English Literature 243--Syllabus

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Students taking this course are responsible for all the material in this syllabus, as well as all of the links on the right side of my photograph on my home page.

Text
Greenblatt, Stephen, Editor. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume I. The Eighth Edition. W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. ISBN:9780393925319. (This is the cheaper paperback edition.)
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Washington Square Press. ISBN: 9780743477553.

Prerequisites
To be eligible for this course, you should have taken and successfully completed English 111 and English 112 or English 125. From another college or university, the prerequisite is a full year of English Composition.

Description
English literature is a three-credit college course in literature from Beowulf through the Eighteenth Century. Throughout the semester, we will study selected poetry, drama, and essays from this period, particularly focusing on the themes, style, and content of the works. We will also discuss the literature as a reflection of the tone and temper of the society in which it was written.

Course Objectives
By the completion of this course, you should be able to accomplish the following tasks:

to show connections between the literature of the period and the historical and cultural contexts in which it was written

to think critically about the literature under discussion

to be able to define and explain the following in literary works: theme, plot, character, imagery, and other basic figurative terminology used to analyze literature

to write essays that demonstrate college-level competencies in American grammar, structure, language, and idiom, as well as interpretative, analytical, and evaluative thinking skills

Evaluation
Throughout the course, you will write three essays based on the literature from our text. These essays will be argumentative, interpretative, and analytical in approach. That is, rather than simply summarize what occurs in a piece of literature, you will create a thesis statement that expresses your interpretation of one of the topics presented in the work. Then you will use passages from the text to support your view. Each of these essays will be a minimum of one thousand words, and each will be worth one hundred points. Throughout the semester, we will also have unnannounced quizzes, so please bring a scantron (Form No. 882-E) and a number two pencil to class each day. The essays will comprise approximately 70% of your grade, whereas the quizzes will comprise approximately 30% of your semester grade.

The Honor Code:
This code stipulates that when independent work is required—for instance, on written work and quizzes—each of you does that work within the boundaries that I set. See my web site on "Plagiarism" for clarification of how the honor code applies to your written work. For quizzes, each of you will refrain from using the assistance of textbooks, notes, or other students to help you with the work. Failure to adhere to this code will cause a breach in the healthy academic environment of trust that I wish to foster. It will also lead to your receiving a zero for the work you have sought assistance on, and it may lead to your failing the course. Your continuing in this class will tell me that you abide by the honor code as I have set it forth here and on the above-mentioned web link.

Readings
The following is a schedule of the weeks of the course and of the writers and works that we will be reading during those weeks. Although our class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays, I've used the dates for the Monday of each week. As a general rule, read half the material for each week before you come to the Tuesday class and the second half before you come to the Thursday class. After the name of each writer, I have put a page number; this number indicates the first page of the work I've assigned. The work may go on for several pages, so please read it until the end. Where two works (short poems) may appear on the same page, I have written a key word in parenthesis to let you know which work to read. The exceptions to this notation are Shakespeare and Donne. The numbers after their selections of sonnets indicate the sonnet number, not the page number. For your benefit, I have italicized long works so that you'll know to spend more time on them.

Week 1 8/22 Introduction to the Course; Beowulf (Introduction); 29-33, Beowulf 34-100; in this poem, skip the following lines: 873-914; 1070-1157

Week 2 8/29 Beowulf, continued; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (introduction)160; Sir Gawain 162-213

Week 3 9/5 Gawain, continued; Chaucer The Canterbury Tales 213, "Prologue" 218; try to read some of this in Middle English, but then go to a website for a modern translation

Week 4 9/12 Chaucer "The Miller's Tale" 235; The Wakefield Second Shepherd's Play 407

Week 5 9/19 Everyman, 463; Spenser, Amoretti (all the sonnets) 903

Week 6 9/26 Marlowe 1002; Doctor Faustus 1022

Week 7 10/3 Marlowe Faustus, continued; Shakespeare, sonnets # 1, 18, 20, 29, 35, 71

Week 8 10/10 Fall Break -- No Class on Tuesday; Shakespeare's sonnets, continued 97, 116, 126, 130, 138

Week 9 10/17 Shakespeare's Othello (outside text)

