NCHU Course Outline

Course Name	(中) 維多利亞文學(6024)
	(Eng.) Victorian Literature
Offering Dept	Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Course Type	Elective	Credits	3	Teacher	Ho, TAI-CHUN
Department	Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures/Graduate	Language	English	Semester	2026-FALL
Course Description	While focusing mainly on Victorian literature, this course provides graduate students with the opportunity to study and research a rich corpus of British literary texts written between 1815 and 1918. These include the elegies of Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Augusta Webster on friendship, the Napoleonic War novels of Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Thomas Hardy, as well as a selection of First World War poetry.
Prerequisites				self-directed learning in the course	Y

Relevance of Course Objectives and Core Learning Outcomes(%)			Teaching and Assessment Methods for Course Objectives
Course Objectives	Competency Indicators	Ratio(%)	Teaching Methods	Assessment Methods
By the end of this course, students will be able to -gain a deep understanding of the major debates and a range of literary genres from the "long nineteenth century" -appreciate and analyze the works of writers in their historical contexts -apply close reading to Victorian texts and express their views objectively and critically in both verbal and written forms -develop research and academic writing skills by completing a substantial research paper based on a topic related to Victorian literature and culture			topic Discussion/Production Networking/Distance Education Exercises Discussion Lecturing	Written Presentation Attendance Oral Presentation Assignment
Course Content and Homework/Schedule/Tests Schedule
Week Course Content Week 1 Introduction Week 2 Topic: Elegy, Faith, and Science Key text: Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam (1850) Secondary texts: Erik Gray, ‘Victoria Dressed in Black: Poetry in an Elegiac Age,’ in The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy, ed. Karen Weisman (Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 243–257; Devin M. Garofalo, ‘Victorian Lyric in the Anthropocene,’ Victorian Literature and Culture, 47.4 (2019): 753–783. Week 3 Topic: Friendship, Sino-British Relations, Transnational Poetics Key text: Feng Menglong, “Yu Boya Smashes His Zither in Gratitude to an Appreciative Friend” from Stories to Caution the World (1624); Augusta Webster, Yu-Pe-Ya’s Lute (1874) Secondary texts: Emily Harrington’s ‘Augusta Webster: Time and the Lyric Ideal’ (2013), Lee O’Brien’s ‘A “Strange Second Flowering” and the “Second Heart”: Reimagined Modes of Aestheticism and Romanticism in Augusta Webster’s Yu-Pe-Ya’s Lute’ (2017) Week 4 Topic: Domestic Realism and the Woman Writer Key text: Jane Austen’s Persuasion (1817) [Ch. 1–12] Secondary texts: Jan Fergus, ‘The professional woman writer,’ in The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, ed. Edward Copeland and Juliet McMaster (CUP, 1997), pp. 12–19, 26–28; John Wiltshire, ‘Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion,’ in The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, ed. Edward Copeland and Juliet McMaster (CUP, 1997), pp. 58, 76–82. Week 5 Topic: Historical Reconciliation Key text: Jane Austen’s Persuasion (1817) [Ch. 13–24] Secondary texts: Mary A. Favret, ‘Chapter 4: Everyday War,’ in War at a Distance: Romanticism and the Making of Modern Wartime (Princeton UP, 2010), pp. 119–144; Claudia L. Johnson, ‘Chapter 7: Persuasion: The “Unfeudal Tone of the Present Day”,’ in Jane Austen: Women, Politics, and the Novel (University of Chicago Press, 1988), pp. 144–166. Week 6 Topic: Historical Fiction Key text: Elizabeth Gaskell’s Sylvia’s Lovers (1863) [Ch. 1–12] Secondary texts: Marion Shaw, ‘Chapter 6: Sylvia’s Lovers and other historical fiction,’ in The Cambridge Companion to Elizabeth Gaskell, ed. Jill L. Matus (Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 75–89; Marion Shaw, ‘“Sylvia’s Lovers”, then and now,’ The Gaskell Society Journal, 18 (2004): 37–49. Week 7 Topic: Material Gifts and the Marriage Plot Key text: Elizabeth Gaskell’s Sylvia’s Lovers (1863) [Ch. 13–25] Secondary texts: Sophia P. Huang, ‘Ribbons, Gowns, Cake, and Coins: Gifts and Gaskell’s Exploration of Gendered Power Relations in Sylvia’s Lovers,’ The Gaskell Journal, 31 (2017): 55–70. Week 8 Topic: Impressment, Riot, and State Violence Key text: Elizabeth Gaskell’s Sylvia’s Lovers (1863) [Ch. 26–35] Secondary texts: Dick Watson, ‘Heroes and Heroines in Sylvia’s Lovers,’ The Gaskell Society Journal, 18 (2004): 50–59 Week 9 Topic: Haunted Atlantic Waters, Whaling, and Betrayal Key text: Elizabeth Gaskell’s Sylvia’s Lovers (1863) [Ch. 