First Assignment: The Victorians

Dear Students,

We thought we'd start you out with your first assignment due this Friday, Feb 12. We will be working from your textbook throughout this term; if there are any additional notes, say an outside poem, we will attach them here. You will be working downstairs in the lab for most of this term. All assignments will be essays. All necessary citing will be done in Amicitia format, with a bibliography on the last page. If we can work out something on Skype so that you can correspond personally from your home, we will do so. Please look for your assignments and our comments here (or gmail), and feel free to ask either of us any and every question you have! I think this will be a great term, and look forward to seeing you once again, insha'llah, with my husband, Mr. Medinger,* in the next cycle.

First 3-page assignment, due Feb 12th: To better understand the large body of people called "the Victorians" you need to know some of their societal background. Starting on page 942 of your text, you will find a timeline that documents the changes taking place during this period, 1833-1901. These changes included the Crimean War, our American Civil War, the growth of cities, technological changes, rapid industrialization, worldwide empire building and scientific changes. These overturned the old socio-political ideas dating back to the Medieval period of Chaucer's time and transformed the Western portion of our world into the modern democracy we have today.

On page 943 you will see pictures of the "Great Exhibition" at Crystal Palace, London. Prince Albert instigated this exhibition to document all the advances that were taking place. Two worlds were uneasily adapting to the new, leaving the old behind, changing notions of God, women, caring for the sick and poor, and numerous advances we now take for granted. As you look on this timeline, you will see several notations about the Victorian authors who introduced new forms of literature, the dramatic monologue and the novel. During the next six weeks we're going to investigate the relationship between their society, the one on that timeline documenting all these vast changes, and how its traditions affected these writers, as well as how they reflected and shaped their society. To prepare for this, I'd like you to investigate just one of the events that took place on this timeline--or your choice of a situation or event that took place that is not mentioned here. In your paper, please investigate how that particular social or industrial or other situation reflected the values of this time, and compare the way things had been with the way they were becoming. I only want you to investigate one thing, (not everything!) and only in the context of how that affected society. This could be Darwin's publishing Origin of the Species, Freud's new ideas of psychology, or a particular situation, say, the poor on the streets of London, or mining down in Wales, or the event of electricity, or any of the many developments during this period.

When you have completed this assignment, I'd like you to read yours aloud to the class, so everyone has a bit more background, If you finish early, I'm sure the school would appreciate your "libraianship" in reorganizing the room upstairs into a library where we can find textbooks and books. Thanks for that offer! Your new assignment will be posted here Thursday, and send yours to us when you are finished. Thanks, and we look forward to reading your papers!

-Ms. Cowper and Mr. Medinger