"It is impossible to read the compositions of the most celebrated writers of the present day", wrote the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1821, "without being startled with the electric life which burns within their words. They measure the circumference and sound the depths of human nature with a comprehensive and all-penetrating spirit, and they are themselves perhaps the most sincerely astonished at its manifestations; for it is less their spirit than the spirit of the age." This course considers a selection of major writers of the British Romantic period in the context of the profound social, intellectual, artistic, scientific, and political changes experienced globally in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, which found their fitting symbol and sometimes catalyst in the French Revolution.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:- Identify the formal and stylistic continuities and discontinuities between early modern and Romantic literature.
- Analyse the social and political changes – including changes in science and technology, and in global diplomacy and trade – that shaped literary expression and affected publication.
- Integrate close, detailed analysis of select Romantic works of literature with research into how that literature negotiates and interacts with its larger social and political context.
- Conduct and synthesize research on select Romantic works and their social and political contexts
- Critically analyse the historicity and origin of many of their own ideas and values.
Indicative Assessment
Close analysis of a selected poem (1000 words) (15%) (LO 1, 3)Write up of oral presentation on a selected author or institution (1000 words) (15%) (LO 2, 3, 4)
Extended essay on a formal, conceptual, or historical topic (4000 words) (60%) (LO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Class participation (10%) (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 24 hours of lectures and 12 hours of tutorials.
b) 94 hours of independent student reading, research, and writing.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, Volume 4, The Age of RomanticismAnne Radcliffe, Romance of the Forest (World's Classics)
Walter Scott, Waverley (World's Classics)
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (Norton)
Preliminary Reading
Nicholas Roe (ed.), Romanticism: An Oxford Guide (OUP, 2005)William Wordsworth, selections from Lyrical Ballads and The Prelude
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Kubla Khan", "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", "The Lime-Tree Bower My Prison", "Frost at Midnight"
Anna Laetitia Barbauld, "Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, A Poem"
Lord Byron, selections from Childe Harold and Don Juan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, "To Wordsworth", "Ode to the West Wind", "The Mask of Anarchy", "England in 1819"
Assumed Knowledge
Student has completed introductory literary studies courses at tertiary level.Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2019 | $3360 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2019 | $5160 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.