FLE 241 (03/04) English Literature II

Asst. Prof. Dr. Nil Korkut-Nayk

nkorkut@metu.edu.tr
Office: EFB-30

Fall, 2016-17
Course Assistant. Elzem Nazli
enazli@metu.edu.tr
Office: EFB-27

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course, which is a continuation of FLE 140 English Literature I, gives students an overview
of literature produced in Britain from the Romantic Period to the Twentieth Century. Through the
study of representative texts in their respective cultural, social, political, artistic and philosophical
contexts, students are expected to develop an understanding of the major movements and ideas in
the history of English Literature. The course also aims to equip students with a heightened
awareness and a comparative perspective concerning the history and development of ideas in the
West in general and in Britain in particular.

REQUIRED COURSE BOOK

Abrams, M.H., et.al., eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 2. New York:
W.W. Norton & Company.

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING

Carter, Ronald and John Mc Rae. The Routledge History of Literature in English: Britain and
Ireland, London: Routledge.
Urgan, Mina. ngiliz Edebiyat Tarihi. stanbul: Yap Kredi Yaynlar.
(Both books are available at METU Library.)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

All students are expected to attend classes fully prepared for the discussion of the assigned
readings. Actively participating in all class activities will make positive contributions to your
final grade.
All students must attend classes regularly. Non-attendance will be penalized through failure with
an NA grade, which bans the student from taking a make-up examination at the end of term.
Midterm Exam
35 %
Final Exam
40 %
Assignments and quizzes 25 %

COURSE CONTENT AND READING LIST

The Romantic Period

Key Issues and Concepts
The French Revolution; individualism, infinite striving, overreaching and nonconformity;
early phases of the Industrial Revolution; Romantic poetic theory and practice; the Gothic
and the supernatural.
Background Reading:

The Romantic Period (1785-1830) pp. 1-17

William Blake,

Songs of Innocence: The Chimney Sweeper pp.30-1

Songs of Experience: The Chimney Sweeper pp. 35-6
London p.39

Robert Burns,

A Red, Red Rose p. 97

To a Mouse pp. 82-3

William Wordsworth,

My Heart Leaps Up p.187

The Tables Turned pp. 135-6
The World is Too Much with Us pp. 199-200
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud p. 186
Preface to Lyrical Ballads: [Emotion Recollected in
Tranquillity] pp. 151-2

Samuel Taylor Coleridge,

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Parts 1, 2, 4, 7 pp. 330-346

George Gordon, Lord Byron,

Childe Harolds Pilgrimage: Canto 3, Stanzas 1-16

pp. 490-6

Percy Bysshe Shelley,

A Song: Men of England pp. 673-4

Ode to the West Wind pp. 676-8

John Keats,

On Seeing the Elgin Marbles p. 771

Mary Shelley,

Frankenstein: Chapter 5 pp. 55-61*

FLE 241 (03/04) English Literature II

Fall, 2016-17

The Victorian Age

Key Issues and Concepts
Scientific developments and Darwins theory of evolution; Industrialism and the exploitation
of the working classes; Victorian Imperialism; questioning of faith; sense of anxiety; the
woman question; the Victorian novel
Background Reading:

The Victorian Age (1830-1901) pp. 891-910

Charles Darwin,

The Origin of Species: Chapter IV Natural Selection; or the

Survival of the Fittest pp. 392-3*

Alfred, Lord Tennyson,

In Memoriam A.H.H.: Stanzas 54, 55, 56 pp. 1103-5

Matthew Arnold,

Dover Beach pp. 1366-7

Charlotte Bront,

Jane Eyre: Chapter 26 pp. 253-62*

Charles Dickens,

Hard Times: [Coketown] pp. 1594-5

Rudyard Kipling,

The Ladies pp. 1676-7

Robert Browning,

My Last Duchess pp. 1190-2

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, To George Sand: A Recognition p.1031

Lewis Carroll,

Jabberwocky p. 1558

The Twentieth Century

Key Issues and Concepts
The two world wars; loss of faith and the questioning of human civilization; alienation,
isolation, lack of communication; modernist experimental writing
Background Reading:

The Twentieth Century pp. 1683-91

Thomas Hardy,

The Darkling Thrush pp.1697-8

The Convergence of the Twain pp. 1704-5

Rupert Brooke,

The Soldier p. 1827

Edward Thomas,

The Cherry Trees p.1830

Wilfred Owen,

Dulce Et Decorum Est pp. 1845-6

William Butler Yeats,

The Lake Isle of Innesfree p. 1867

The Second Coming pp. 1880-1

T. S. Eliot,

The Waste Land: ll. 60-76, 323-359 pp. 2146-9, 2157-8

Philip Larkin,

Talking in Bed p. 2326

*Readings marked with an asterisk (*) are not from The Norton Anthology of English Literature.
These have been placed at the end of the Course Reader, following the selections from The
Norton Anthology.