There are two types of topics here: literature and contextual. See the previous page for details about the assignment.

The Literature Topics ask you to read a longer literary text (fiction or poetry) and its author introduction; these presentations should include a brief summary of the work including some significant passages, a description of the author and his/her work, and some information about the importance of this text. How does this text fit in with the material we have been studying?

The Contextual Topics ask you to tackle the assigned page numbers in the NAEL with the assumption that you will read the common/introductory material and then select some of the individual texts included in the section. These presentations should include notes about the introductory material and some of the selected texts. How does this information add to our understanding of the literature we've been reading as a class?

Topics in blue have already been selected or are not available to select this term; depending on the number of students, I may trim the topic list.

early set (Vol D: The Romantic Period)

Topic #1: "The Slave Trade and the Literature of Abolition" (pp 95-121) [week 3-5].

Topic #2: "The Revolution Controversy and the Spirit of the Age" (pp 193-217) [week 3-5]

Topic #3: Mary Wollstonecraft, author intro & selections (pp 218-262) [week 3-5]

Topic #4: Maria Edgeworth, author intro & "The Irish Incognito" (pp 263-279) [week 3-5]

Topic #5: "The Romantic Imagination and the 'Oriental Nations' (pp 922-949) [week 4-5].

Topic #6: "The Gothic and the Development of a Mass Readership" (pp 514-536) [week 5, with Jane Austen film] [selected by Samantha]

middle set. (Vol. E: The Victorian Age)

Topic #7: Victorian Issues: "Evolution" (pp 606-625) [selected by Annelise]

Topic #8: Victorian Issues: "Industrialism: Progress or Decline?" (pp 626-653) [selected by Lanie]

Topic #9: Elizabeth Gaskell, author intro & "The Old Nurse's Story" (pp 245-260)

Topic #10: Christina Rossetti, author intro & "Goblin Market" (pp 542-553)

Topic #11: Victorian Issues: "'Beacons of the Future'? Education in Victorian Britain" (pp 713-757)

Topic #12: Victorian Issues: "The Woman Question: The Victorian Debate about Gender" (pp 653-681) [selected by Jasmine]

Topic #13: Victorian Issues: "Empire and National Identity" (pp 682-712)

Topic #14: Robert Louis Stevenson, author intro & "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (pp 765-809) [selected by Syel]

later set (Vol. F: The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries)

Topic #15: "The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries" (historical overview, pp. 3-16) [selected by Sarah]

Topic #16: Thomas Hardy, author intro & "On the Western Circuit" (pp 34-51)

Topic #17: "Voices from World War I" (intro & your own selections from pp 136-182) [selected by Dina]

Topic #18: "Modernist Manifestos" (intro & your own selections from pp 183-208)

Topic #19: E.M. Forster, author intro & "The Other Boat" (pp 248-269)

Topic #20: D.H. Lawrence, author intro & "Odour of Chrysanthemums" (pp 611-625)

Topic #21: "Voices from World War II" (intro & your own selections from pp 834-847). [selected by Casey]

Topic #22: "Nation, Race, and Language" (intro & your own selections from pp 848-899)

Topic #23: Doris Lessing, author intro & "To Room Nineteen" (pp 900-922) [selected by Emily]

Topic #24: V.S. Naipaul, author intro & "One Out of Many" (pp 998-1020)