ENGL 5583~The British Novel:
Adapting the Nineteenth Century

Fall 2010
University of Minnesota Duluth
MW 9:00-10:50, BohH 343
Dr. Carolyn Sigler
dickensbronteffordedumaurierfieldingrhysaustencarey

Evoking the Victorians and their world has not been an antiquarian activity
but a means of getting a fresh perspective on the present.
~ Robin Gilmour, "Using the Victorians: The Victorian Age in Contemporary Fiction"

Fall 2010 syllabus and reading schedule

ENGL 5583 Moodle site (password required)

e-Gradebook (password required)

Visit Planet Century 19, a meta-blog of all things Victorian

Dickens writing

VICTORIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE WEB RESOURCES

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WRITING, DOCUMENTATION, AND RESEARCH TOOLS

  • Zotero: "Zotero is an easy-to-use yet powerful research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources (citations, full texts, web pages, images, and other objects), and lets you share the results of your research in a variety of ways. An extension to the popular open-source web browser Firefox, Zotero includes the best parts of older reference manager software (like EndNote)—the ability to store author, title, and publication fields and to export that information as formatted references—and the best parts of modern software and web applications (like iTunes and del.icio.us), such as the ability to interact, tag, and search in advanced ways. Zotero integrates tightly with online resources; it can sense when users are viewing a book, article, or other object on the web, and—on many major research and library sites—find and automatically save the full reference information for the item in the correct fields. Since it lives in the web browser, it can effortlessly transmit information to, and receive information from, other web services and applications; since it runs on one’s personal computer, it can also communicate with software running there (such as Microsoft Word). And it can be used offline as well (e.g., on a plane, in an archive without WiFi)" (http://www.zotero.org/about/).
  • Digital Research Tools: As more and more scholars grow interested in the world of digital research, this tremendously useful wiki will be one that they will tell their colleagues about. Created by Lisa Spiro, the director of the Digital Media Center at Rice University, this collaborative wiki collects information about tools and resources that can help scholars conduct research more efficiently or creatively. Visitors can browse through topical headings that include "Authoring", "Blogging", and "Data Mining", among others. Within each heading, visitors can read short descriptions about each resource. Under the "Types of Tools" section visitors can search for specific tools that can help them collect data, edit images, make a dynamic map, and so on. Additionally, visitors can sign up to join the wiki here and also learn more about Spiro and her other projects (Copyright 1994-2009 Internet Scout Project - http://scout.wisc.edu).
  • Using literary quotations from the UW Madison online Writer's Handbook
  • The MLA Formatting and Style Guide from the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
  • An Introduction to MLA Style from the UW Madison online Writer's Handbook
  • Two Sites on College Writing: Dartmouth Writing Program and University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Handbook . The Dartmouth College Writing Program contains a number of helpful materials, such as some well-written essays that answer the question "What is an academic paper?" and also provide information on researching topics for papers. The site also includes information on such topics as writing about film, writing for sociology courses, and helpful suggestions on writing from fellow students. The second site is offered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Writing Center and contains material on how best to cite references, avoiding common grammar and punctuation mistakes, a guide to MLA style, as well as information on academic writing and research issues from thesis statements to quoting, paraphrasing and documentation.. Taken together, these sites provide a host of materials that will allow students to become better writers in their various courses during their time in the world of higher education and beyond (Copyright 1994-2008 Internet Scout Project - http://scout.wisc.edu).
  • KU Writing Center [pdf]: The University of Kansas has a number of fine academic programs, and they also provide writing support for students who might be having trouble getting started with their own assignments or term papers. While visitors may not be able to make the trek on over to Lawrence, they can certainly hop online here to take advantage of some of their writing tutorials and guide sheets. Most visitors will probably want to start at the 'Students' section, where they can then click on sections specifically designed for undergraduates or graduate students. Some of these materials have been created specifically by the professionals at KU’s Writing Center, including some very helpful guides to crafting an effective thesis statement and working on pre-writing strategies. Also, the 'Writing Guides' section includes a sample writing gallery and an assignment planner" (Copyright 1994-2008 Internet Scout Project - http://scout.wisc.edu).

LITERARY BACKGROUND AND CRITICISM

  • The Internet Public Library Online Literary Criticism Collection:  This literary metasite contains over 1,000 annotated metasites and articles devoted to literary criticism, biographical, and other information about 123 authors from Dante Alighieri to Arthur Miller to William Butler Yeats. The links to criticism information can be to sites or articles (some of which have access restrictions). Visitors can browse the site by author, title, or literary period (for British and American literature). In addition, both a literary criticism guide and a pathfinder are provided for those who wish to further explore web and print resources on the topic (Copyright 1994-2007 Internet Scout Project - http://scout.wisc.edu).
  • Literature Criticism Online offers a searchable library of critical reference series, including Children's Literature Review (CLR), Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism (NCLC) and Poetry Criticism (PC).
  • The Voice of the Shuttle literary resources
  • How to Read a Novel: Some Places to Begin by George Landow, Brown University

COLONIALISM AND POSTCOLONIALISM

NEO-VICTORIANISM

MODERNISM AND POSTMODERNISM

ELECTRONIC TEXTS

  • Project Bartleby offers an online collection of reference texts, as well as fiction, poetry and nonfiction.
  • Project Gutenberg offers an extensive on-line text collection- although unfortunately opposed to preserving any bibliographical information.
  • Books On-line by John Ockerbloom at the University of Pennsylvania is an excellent place to start looking for any digitized text. This engine provides links to most on-line text collections. Frequently updated.
  • The Victorian Women Writers Project (Indiana University).
  • Women Writers Project -- The Brown University Women Writers Project has recently published the beta-test version of an online textbase. The textbase is a collection of primarily pre-Victorian (1450-1850) literature written by women. The initial release of the textbase will include over 200 texts, and 50 to 100 more will be added in the first year. The collection spans a wide array of topics and genres, providing a unique and valuable resource for the study of women's writing in English
  • The Internet Archive offers one of the most extensive collections of online images, films, and texts, most available to view and download in a variety of formats