36–45] Secondary texts: ‘Haunted Atlantic Waters: The Historic Traumas of Impressment, Slavery, and Whaling in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Sylvia’s Lovers,’ Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies, 27.1 (2023). Week 10 Topic: Genre Intersections Key text: Thomas Hardy, The Trumpet-Major (1880) [Ch. 1–11] Secondary texts: Secondary texts: Richard Nemesvari, ‘The Anti-Comedy of The Trumpet-Major,’ Victorian Newsletter, 77 (1990); Linda Shires, ‘Introduction,’ in The Trumpet-Major, ed. Linda Shires (Penguin Classics), pp. xix-xxxiv. Week 11 Topic: Topic: Kinship Rivalry Key text: Thomas Hardy’s The Trumpet-Major (1880) [Ch. 12–22] Secondary texts: William J. Mistichelli, ‘The Trumpet Major’s Signal: Kinship and Sexual Rivalry in the Novels of Thomas Hardy,’ CEA Critic, vol. 56, no. 3 (1994): pp. 43–61. Week 12 Topic: Threatened Invasion Key text: Thomas Hardy’s The Trumpet-Major (1880) [Ch. 23–32] Secondary texts: Edward Neill, ‘Mixed Modes in The Trumpet-Major,’ Essays in Criticism, vol. 56, no. 4 (2006): pp. 351–369. Week 13 Topic: Militry Masculinities Key text: Thomas Hardy’s The Trumpet-Major (1880) [Ch. 33–41] Secondary texts: Aeron Hunt, ‘Military Relics: Soldiers and Sailors at Home in Thomas Hardy’s The Trumpet-Major,’ Journal of Victorian Culture, vol. 24, no. 4 (2019): pp. 521–534. Week 14 Topic: Boer and WWI Poetry: Hardy and Kipling Key texts: Thomas Hardy, “Embarcation,” “The Man He Killed,” “Men Who March Away,”; Wilfred Owen, “The Send-off” and “Strange Meeting”; Rudyard Kipling, “My Boy Jack,” and “The Children” Secondary texts: Oindrila Ghosh, ‘Quaint and Curious War is’: Hardy and the Poets of the First World War,’ The Thomas Hardy Journal, Autumn (2015): 45–62; Tim Kendall, ‘Civilian War Poetry: Hardy and Kipling,’ in The Cambridge Companion to the Poetry of the First World War, ed. Santanu Das (Cambridge University Press, 2013), pp. 198–209. Week 15 Topic: WWI Poetry: Hardy, Owen, and Edward Thomas Key texts：Thomas Hardy, “In Time of ’The Breaking of Nations”; Edward Thomas, ”A Dream,” and “As the Team’s Head-Brass” Secondary texts: Edna Longley, ‘The Great War, History, and the English Lyric,’ in The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the First World War, ed. Vincent Sherry (Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 57–84. Week 16 Conference Presentation self-directed learning    01.Participation in professional forums, lectures, and corporate sharing sessions related to industry-government-academia-research exchange activities. 10/12(M) Guest Lecture from 10:30-11:30 Lecture topic: Space between: Women’s Writing, Travels, and Transnational Encounters from the late 19th Century to the Interwar Period Speaker:Prof. Klaudia Hiu Yen Lee
Evaluation
Grades 20% Writing Assignments 10% Oral Presentations 15% attendance and participation (based on your speaking frequency and contribution to the I-learning discussion questions) 5 % Conference Paper Presentation 50% Research Paper (a paper of 3000-4000 words to be submitted by 12/23; first draft is due by 11/30) Your paper will be graded by the following criteria A. Articulate a clear argument/position B. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the topic C. Demonstrate subject knowledge in a logical structure D. Contain relevant and sufficient support for claim(s) or point(s) made. E. Offer adequate analysis of the primary texts. F. Appropriate use of citations for quotes and materials consulted G. Clarity of Writing (Grammar, Sentence Structure, Punctuation and Style) You should type and submit your assignments electronically on time. There is a 10 point penalty for each day late. Any homework that is copied from another source will receive a “0.”
Textbook & other References
Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In Memoriam Third. Edited by Eric Gray, Third Norton Critical Edition, W.W. Norton, 2021. Augusta Wester: Portraits and Other Poems. Edited by Christine Sutphin, Broadview Press, 2000. Austen, Jane. Persuasion. Edited by James Kinsley, Oxford World Classics, 2008. Gaskell, Elizabeth. Sylvia’s Lovers. Edited by Shirly Foster, Penguin Classics, 1996. Poetry of the First World War: An Anthology. Edited by Tim Kendall, OUP, 2013. Hardy, Thomas. The Trumpet-Major (1880). Edited by Linda Shires, Penguin Classics, 1997.
Teaching Aids & Teacher's Website
Supplementary Materials and Online Resources via I-Learning
Office Hours
Monday 15:10:17:00 (by appointment)
Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs(Link URL)
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Update Date, year/month/day：2026/09/22 22:09:48	Printed Date, year/month/day：2026 / 10 / 17
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