Course Description:
This course seeks to help students understand the cultural and historical background of English literature--the Romantic Period. We will read representative works by the great Romantic writers (William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge, Percy Shelley, John Keats, and Mary Shelly). The reading topics include: romantic imagination, natural/supernatural visions and ecology, sublime beauty of nature, social criticism, romantic aesthetics. Our primary questions are: What is romantic literature? What is the role of imagination in representing the writers’ view of nature, and how can romantic imagination serve as political revolution? Can the supernatural mirror the reality of nature or of humanity, even enhancing our ecological thinking of our living environment?

Learning Objectives:
(1) Introducing the cultural and historical background; (2) locating the major critical issues in the work under discussion; (3) approaching the work from new perspectives

Instructor's Information:
1.Each student must attend the class regularly. I will call your name when the class starts after five minutes
2. Each student just has four times to apply leaving throughout the whole semester; over the quota, except for family or medial emergency, you should not be absent without providing any proofs of leaving within two weeks. 全學期可以提請假四次，之後請假除了家庭或醫療以及重要事故 (含公假) ，必須提供相關證明方與准假。Proof of leave must be submitted (within a week) with a 250-word report in English to explain your absence. Lateness for class may be considered as absence without leave.
3. To ensure the teaching quality, only "35" students are allowed to enroll in this class. No more extra numbers will be added.

Assessment and Grade Distribution
Participation: 10%. Mid-term Exam: 30%
Group Report: 30% Final Exam: 30%