Notes for Romantic Movement

Student Introduction

Interview in groups of 3 to 4, and be prepared to introduce someone else you talked to about their:

Course Introduction: The Romantic Movement

What were French and German authors writing about before and after Shelley composed Frankenstein?
harbingers of the European Romanticism (Rousseau’s Second Discourse, and Goethe’s Sufferings of Young Werther);
key texts of the period (Goethe’s Faust, Shelley's Frankenstein, and Hoffmann's Sandman); poetry by Droste-Hülshoff, Novalis and Heine;
and overlooked writers and artists who influenced major issues of the day like the French Revolution, colonialism, and women’s rights.
The class will discuss themes common to Romantic-era writing, such as nature, utopia, freedom, the grotesque, and the uncanny across several fictional genres (poetry, drama, prose, memoir, and novellas). Students will leave the course with an appreciation for the ways in which literary movements transcend national and generic borders.

Course Goals:

To foster in-depth critical understanding of the term Romantic, especially as it relates to the fiction, prose, poetry, and drama in Britain, France, Germany, and abroad ca. 1780 to 1830;

To engage students' understanding of the ways in which writers and artists influenced socio-political thinking (French Revolution, colonialism, proto-feminism);

To teach an appreciation for the ways in which literary movements transcend national and generic borders;

And to move students from being consumers of knowledge to becoming producers of knowledge, by encouraging original literary analysis in essays, exams, and class participation.