LITS2002 POETRY II: ROMANTICS AND VICTORIANS

EXAM ADVICE 2008-2009

See also Recommended Readings.

• The exam has SIX questions in all.

• You are required to answer TWO questions; in each answer, you should refer to the work of TWO poets; you should show knowledge of the work of FOUR poets in all (this means that you can't write about the same poet more than once); the term 'work' means that you may draw upon the theoretical essays in addition to the poetry which we studied.

• The focus of the exam is primarily on Module 2 though the first question draws partially on material covered in Module 1.

• TWO questions will test your understanding of the development of nineteenth century poetry as a whole, its relationship to both what came before and what followed it, and the categorisation of the poets that are thought to comprise this tradition (this is the topic which I often refer to as 'Literary History (the Tradition) / Intertextuality / Canonicity' in the lectures).  Relevant questions in this regard include:

  • Romanticism:

    • what does the term 'Romantic' poetry mean?  Which poets fall under this rubric?

    • how do the Romantics conceptualise poetry (poetry = a form of self-expression) and how is this conception of poetry similar to and/or different from that of Neo-classical poets and theorists like Alexander Pope?

    • Is 'Romanticism' a single, united phenomenon or a multiplicitous, diverse one?  Might it be better to think in terms of many 'Romanticisms' or several phases thereof?

  • Victorianism:

    • what does the term 'Victorian' poetry mean?  Which poets fall under this rubric?

    • how do the Victorians conceptualise poetry and how is this conception of poetry similar to and/or different from that of the Romantic poets and theorists?

    • Is 'Victorianism' a single, united phenomenon or a multiplicitous, diverse one? 

    • are there continuities which link Romantic and Victorian poetry?  If so, are these formal?  Thematic?  In other words, is the boundary separating so-called 'Romantic' from 'Victorian' poetry an arbitrary and, thus, questionable one? 

    • are there, on the hand, discontinuities which serve to distinguish 'Romantic' from 'Victorian' poetry?  Are these two distinct bodies of poetry?

  • might it be possible to group the poets in other ways than chronological with the result that it be possible to reclassify some poets conventionally deemed 'Victorian' (for chronological reasons) as 'Romantic' and vice versa?  Might it be possible altogether to replace such labels as 'Romantic' and 'Victorian' with other more appropriate ones?

• ONE question will address those difficult, inter-related Metaphysical/Epistemological/Linguistic/Religious issues with which almost all nineteenth-century poets seem to be preoccupied.  Relevant questions in this regard include:

  • Being: what truth-claims do any of these poets make about the nature of reality?

    • is the material world all there is or is there a spiritual dimension to existence?

    • is there a God?  If so, what form does he take?  What is the nature of his relationship to his creation?  Can one discern his presence in his handiwork (nature)?

  • Human Being: what truth-claims do any of the poets make about the nature of human beings and their identity? 

    • are we merely physical bodies or is there another spiritual dimension (a soul) to us? 

    • what is the precise nature of our relationship to God?  Are we distinct from God?  Are we his servants?  Are we part of God?

    • what relation is there between the sense we have of our selves and our knowledge of the external world?

  • Knowledge / Language: do these poems ever discuss the limits, if any, to human knowledge (about objective reality?  about the self?)?

    • is it possible for a human being to know the truth about reality?  Are there any impediments to such knowledge?  What roles does language and, by extension, poetry play in the production of such knowledge?

    • is it possible for a human being to know the truth about him/herself?  Are there any impediments to such knowledge?  What roles does language and, by extension, poetry play in the production of such knowledge?

  • Religion: which contemporaneous intellectual developments (the rise to prominence of the natural sciences, Darwinism, the emergence of Existentialism, etc.) conspired to undermine at this time Europeans' faith in religion and a meaningful universe?

• ONE question will address Socio-Political issues.  Relevant questions in this regard include:

  • is it fair to accuse Romantic and/or Victorian poetry of 'escapism'?  In other words, does either ever abandon abstract philosophical musings in order to address more worldly (i.e. economic/social/political) concerns such as poverty, injustice, oppression?

  • Marx once said that the point is not merely to interpret the world, as philosophers do, but to change it.  Are Romantic and/or Victorian poets content with the status quo?  Do they ever see the need for change and, if so, what tools do they employ (direct criticism, satire, etc.)?

• TWO questions will address the topic of Literary Form, i.e. the form or structure of Romantic and Victorian poetry.  Relevant questions in this regard include:

  • what genres do the Romantics make use of?  What are the precise features of these genres?

  • is it possible to identify a common structure to any / all Romantic poems? 

  • what is the relationship between the form of a Romantic poem (its use of figurative language, its development, etc.) and its content or subject-matter (i.e. what they are ostensibly about)?

  • what genres do the Victorians make use of?  What are the precise features of these genres?

  • is it possible to identify a common structure to any / all Victorian poems?

  • what is the relationship between the form of a Victorian poem (its use of figurative language, its development, etc.) and its content or subject-matter (i.e. what they are ostensibly about)?

  • in what ways does the form and content of Romantic and/or Victorian poetry anticipate more recent poetry (e.g. the Modernism of an Eliot or a Yeats)?

  • is satire a genre or is it a 'mode' of writing which us found in more than one genre (i.e. you can have a satirical novel and a satirical poem)? 

  • does satire enjoy a comeback in the Victorian period and does this suggest that there are certain commonalities linking the Victorians to Neoclassicists like Pope?

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