloway over him. In other words, Walsh feels that Clarissa picked the man for whom her talents would best complement. Dalloway is a future politician. He would need the ideal hostess. Walsh was too harsh, too argumentative--too judgmental--and maybe too searingly honest, not only to be a politician but also to be the ideal husband for Clarissa. Modernist value: Modern people believe their generation can reset western civilization and give it a new vitality (e.g., see the bottom of p. 317). But only unflinching honesty will work. 

"That woman's gift," pp. 331-334. See especially pp. 332-333. Here Peter Walsh critiques Clarissa Dalloway. He describes her gift, which was to make moments for people and bring them together. It's a woman's gift, he decides, and Clarissa epitomizes it. At an early age, Clarissa had witnessed the death of her sister (killed by a falling tree). She felt so terrible about it. But if there was no god, there was no one to blame: "and so she evolved this atheist religion of doing good for the sake of goodness" (333). Modernist value: Modern people collect up the broken pieces of a tragic world and try to make something meaningful from them. 

"He could not feel"- pp. 337-347, 367-373. Septimus Warren Smith never crosses paths with Clarissa Dalloway. Instead, Smith's story runs parallel. He is a "shell-shocked" veteran of WWI. He is suffering from what we call today PTSD--post traumatic shock. Smith's wife is Rezia (Lucrezia Warren Smith). Smith met and married Rezia while stationed in Italy. See p. 338: he proposed to her out of panic that he could not feel anything any more. She wants to have children, but Smith is preoccupied and distracted. Back in England, he confides to her that he wants to kill himself. He has begun to hallucinate. He thinks he sees and hears his friend from the war, named Evans. But Evans was killed in the war. Modernist value: Modern people are haunted by the horrors of the 20th century, especially the devastating slaughter of mechanized war (powerful cannons, machine guns, tanks, poison gas). We are in a mental health crisis as a way of life. 

"For there she was," pp. 383-398. Here is Clarissa's party on behalf of her husband, Richard the MP (member of parliament). Peter Walsh is there and we see it through his eyes, for the most part. He is cynical about politics. The party is a big success as of the arrival of the PM (Prime Minister, see p. 386). Surprises occur. Sally Seton arrives! (see starting on p. 385). Sally married well and is now Lady Rosseter and has "five enormous boys" (385). News of Septimus Warren Smith's suicide permeates the party, starting on p. 395. The last few sentences, from the mind of Peter Walsh, would be a delicious quote. Notice that I provide my own attribution about Walsh in panic but soothed by Clarissa's sudden appearance. I am not separating the language into separate paragraphs (as it is in our book) because it would be fewer than five lines of my typing: "What is this terror? what is this ecstasy? he thought to himself. What is it that fills me with extraordinary excitement?" Peter Walsh was on the verge of panic, but then Clarissa suddenly appeared before him. "It is Clarissa, he said. For there she was" (398). If a quote from prose is five lines or more of my typing, I would need to set it off by itself as its own paragraph with 10 spaces on the left. Four or more lines of poetry needs to be their own paragraph too, set off 10 spaces on the left. See our models in previous NEWS ITEMS in D2L. Modernist value: Modern people are insecure and neurotic. They have anxiety issues, including social anxiety.

Paragraph Five: Here are your quotes from the TWO sources you found in a Moffett-supported database. You must use a Moffett Libary database.

Start with a topic idea about modern people that would apply to both articles. Then identify the first with attribution: e.g., According to Kristina Groover in her article, "Enacting the Sacred in Mrs. Dalloway" for the journal The Virginia Woolf Miscellany, Clarissa Dalloway epitomizes what quality of modern people? Explain for several sentences the idea--or one of the ideas--in the article. Then provide the quote. Then identify the second: According to --- in the article "Such and Such" for Such-and-such journal, modern people ... do what? Explain the relevant idea in the article. Then provide the quote. For the database Gale Academic OneFile, we do NOT have PDF's of the hard-copy version of the articles. Therefore, our quotes in this paragraph will NOT have parenthetical references for the page. They will not have a parenthetical reference at all. 

Paragraph Six:

I suggest James Joyce's "The Dead," which employs similar narrative techniques as Virginia Woolf. Both Woolf and Joyce pioneered stream of consciousness--a loose narrative that flits from character to character like a butterfly or bumble bee. Or you might consider Rupert Brooke's poem, "The Soldier" (145). It is nationalistic in a way we associate with the early 20th century. He is saying that (if he dies in the war) that the part of him which will live on--the part that is eternal--is what England made. To the degree that he is English, he will live on. He is not important. England is. OR I recommend W. B. Yeats's "Second Coming." It is apocalyptic. But you need to use examples that mean something to you. You need to be specific. What kinds of things do we see on cable news that seem to be portents of the last days? Describe that strange beast coming to life in the desert and slouching towards Bethlehem to be born. 

