Friedrich, "Erzgebirge"	HUMANITIES 155 --  THE ROMANTIC SPIRIT
Instructor Overview Resources Syllabus

George S. Craft                                                                                                    Spring 2001
Tahoe 3080 (History Department): by appointment
278-6206; gcraft@csus.edu

Romantic artists stress the feelings of the unique creative individual, stimulate the imagination and advocate freedom from rules in their search for the infinite (God), which they often find in love between the sexes and nature.

  This course will study some of the great works of art, music and literature of Western world in the 19th century.  We will focus primarily on the Romantic Era proper from about 1770 to 1850, but we will also consider works of Late Romanticism from about 1880 to 1914.  The course is highly interdisciplinary. We will focus primarily on imaginative literature -- novels, short novels, short stories and poetry. Our second focus will be on music, with most emphasis on orchestral music but with attention devoted also piano music. Painting will also be considered, usually to reinforce points made in other areas. Our geographical focus will be on France, Germany and England.  All of this is in some sense bound together by ideas, values and leitmotifs, which are characteristic of western civilization in this period. It is also interesting to identify the differences among the "Romanticisms" of different national traditions

This course has several objectives:

-- acquaint you with some of the great works of European (western) civilization in literature and the arts, especially in the Romantic Era.

-- help you develop your own personal aesthetic sense (appreciation of beauty) by considering these works.

-- give you some deeper insight into the character of your civilization (e.g., the image of women, the cult of nature, romantic love as consistent trends in the West) as exhibited specifically in the 19^th century.

-- help you improve your critical and writing skills by discussion of topics in class and by writing critical thought papers.  This aim is particularly important since HRS 155 is an Advanced Study course.

READINGS

The following books are available in inexpensive (Penguin) editions in the Hornet Bookstore. You do not have to purchase the editions available there.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, The Sufferings of Young Werther. 1774. Tragic epistolary novel about the effects of unrequited love on a sensitive soul; the original sensitive lover. Seminal for an understanding of Romanticism.

E.T.A. Hoffmann, The Tales of Hoffmann. 1827-39. Famous stories focusing on abnormal psychology, the supernatural and the grotesque; very entertaining and well written.  Much influence on 19th century literature including E.A. Poe.

Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin. 1831. Classic Russian work of humor, great

lyrical beauty, and individual Angst. Written in verse.  Seminal for understanding of “the Russian soul.” Made into a famous opera by Tchaikovsky (1879).

Honoré de Balzac, Eugénie Grandet. 1833. Perhaps the most readable novel by

France's great author. More like a classical Greek tragedy than a Romantic piece. A good contrast with Romantic literature.

Bram Stoker, Dracula. 1897. Classic horror story that spawned numerous treatments in other media, e.g., Bela Lugosi’s Hollywood film version, 1931.  Illustrates fin de siècle fascination with horror, sexuality and the femme fatale.  (There will be a CSUS performance of the 1920’s stage version in May 2001.)

You will receive numerous dittoed handouts of source materials (poetry, essays, articles, etc.). We will of course make extensive use of videotapes, recordings and slides to study the music and painting.

CLASSROOM PROCEDURE

Most of class time will be devoted to a structured discussion of the texts. I will give you precise reading assignments accompanied by study lists when possible.  I expect you to have the reading done by the day of the assignment.

Participation in class discussion is important. To encourage your participation, I will assign “teams” of discussion "specialists" among you to be responsible for the reading assignments.  Specialists would be expected to have read the assigned material carefully and to help lead the discussion with questions and informed comments.

            There will also be lecture classes in which the instructor presents material on music and painting.  You will be responsible for this material on your tests. 

As a great deal of the learning in this course occurs in class, I expect all of you to attend class regularly (at least 85% of the time). I will take attendance most days.  You may lose up to one full grade point by poor attendance.

TESTING, WRITING AND GRADING

A) Since this is an Advanced Study course, writing is very important. In the third week of class, you will have a short (about 500 words) diagnostic essay to write. You will then be assigned three papers spaced at equal intervals, about every four weeks and all on different topics. The last paper will be due the date of the final exam. Each paper must be 4-5 standard typewritten pages or the equivalent in legible longhand. You will write critical thought papers, the topics being chosen from a list of essay questions distributed a couple of weeks before the due date.

The grade I assign your paper will be affected by both content (depth, inventiveness, cohesion of your ideas) and writing style (correctness, clarity and elegance). Consult the "Guidelines for Writing Thought Papers" that I will distribute shortly

B) There will be two Scantron-style exams of 50-75 questions spaced at roughly equal intervals throughout the semester. They will test basic information and insights covered in class discussions and readings. You will have numerous lists of sample multiple-choice questions and an out-of-class review session before each exam.  The second exam will be on the date of the final examination.

The key to doing well on the tests is regular attendance of class.

C) Your final grade will be calculated as follows:

                        Two Scantron tests @ 15%                        30%

                        Diagnostic Essay                                         10%

                        Three Critical Essays @ 20%                      60%

                                                                                          100%

D) Approximate Schedule of Assignments

                        Diagnostic Essay                         Wed, February 14

                        Essay #1                                     Wed, March 14

                        Essay #2                                      Mon, April 23

                        Essay #3                                      Fri, May 25, 3:00 PM     

                        Test #1                                        Wed, March 21

Test #2                                         Mon, May 21, 10:15 AM

As mentioned before, your grade may be significantly affected by your class participation and especially by your attendance.

  ENVOI -- I will do my part to make the Romantic Spirit an interesting and entertaining course. To take advantage of it, you need to make up your mind to give it a chance, and then to take it seriously!  Come to class regularly, do the reading and assignments, and wrestle a little with the material. Enjoy yourself. Everything we do in this course is (at least in my opinion) fun!

APPROXIMATE COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1                        Introduction; define Romanticism.

Week 2                        The Enlightenment; Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Fifth Promenade.

Week 3                        The French Revolution and Napoleon; Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther.

Week 4                        The orchestra from Mozart to Franz Liszt.

Week 5                        Romantic poetry (mostly English).

Week 6                        Hoffmann’s Tales; Edgar Allan Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher.

Week 7.                       Painting in the early nineteenth century.

Week 8                        The Romantic keyboard from Mozart to Rachmaninov.

Week 9                        The Romantic fairy tale: Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.

Week 10                      Romanticism in Russia: Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin 

Week 11                      Nationalism and late romanticism in 19^th century orchestral music.

Week 12                      Realism; Balzac’s Eugénie Grandet.

Week 13                      The Fin de Siècle: “decadent” Romantic painting and poetry.

Week 14                      Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Week 15                      Orchestral music at the turn of the century: the path to modernism

Send problems, comments or suggestions to: gcraft@csus.edu
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