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Romanticism

Module description

The Romantic movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries transformed European culture, and had profound implications for a modern understanding of the self, nature, feeling, gender, imagination, the sublime, freedom and the role of the artist as an interpreter of all these. This module introduces some of the key canonical texts of British Romanticism produced during the years 1780-1830, in order to understand the phenomenon of Romanticism, its relation to historical, political, and aesthetic developments, and its legacy in today's world. The module is essential study for an understanding of literary history as a whole, and prepares you for more in-depth study of Romantic topics in Year 3 and beyond.

Module aims - intentions of the module

In addition to the primary literature, we will pay close attention to the central concepts and concerns of the era; the visual arts; Romantic experimentation with poetic forms; and the intertextual literary circles that formed between key Romantic figures. The early weeks of the module will introduce key Romantic concerns. At the centre of the module will be an exploration of writings by leading authors of the period, including Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Mary Wollstonecraft, Letitia Landon, John Keats, Felicia Hemans, and Lord Byron. The final weeks will be devoted to furthering our understanding of Romanticism through studying the Romantic attachment to the supernatural, before discussing the legacy of Romanticism in our own times.

The module aims to encourage collaborative skills by means of a group anthology assignment in which you will work in groups to create an anthology of texts that they feel best represent the Romantic period. You should produce a group introduction, and each of you will analyse one or two texts. It also aims to foster individual critical skills by means of a final examination.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate an informed appreciation of specific literary texts and authors from the Romantic period (1780-1830)
• 2. Demonstrate a sound knowledge of the literary history of the period and the critical ideas which have been applied to it
• 3. Demonstrate an informed appreciation of some of the key themes, topics and debates that emerge in late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Romantic texts

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Demonstrate an ability to analyse the literature of an earlier era and to relate its concerns and its modes of expression to its historical context
• 5. Demonstrate an ability to interrelate texts and discourses specific to their own discipline with issues in the wider context of cultural and intellectual history
• 6. Demonstrate an ability to understand and analyse relevant theoretical ideas, and to apply these ideas to literary texts

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Through essay-writing, demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills, a capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument, and a capacity to write clear and correct prose
• 8. Through research for module participation and assessments, demonstrate proficiency in information retrieval and analysis
• 9. Through an examination, learn how to hone examination skills

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• An Era of Revolutions
• William Blake
• Romanticism and the supernatural,
• William Wordsworth
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Percy Shelley
• Understudied Writers such as Mary Wollestonecraft, Mary Prince, Letitia Landon, Mary Robinson, the Peasant Poets
• Lord Byron
• John Keats

The module will include a “Focus on Assessment” week

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Core Reading:

• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman – Mary Wollstonecraft
• The Castle of Otranto – Horace Walpole
• A Philosophical Enquiry into…the Sublime and the Beautiful – Edmund Burke
• Lyrical Ballads – Wordsworth and Coleridge
• The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Romantic Period (ed. Greenblatt and Abrams)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=8880
  

Key words search

English, literature, Romantic, Romanticism, Nature, Imagination, Sublime