Paragraph Seven:

I suggest Wilfred Owen's "Dulce Et Decorum Est" (170). Brooke doubtless would have agreed with the Latin allusion in the poem: that it is sweet and honorable to die for one's country. Brooke died early in the war. But Owen (along with Siegfried Sasson) lost faith in institutions. The brutality and futility of World War I made him question everything. The wholescale slaughter of an entire generation--millions of young men on both sides--took its toll on ideals. People emerged from the war shaken in their souls: not just the veterans but western culture itself. Modernist value: Modern people don't believe in time-honored ideals. They believe that governments are reckless with human life. They see organized religion as conformist and complicit with governments. OR You might do a second piece by Viriginia Woolf from our list.

Paragraph Eight: Epilogue

Make this your shortest paragraph--about five sentences. Start with a specific detail you held back until the start of this paragraph. Close with a brief thought about modern 20th century values. You may use first person "we" or "I."

Paragraph One: 

Preview at least some of your topic ideas. Make sure to preview something very specific for Mrs. Dalloway and the two other titles that you chose--a detail we will see again in the body paragraphs. Remember (and this is only for Virginia Woolf), for paragraphs six and seven, you are allowed to do other titles in our list by Virginia Woolf. OR you can do a second title for Wolf (from our list) for paragraph six and for seven pick a different author/poet (from our list).

Works Cited (double space)

Brooke, Rupert. "The Soldier." Ramazani and Vadde, p. 145.

Foster, J. Ashley. "Writing in the 'White Light of Truth': history, ethics, and community in Virginia Woolf's between the acts." Woolf Studies Annual, vol. 22, annual 2016, pp. 41+. Gale Academic

OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A473361578/AONE?

                   u=txshracd2529&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=8f8a387c. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.

Groover, Kristina. "Enacting the sacred in Mrs. Dalloway." Virginia Woolf Miscellany, no. 80, fall 2011, pp. 11+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A297916611/ AONE?u=txshracd2529 &sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=7f28227f. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.

Joyce, James. "The Dead." Ramazani and Vadde, pp. 422-450.

Krouse, Tonya. "Sexual deviancy in Mrs. Dalloway: the case of Septimus Smith." Virginia Woolf Miscellany, no. 70, fall 2006, pp. 15+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A297555290/AONE?u =txshracd2529&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=0f6e39cd. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.

Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce Et Decorum Est." Ramazani and Vadde, p. 170.

Quinn, Emilee Calametti. "The Lingering Presence of Death in Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway." Virginia Woolf Miscellany, no. 99, spring-fall 2022, pp. 59+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/ apps/doc/A731124073/AONE?u=txshracd2529&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=a63519db. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.

Ramazani, Jahan, and Aarthi Vadde, editors. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Volume F: The Twentieth and and Twenty-First Centuries. E-Book. General Editor: Stephen Greenblatt, New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 2025. 

Sautter-Leger, Sabine. "Railed in by a maddening reason: a reconsideration of Septimus Smith and his role in Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway." Papers on Language & Literature, vol. 53, no. 1,

winter 2017, p. 3. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A490474584/AONE?u=txshracd2529&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=e7e915c7. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.

Smith, Amy. "Bad religion: the irrational in Mrs. Dalloway." Virginia Woolf Miscellany, no. 70, fall 2006, pp. 17+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A297555291/AONE?u=txshracd2529&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=38776cab. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.

Wiechert, Nora. "'No sense of proportion': urban green space and mental health in Mrs. Dalloway." Virginia Woolf Miscellany, no. 78, fall-winter 2010, pp. 21+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A297829224/AONE?u=txshracd2529 &sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=ea922fcf. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.

Woolf, Virginia."The Mark on the Wall." Ramazani and Vadde, pp. 278-82.

---. "Modern Fiction." Ramazani and Vadde, pp. 283-288.

---. Mrs. Dalloway. Ramazani and Vadde, pp. 290-398.

---. "A Room of One's Own." Ramazani and Vadde, pp. 398-406.

---. "Professions for Women." Ramazani and Vadde, pp. 406-410. 

Yeats, William Butler. "The Second Coming." Ramazani and Vadde, pp. 230-31.

Study Hours and Tutoring Assistance

Located on the first floor of Moffett Library, TASP's Learning Center provides free drop-in tutoring support in a number of core courses and subject areas. Check the TASP webpage for times.

