Participation (25%)	The grade includes three discussion grades you’ll receive over the course of the term, brief mini-presentations you’ll make on historical/cultural topics, occasional quizzes, group work, and cooking assignments.
Short Essay (15%)	4-5  page literary analysis of a story, poem, or section of a novel
Final Paper (25%)	6-8-page interdisciplinary, research paper in which you connect a piece of literature to another form of culture (painting, music, periodical, etc.)
Painting Presentation (10%)	A ten-minute presentation in which you present a painting from the Victorian Period to the class giving your initial reactions/interpretation of the poem and then offer the “experts” interpretations based on library research
Final Exam (25%)	A comprehensive exam with short answer, identification, and essay sections.

Mini-presentations:  Mini-presentations are basically 2-3-minute overviews you give the class on a historical subject from the class timeline (choices on calendar page).  You don't need to do comprehensive research, but just give us an overview of what a particular subject, topic, or event is about and use a credible resource to gather information (NOT just a general, unedited web page).  Also, be thinking about ways the historical/cultural event relates to works/issues from our syllabus. 

Great resources our library has that will help you will be:

• Encyclopedia Britannica

• Oxford Reference Online (particularly the The Oxford Companion to British History)

• The Victorian Web is a scholarly web source that will also be useful. 

DO NOT USE WIKIPEDIA
(HERE'S WHY).

There are also a number of books from the library that you might find useful (in no particular order):

• Daily life in Victorian England /1996. Mitchell

• A Companion to Victorian Culture and Society/ 1999. Tucker

• Encyclopedia of the Victorian era /c2004. Adams

• The Victorian frame of mind, 1830-1870/ 1957.Houghton

• The Victorian home, some aspects of nineteenth-century taste and manners.[1954]Dutton,

• The writer's guide to everyday life in Regency and Victorian England, from 1811-1901 /c1998.Hughes

• Victorian culture and society : the essential glossary /2003.Roberts

• Victorian England1996. Mitchell

• A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Britain 2004/ Williams

The course resources page will also be a good place to get information.