English 311:
Early British Literature (Beowulf to Milton)
Fall 2012
Tu/Th 3 -
4:15pm 1020 CAS&L Building
Instructor:
Ms.
Ilse Schweitzer-VanDonkelaar
Office:
3075 CB
Office
Hours: Tu 2pm-3pm, Th
4:15-5:15, also by appointment
Email: ischweit@umd.umich.edu
(please allow 24 hours for response to
email)
Other
media: Facebook:
English 311: Beowulf to Milton (group)
Blog:
www.beowulftomilton.blogspot.com
Course Description:
In this
course we will read and discuss selections from the canon of early British
literature, texts foundational to our shared English literary heritage. We begin with the earliest poetry in
English—from the Anglo-Saxon period—and will move through the changes to
language, literary style, and culture that occurred during the Middle English
period, Renaissance, 16th and 17th centuries, and the
Restoration. Through careful reading and discussion, we will gain an
understanding of the uses and evolution of literary forms, genres, and poetic
techniques; we will also explore how these texts treat recurring themes,
including the nature of earthly life, humankind’s relationship with the divine,
sacred material vs. secular material, gender and authority, and power and
performance. We will contextualize our poetry, prose, and drama by viewing
comparable and relevant artifacts and pieces of material culture from the
medieval and Renaissance periods.
Students will also gain a necessary knowledge of the history of Britain
through lecture and readings.
Required Texts:
Stephen Greenblatt, et al, eds. The
Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol. 1. 8th ed. New York:
W.W. Norton & Company, 2006.
(OR Greenblatt, Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th ed., Vols A & B)
Shakespeare, William (author) and Robert
S. Miola (ed.) Macbeth: A Norton Critical
Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004.
**Any edition
of Macbeth will do, so long as it is
not abridged nor adapted.**
Coursework:
- Participation and group-work: Our class will be discussion-based and fairly light on lecture. You will be expected to complete the reading assignments prior to each class meeting, to attend class regularly, and to contribute to class discussion often. As you are reading, I would also like you to give some thought to what you might bring up in discussion during class… so take notes in your books! I will keep track of the quantity and quality of your contributions to discussion, so be sure to think and speak up often. In-class writing assignments and your contributions to group-work assignments will also count toward the “participation” portion of your grade.
- Term paper: Your paper will be a critical analysis papers (10 page minimum, double-spaced). Topics will be directed. Please talk to me early and often about your ideas and questions concerning the paper, and remember that I am available to look at drafts and give you feedback.
- Quizzes: You will complete five take-home quizzes that will require you to respond to short answer / short essay questions.
- Mid-term Exam: Given on October 18. Exam will include some identifications, short answer questions, and essay questions.
- Final Exam: Given on Tues, Dec. 18, from 3-6 pm. Exam will include some identifications, short answer questions, and essay questions.
- Extra Credit: There are numerous opportunities for you to widen your knowledge of early British literature by completing reading and writing assignments outside of what is required by our schedule. I will post several reading / writing assignments on the class blog; you may complete any or all of these to earn extra points toward your participation grade.
Grading Breakdown by Assignment:
Participation: 20%
Take-home quizzes: 15%
Term paper:
20%
Mid-term exam:
20%
Final exam: 25%
Communication:
Any updates
and notices (change of venue, change in assignment, instructor absence, etc.)
will go out over email and will be posted on our class blog and Facebook group.
I promise to make my best attempt to get this information to you as soon as
possible; please remember to check these sites regularly for new information.
Other
Policies…
- Attendance: is expected. I will take attendance at the start of each class. Arriving more than 20 minutes late will be counted as an absence. ** EVERY component of your grade draws upon the material we explore in class discussion and in lecture, so be here!**
- Absences: You may miss 3 classes without explanation or excuse, so save these for when you might need them. Any additional absences will result in a deduction of 3% from your final grade, per day. If you miss class, it is YOUR responsibility to find out what content you missed, preferably by first asking your classmates and by checking the class blog.
- Computers and cell phones: No laptops or cell phones out or open during class. Lectures and class discussions may not be recorded in any fashion by students.
- Deadlines / Late work: Papers are due in hard copy at the start of class on the dates set forth in the course schedule. Printers break and computers crash… so be sure to start your work ahead of time and to plan to deal with minor (and major) inconveniences. One letter grade will be lost for every calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. if the paper is due on Monday the 1st and you turn it in Wednesday the 3rd, the grade will be reduced by 2 letters). I will not accept papers via email. Class activities cannot be made up at a later date.
Foodand drink: You may bring water, coffee, soda, tea or other (non-alcoholic, obviously) drinks to class, but please do not bring in food.- Students with learning disabilities: The University will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students need to register with Disability Resource Services (DRS) every semester they are enrolled for classes. DRS is located in Counseling & Support Services, 2157 UC. To be assured of having services when they are needed, students should register no later than the end of the add/drop deadline of each term. (source: University Counseling and Support Services)
Policies
on Plagiarism:
IF YOU ARE
CAUGHT PLAGIARIZING, you will face academic sanctions including possible
FAILURE of this course and/or EXPULSION from the University.
The University’s policy on academic integrity states: The
University of Michigan-Dearborn values academic honesty and integrity. Each
student has a responsibility to understand, accept, and comply with the
University's standards of academic conduct as set forth by the Code of Academic
Conduct, as well as policies established by the schools and colleges. Cheating,
collusion, misconduct, fabrication, and plagiarism are considered serious
offenses. Violations will not be tolerated and may result in penalties up to
and including expulsion from the University.