Student Handbook

Refer to:  Student Handbook

Academic Misconduct Policy & Procedures

Academic Dishonesty may take the form cheating, collusion, or plagiarism (the act of using source material of other persons, either published or unpublished, without following the accepted techniques of crediting, or the submission for credit of work not produced by the individual to whom credit is given). Additional guidelines on procedures in these matters may be found in the Office of Student Conduct. All assignments submitted to the D2L drop box are subject to Turnitin which also has the capability to detect AI. Plagiarism will result in an F (a “0” – no points) for the assignment, which may result in an F for the semester.  Offenders may be reported to the Chair of the Department of English, Humanities, and Philosophy and/or the Director of Student Rights and Responsibilities. Use of AI at any stage of writing in our course is prohibited. Students who need preliminary feedback prior to a due date should consider the option of GETTING EARLY HELP, which is an opportunity to get input from the instructor who will address your punctuation, word choice, phrasing, and indicate whether you are meeting the criteria of the writing assignment. Students who wish to exercise the option of GETTING EARLY HELP should not wait until the day before the due date.

Moffett Library

Moffett Library provides services to support student’s studies and assignments, including not only the bookstacks but also supporting sources in peer-reviewed journals on library databases. Get started on this Moffett Library webpage to explore these resources and learn how to best utilize the library.

Grading

The percentage/letter grading scale is as follows: A = 100-90%; B = 89-80%; C = 79-70%; D = 69-60%; F = 59-0%. Grades, including the semester grade (i.e., the final calculated grade), are NOT rounded up. Therefore, a 79.9, whether for a specific assignment or the final calculated grade, is a C, not a B. A 69.9 is a D, not a C. A 59.9 is an F, not a D. An 89.9 is a B, not an A. D2L gradebook does the final calculated grade. There is no individual extra credit to put someone over the top.

Table 1: Percentages allocated to each assignment

• Literary Essay 1
• Approx 2400 words (about 8 paragraphs) 30%
• Literary Essay 2
• Approximately 2400 words (about 8 paragraphs) 30%
• Literary Research Project
• Approximately 2400 words (about 8 paragraphs); requires supporting sources from Moffett Library databases. 40%
• Total 100%

Mid-Term Grades

In order to help students keep track of their progress toward course objectives, I will provide a Midterm Progress Report through Navigate. In order to help students keep track of their progress toward course objectives, I will provide a Midterm Progress Report through Navigate. The midterm grades are based on Comparative Literary Essay 1. I will submit a grade for all students, not just those in danger of failing the course. Midterm grades will not be reported on your transcript; nor will they be calculated in the cumulative GPA. They simply give students an idea of where they stand at the midpoint of the semester. Students who earn below a C for Comparative Literary Essay 1 might consider getting preliminary feedback on their writing before they submit their Comparative Literary Essay 2 and Comparative Literary Research Project to the drop box. In Content, click on the module for GETTING EARLY HELP. Do so early enough so you can revise according to my suggestions. Don’t wait until the day before or day of the due date. I am always happy to answer questions by email, but I also encourage you to call me if you don’t understand something. I am sure to get your call because Outlook records it just like an email. Give me a time frame for calling you back. If you are on campus, you can make an appointment to see me in person. We can also make a ZOOM appointment.

Final Exam

We do not have a final exam.

Extra Credit

There is no individual extra credit.

Late Work 

Late assignments are accepted, but they are penalized 10 points out of 100. An assignment is penalized for lateness even if it is late by less than a minute according to D2L. All late work must be submitted to their drop boxes before 11:59 PM Monday May 12.

Submission Format and Policy

All formal assignments must be typed, double-spaced, formatted, and sources documented according to MLA style. Purdue Owl online is a good resource for MLA in-body citing and Works Cited. Our two literary essays and literary researchproject must be submitted to the drop box in D2L in order to count and be graded, including writing that students revised after getting early help from the instructor. Getting early help—preliminary feedback—is not the same as submitting for grade. Students who get early help must still submit their revised assignment on time: that is, before 11:59 PM on the due date.

By enrolling in this class, students expressly grant MSU a “limited right” in all intellectual property created by students for the purpose of this course. The “limited right” shall include but shall not be limited to the right to reproduce the student’s work product in order to verify originality and authenticity, and for educational purposes. Please note that the D2L Dropbox folder will automatically run papers through Turnitin.com. Turnitin provides both an Originality Report and an AI Report. 

*Note: Students may not submit a paper for a grade in this class that already has been (or will be) submitted for a grade in another course, unless they obtain the explicit written permission of me and the other instructor involved in advance.