NINETEENTH-CENTURY BACKGROUND

  • Resources on the nineteenth century from Professor Sigler's ENGL 5562: Victorian Literature class
  • An overview of Victorian and Victorianism from The Victorian Web
  • Planet Century 19 is a meta-blog that collects contents of select nineteenth-century blogs.
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Includes over 50,000 biographies of individuals who contributed to British history and culture.
  • Dictionary of Victorian London: Designed and maintained by Lee Jackson, an author and librarian, the Victorian Dictionary is a useful resource on Victorian London history during the 19th century. This site contains over 40 categories that range from architecture, to clothing and fashions, to dates and events, to entertainment and recreation, to words and expressions. The site also contains a bibliography containing most of the resources used for the site, as well as links to other related sites (Copyright 1994-2007 Internet Scout Project - http://scout.wisc.edu).
  • What was Jane Eyre's £30 per year salary really worth? Economic History Resources' "How Much Is That Worth Today?" enables users to determine the purchasing power of British currency for any year from 1600 to the present; MeasuringWorth.com offers another calculator that measures the worth of the British pound from 1264 to 2005. For a more detailed explanation of Victorian money and coinage, check out Paul Lewis's "What's a Guinea?"
  • The Time Traveler's Guide to Victorian Britain offers helpful background on such issues as class and customs, the vote, industry, the arts and sciences, and important terms such as Utilitarianism, imperialism, Malthusianism, and Darwinism.
  • Victoria Research Web: An offshoot of the VICTORIA discussion list and hosted by Indiana University, this site is designed to assist researchers, teachers, and students studying nineteenth century Britain. Users will find a number of helpful items such as a guide to Victorian holdings in selected archives, book reviews on-line, bibliographies, a guide to using the new British Library, tips on planning a research trip, sample syllabi, and a guide to major journals in the field. Additional resources include a list of related discussion groups and a search engine for the VICTORIA archives. VICTORIA equally welcomes the contributions of students of literature, social history, politics, gender studies, publishing, art, and intellectual history in "the long 19th century" (Copyright 1994-2007 Internet Scout Project - http://scout.wisc.edu).
  • The Victorian Web: Literature, History and Culture in the Age of Victoria.
  • Changes During the Victorian Age: If you were born in the early nineteenth century, you were in for a big surprise: by 1900 the world you had grown up in was gone for good. This BBC-sponsored site by Bruce Robinson explores how the enthusiasm for invention and speed transformed the Victorians' world.
  • A comprehensive list of Victorian studies and author Web sites maintained by Mitsuharu Matsuoka.
  • Victorian British Literary Resources from the Voice of the Shuttle.
  • BBC Timelines: England and Scotland:  The BBC History 2000 project offers these multi-level timelines of the histories of England and Scotland from the Neolithic age to the present. As timelines go, these are unusually detailed and provide paragraph-length descriptions -- often accompanied by photos, artwork, or 3-D online models -- about such events and personages as the building of Hadrian's wall; Jane Grey, the nine-day queen; and Robert the Bruce, the famous Scottish warrior-king who secured his country's independence from England in 1328. Users can view the timelines separately or together, allowing for comparative consideration of the evolution of these two often warring, but still tightly knit, nations.
  • 1901: Living at the Time of the Census [Quicktime, MediaPlayer]: Assembled from the vast historical treasures of the UK Public Record Office (PRO) (last mentioned in the June 15, 2001 Scout Report), this virtual exhibition "uses words, pictures and documents to open a door onto life in 1901." Intended as an easily understood introduction to family and community historical research, the exhibition also works well in explaining the life and times of the people documented in the 1901 census. The essays are well written and accessible, with many illustrative images of historical documents (i.e., maps, photos, etc.). It is divided into 4 thematic sections--Cinema (silent film footage courtesy of the British Film Institute), People and Places of 1901, Living in 1901, and Events of 1901 (Copyright 1994-2007 Internet Scout Project - http://scout.wisc.edu).
  • Penguin Classics Website -- contains short articles, biographies, synopses, and feature essays on many Victorian authors
  • Victorian Social History: An Overview (from The Victorian Web). Contains a treasure trove of pages devoted to such social issues as public health, labor, race, class, gender, education and economics.
  • Historical Directories: Sometime you may find yourself wondering one of the world's eternal questions: How many cutlers were in Sheffield during the 1850s? Well, you might not be actively seeking the answer to that particular query, but this incredibly extensive digital library created by the University of Leicester may help you solve other related historical questions. This digital library contains a host of local and trade directories for England and Wales from 1750 to 1919, many of which were previously only accessible by making a special trip to any number of local historical societies or archives. Curious visitors can search the directories through an interactive map of England and Wales in order to find the information that is most relevant to their interests. Currently, the project provides at least one directory for each segment from the interactive map from the 1850s, 1890s, and 1910s. Visitors can also search the entire digitized archive by keyword, location, and name (Copyright 1994-2007 Internet Scout Project - http://scout.wisc.edu).
  • What was the weather like?: This Web site offers chronological descriptions of notable weather events in British history, including the first and second halves of the nineteenth century.

INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS

Jane Austen

Charlotte Brontë

Charles Dickens

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