If you have not already done so, you should complete the
University’s Tutorial on Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
A link to this tutorial will also appear on our class blog.
Reading Schedule
Anglo-Saxon Period
Th, Sept. 6 Introduction, Anglo-Saxon
culture, Bede and “Caedmon’s Hymn,” visit class blog at www.beowulftomilton.blogspot.com
Tu, Sept. 11 “The Battle of Maldon,” “The Dream
of the Rood” (handouts) [Optional: Norton pp. 1-23]
Th, Sept. 13 Intro to Beowulf (pp. 29-34), Beowulf,
ll. 1-1650 (Prologue – Another Celebration)
Tu, Sept. 18 Beowulf
, ll. 2200-3180 (The Dragon Wakes – End)
Th, Sept. 20 Intro and “The Wanderer” (pp.
111-113), Anglo-Saxon riddles (handout)
Early / Middle
English Arthurian legends
Tu, Sept. 25 Quiz The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (“Obit for
William the Conqueror”) (pp. 115-117), Legendary histories of Britain
(Geoffrey, Wace, Layamon) and the Myth of Arthur’s Return (pp. 117-128)
Th, Sept. 27 Intro to Gawain and the Greek Knight and GGK,
parts 1 & 2
Tu, Oct. 2 Gawain and the Green Knight, parts 3
& 4
Middle English
secular and sacred material
Th, Oct. 4 Intro Chaucer and Canterbury Tales (pp. 213-218), “The
General Prologue,” ll. 1-42, 447-478, 547-568, 717-860; “The Miller’s Prologue
and Tale” (pp. 239-255), also check out blog and/or CTools for PDF of
side-by-side Middle English and Modern English prose translation of “The Miller’s
Prologue and Tale”
Tu, Oct. 9 “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue
and Tale” (pp. 275-284)
Th, Oct. 11 Quiz Intro
to Julian of Norwich, chapters from A
Book of Showings (pp. 371-382)
Tu, Oct. 16 Intro to mystery plays (pp.
406-407), Wakefield
“Second Shepherd’s Play” (pp. 407-435)
Th, Oct. 18 MIDTERM EXAM
Introducing the
Renaissance
Tu, Oct. 23 Intro
to Sir Thomas More (pp. 518-521) and selections from Utopia, book 2 (pp. 545-588)
[Optional: The
Sixteenth Century (pp. 485-513)]
Th, Oct. 25 Intro to Sir Thomas Wyatt (pp.
592-594), “The long love that in my thought doth harbor,” Petrarch’s Rima 140,
“Divers doth use,” “What vaileth truth?”, “They flee from me,” “Mine own John
Poins” (all found in pp. 594-606)
Tu, Oct. 30 Quiz Intro
to Sir Philip Sidney (pp. 947-948), intro to Astrophil and Stella (p. 975), sonnets 1, 15, 20, 37, 71, 74; intro
to Mary Wroth (pp. 1451-1452), Pamphilia
to Amphilanthus sonnets 1, 16, 77, 103
Th, Nov. 1 Intro to Edmund Spenser (pp.
705-707), intro to The Faerie Queene
(pp. 714-719), “First Booke” and cantos 1, 2, 4, 5, 7
Tu, Nov. 6 The Fairie Queene, cantos 8, 9, 10, 11
Renaissance Drama and Devilry
Th, Nov. 8 Intro
to Renaissance drama; intro to Christopher Marlowe (pp. 1002-1004), Doctor Faustus (pp. 1022-1057)
Tu, Nov. 13 Quiz Doctor
Faustus cont’d, “The Passionate Shepherd to his Love” (p. 1022)
Th, Nov. 15 MacBeth
Tu, Nov. 20 TERM
PAPER DUE
MacBeth cont’d
THANKSGIVING BREAK
The Seventeenth
Century and Metaphysicals: Sacred and
Profane
Tu, Nov. 27 Intro
to John Donne (pp. 1260-1262), “The Flea,” “The Ecstasy,” “The Sun Rising,”
sonnet 1, 10 (found pp. 1263-1296); intro to George Herbert (pp. 1605-1606),
“Redemption,” “Jordan (I),” “Jordan (II),” “The Pulley” (found pp. 1607-1620);
intro to Andrew Marvell (pp. 1695-1697), “Bermudas” (pp. 1698), “The Garden”
(pp. 1710-1712)
[Optional: The
Early Seventeenth Century (pp. 1235-1259)]
Th, Nov. 29 Intro to Aemilia Lanyer (pp.
1313-1314), “Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women” (pp. 1317-1319), Jonson: “Still to be Neat” (p. 1444), Herrick: “The Vine,” (pp. 1655-1656), “The Hock-Cart”
(pp. 1660-1661)
Tu, Dec. 4 Quiz Intro
to Milton (pp. 1785-1789), intro to Paradise
Lost (pp. 1830-1831), The Argument and book 1 (pp. 1831-1850), selection
from book 4 (pp. 1887-1896, ll. 1- 410)
Th, Dec. 6 Paradise Lost book 9 (pp. 1973-1998),
selection from book 12 (l. 575 thru end)
Tu, Dec. 11 semester review and/or catch-up
Tuesday, Dec. 18,
3-6pm FINAL EXAM
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