Important Dates

• Last day for term schedule changes/late registration
• January 24
• Deadline to file for graduation
• February 17
• Last Day to drop with a grade of “W:”
• April 20. Check the date on the Academic Calendar.
• For more information, refer to
• :Drops, Withdrawals & Void

Desire-to-Learn (D2L)

Extensive use of the MSU D2L program is a part of this course. Students are expected to be familiar with this platform as it provides a primary source of communication regarding assignments, examination materials, and general course information. Students can log into D2L through the MSU homepage or the portal. For assistance, submit a help ticket here.

Attendance

This is an online course. The instructor checks attendance (especially prior to the first essay due date) through login history in Class Progress in D2L. Students are well-advised to login on the first day of the semester and visit the modules and that way create login history. You are “present” if you have login history.

Getting Early Help—an option, not a requirement

In CONTENT in D2L, click on the module GETTING EARLY HELP. Then click on the arrow by the relevant discussion forum. Click on View Topic. Copy and paste directly into the text box. Do not use the attachment function. I can only reply to what I see in the text box. Do not wait until the day before or the day of a due date. Getting Early Help is an OPTION, not a requirement. Remember: getting early help is NOT the same as submitting for a grade. The revised assignment still needs to be submitted to the drop box in order to count and be graded.

Change of Schedule

A student dropping a course (but not withdrawing from the University) within the first 12 class days of a regular semester or the first four class days of a summer semester is eligible for a 100% refund of applicable tuition and fees. Dates are published in the Schedule of Classes each semester.

Refund and Repayment Policy

A student who withdraws or is administratively withdrawn from Midwestern State University (MSU) may be eligible to receive a refund for all or a portion of the tuition, fees, and room/board charges that were paid to MSU for the semester. However, if the student received financial aid (federal/state/institutional grants, loans, and/or scholarships), all or a portion of the refund may be returned to the financial aid programs. Two formulas (federal and state) exist in determining the amount of the refund. (Examples of each refund calculation will be made available upon request).

Services for Students with Disabilities

In accordance with Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Midwestern State University endeavors to make reasonable accommodations to ensure equal opportunity for qualified persons with disabilities to participate in all educational, social, and recreational programs and activities. After notification of acceptance, students requiring accommodations should make an application for such assistance through Disability Support Services, located in the Clark Student Center, Room 168, (940) 397-4140. Current documentation of a disability will be required in order to provide appropriate services, and each request will be individually reviewed. For more details, please go to Disability Support Services.

College Policies

Smoking/Tobacco Policy

College policy strictly prohibits the use of tobacco products in any building owned or operated by WATC. Adult students may smoke only in the outside designated smoking areas at each location.

Alcohol and Drug Policy

To comply with the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1989 and subsequent amendments, students and employees of Midwestern State are informed that strictly enforced policies are in place which prohibit the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of any illicit drugs, including alcohol, on university property or as part of any university-sponsored activity. Students and employees are also subject to all applicable legal sanctions under local, state, and federal law for any offenses involving illicit drugs on University property or at University-sponsored activities.

Campus Carry

Effective August 1, 2016, the Campus Carry law (Senate Bill 11) allows those licensed individuals to carry a concealed handgun in buildings on public university campuses, except in locations the University establishes as prohibited. The new Constitutional Carry law does not change this process. Concealed carry still requires a License-to-carry permit, and openly carrying handguns is not allowed on college campuses. For more information, visit Campus Carry.

Active Shooter

The safety and security of our campus is the responsibility of everyone in our community. Each of us has an obligation to be prepared to appropriately respond to threats to our campus, such as an active aggressor. Please review the information provided by the MSU Police Department regarding the options and strategies we can all use to stay safe during difficult situations. For more information, visit MSUReady – Active Shooter. Students are encouraged to watch the video entitled “Run. Hide. Fight.” which may be electronically accessed via the University police department’s webpage: "Run. Hide. Fight."

Grade Appeal Process

Students who wish to appeal a grade should consult the Midwestern State University MSU Catalog

This is an online course. The instructor checks attendance (especially prior to the first essay due date) through login history in Class Progress in D2L. Students are well-advised to login on the first day of the semester and visit the modules and that way create login history. You are “present” if you have login history.

Late assignments are accepted, but they are penalized 10 points out of 100. An assignment is penalized for lateness even if it is late by less than a minute according to D2L. All late work must be submitted to their drop boxes before 11:59 PM Monday May 12.

