Victorian Literature is the name given to literature written during the reign of Queen Victoria. It followed the time period of Romantic literature in England and had its own distinct style and features. While the British empire was expanding drastically and the Industrial Revolution was causing major economic and social changes in England; writers, thinkers, and artists began attracting attention to the extreme disparity and urban "progress" at hand. This was the age of the "novel" in England, but we will look at short excerpts, some poetry and even satirical articles meant to call attention to the rapid change and upheaval caused by the circumstances of the time.  

Weekly reading assignments will need to be completed before each class. Each live class session is designed to be an engaging Socratic Seminar style discussion of the week's assigned readings and a drawing out of literary and stylistic elements of the pieces read, followed by an analysis and reflection. Reflection and Analysis writing pieces will be encouraged weekly, albeit short and thoughtful, they are not mandatory. We will look at writing reflective analysis papers, comparative analysis papers and poetry analysis papers during this session. 
Class readings are all available online for free but will also be posted in the Classroom page and will be available once a student enrolls. 

*Timeline:
Week 1: Setting the stage- events of the time (global and local), stylistic elements of the literary period, themes and purpose.
Week 2: Poetry - Brownings (Robert and Elizabeth)
week 3: Poetry- Tennyson
Week 4:  The Victorian Woman: Christina Rossetti & The Bronte Sisters 
Week 5: Rudyard Kipling - Looking Outward
Week 6: A C Doyle - Looking Inward