All formal assignments must be typed, double-spaced, formatted, and sources documented according to MLA style. Purdue Owl online is a good resource for MLA in-body citing and Works Cited. Our two literary essays and literary researchproject must be submitted to the drop box in D2L in order to count and be graded, including writing that students revised after getting early help from the instructor. Getting early help—preliminary feedback—is not the same as submitting for grade. Students who get early help must still submit their revised assignment on time: that is, before 11:59 PM on the due date.

By enrolling in this class, students expressly grant MSU a “limited right” in all intellectual property created by students for the purpose of this course. The “limited right” shall include but shall not be limited to the right to reproduce the student’s work product in order to verify originality and authenticity, and for educational purposes. Please note that the D2L Dropbox folder will automatically run papers through Turnitin.com. Turnitin provides both an Originality Report and an AI Report. 

*Note: Students may not submit a paper for a grade in this class that already has been (or will be) submitted for a grade in another course, unless they obtain the explicit written permission of me and the other instructor involved in advance.

Note: You may not submit a paper for a grade in this class that already has been (or will be) submitted for a grade in another course, unless you obtain the explicit written permission of me and the other instructor involved in advance.

Plagiarism is the use of someone else's thoughts, words, ideas, or lines of argument in your own work without appropriate documentation (a parenthetical citation at the end and a listing in "Works Cited")-whether you use that material in a quote, paraphrase, or summary. It is a theft of intellectual property and will not be tolerated, whether intentional or not.

Student Honor Creed

As an MSU Student, I pledge not to lie, cheat, steal, or help anyone else do so."

As students at MSU, we recognize that any great society must be composed of empowered, responsible citizens. We also recognize universities play an important role in helping mold these responsible citizens. We believe students themselves play an important part in developing responsible citizenship by maintaining a community where integrity and honorable character are the norm, not the exception.

Thus, We, the Students of Midwestern State University, resolve to uphold the honor of the University by affirming our commitment to complete academic honesty. We resolve not only to be honest but also to hold our peers accountable for complete honesty in all university matters.

We consider it dishonest to ask for, give, or receive help in examinations or quizzes, to use any unauthorized material in examinations, or to present, as one's own, work or ideas which are not entirely one's own. We recognize that any instructor has the right to expect that all student work is honest, original work. We accept and acknowledge that responsibility for lying, cheating, stealing, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty fundamentally rests within each individual student.

We expect of ourselves academic integrity, personal professionalism, and ethical character. We appreciate steps taken by University officials to protect the honor of the University against any who would disgrace the MSU student body by violating the spirit of this creed.

Written and adopted by the 2002-2003 MSU Student Senate.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Disability Support Services in Room 168 of the Clark Student Center, (940) 397-4140.

The professor considers this classroom to be a place where you will be treated with respect as a human being - regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, political beliefs, age, or ability. Additionally, diversity of thought is appreciated and encouraged, provided you can agree to disagree. It is the professor's expectation that ALL students consider the classroom a safe environment.

All instructors in the Department have voicemail in their offices and MSUTexas e-mail addresses. Make sure you add your instructor's phone number and e-mail address to both email and cell phone lists of contacts.

Obligation to Report Sex Discrimination under State and Federal Law

Midwestern State University is committed to providing and strengthening an educational, working, and living environment where students, faculty, staff, and visitors are free from sex discrimination of any kind. State and federal law require University employees to report sex discrimination and sexual misconduct to the University’s Office of Title IX. As a faculty member, I am required to report to the Title IX Coordinator any allegations, personally observed behavior, or other direct or indirect knowledge of conduct that reasonably may constitute sex discrimination or sexual misconduct, which includes sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating violence, or stalking, involving a student or employee. After a report is made, the office of Title IX will reach out to the affected student or employee in an effort to connect such person(s) with resources and options in addressing the allegations made in the report. You are also encouraged to report any incidents to the office of Title IX. You may do so by contacting:

Laura Hetrick

Title IX Coordinator
Sunwatcher Village Clubhouse
940-397-4213

laura.hetrick@msutexas.edu

You may also file an online report 24/7 at Maxient 

Should you wish to visit with someone about your experience in confidence, you may contact the MSU Counseling Center at 940-397-4618. For more information on the University’s policy on Title IX or sexual misconduct, please visit MSU Texas Title IX

Senate Bill 11 passed by the 84th Texas Legislature allows licensed handgun holders to carry concealed handguns on campus, effective August 1, 2016. Areas excluded from concealed carry are appropriately marked, in accordance with state law. For more information regarding campus carry, please refer to the University’s webpage at https://msutexas.edu/campus-carry/rules-policies.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact MSU Chief of Police at police@msutexas.edu.