Week 10 10/24 Shakespeare's Othello continued

Week 11 10/31 Donne 1263 (both works), 1265, 1266, 1267 (both poems), 1275; From Holy Sonnets, beginning on page 1296: # 10, 13, 14, 17; "A Hymn to God the Father, 1302; Jonson 1428 ("Daughter"), 1430 ("Son"), 1436 (both works)

Week 12 11/7 Herbert 1605, "Easter Wings," "The Collar," "The Pulley"; Herrick 1653, "To the Virgins . . .,"; Marvell 1695, "To His Coy Mistress," "The Definition," "The Mower Against Gardens," "The Mower's Song," "The Garden"

Week 13 11/14 Milton 1785, "On Shakespeare," "L'Allegro," "Il Penseroso," "Lycidas," Johnson 2768-2774; Milton "Areopagitica," 1828 ("When I Consider . . . "); Paradise Lost--book I

Week 14 11/21 No Class on Thursday--Thanksgiving Holiday; Locke: 2151 (biography), 2152 ("An Essay Concerning Human Understanding"); Swift 2301 (biography), 2462 ("A Modest Proposal")

Week 15 11/28 Pope 2493 (biography), 2513 ("The Rape of the Lock"), 2540 ("An Essay on Man"); Astell 2284, 2285 ("Reflections on Marriage");Defoe 2288, Roxana 2289; Read all the selections on "Debating Women" 2589-2611

Week 16 12/5 Johnson 2664, 2749 ("A Dictionary"); Thomson 2860 (biography), and 2860 "From Autumn"; Gray 2862 (biography), 2867 ("Elegy"); Popular Ballads 2898 (all selections)

Week 17 12/12 Final Quiz on Tuesday, December 13, at 11:00 a.m.

Follow this underlined link for the criteria for Essay #1. This essay deals with Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The essay is due on Tuesday, September 20, at the beginning of class. If you choose, you may turn in the essay as a late paper, with a full grade deducted in your evaluation (you will, therefore, begin with a possible "B," not with a possible "A"). Late papers are due at the beginning of class on Thursday, September 22. If you do not meet either of the deadlines--and you don't have a valid reason--your grade for the essay will be a zero, a grade that will jeopardize your satisfactory progress in the course. If you do have a valid reason, and I approve it, you can still submit the essay by a time that I stipulate. The grade on that essay would be no higher than a "C."

Follow this underlined link for the criteria for Essay #2. This essay deals with William Shakespeare's Othello. The essay is due on Tuesday, November 8, at the beginning of class. If you choose, you may turn in the essay as a late paper, with the same stipulations that applied for essay one, on Thursday, November 10.

Follow this underlined link for the criteria for Essay #3. This essay deals with one of the following poets: Donne, Herbert, Marvell, or Milton. The essay is due on Tuesday, December 13, at the beginning of class. There is no late date for this paper.

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Week 1	8/22	*Introduction to the Course; Beowulf (Introduction); 29-33, Beowulf* 34-100; in this poem, skip the following lines: 873-914; 1070-1157**
Week 2	8/29	Beowulf, continued; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (introduction)160; Sir Gawain 162-213
Week 3	9/5	Gawain, continued; Chaucer The Canterbury Tales 213, "Prologue" 218; try to read some of this in Middle English, but then go to a website for a modern translation
Week 4	9/12	*Chaucer "The Miller's Tale" 235; The Wakefield Second Shepherd's Play* 407**
Week 5	9/19	Everyman, 463; Spenser, Amoretti (all the sonnets) 903
Week 6	9/26	*Marlowe 1002; Doctor Faustus* 1022**
Week 7	10/3	*Marlowe Faustus,* continued; Shakespeare, sonnets # 1, 18, 20, 29, 35, 71**
Week 8	10/10	Fall Break -- No Class on Tuesday; Shakespeare's sonnets, continued 97, 116, 126, 130, 138
Week 9	10/17	Shakespeare's Othello (outside text)
Week 10	10/24	*Shakespeare's Othello* continued**
Week 11	10/31	Donne 1263 (both works), 1265, 1266, 1267 (both poems), 1275; From Holy Sonnets, beginning on page 1296: # 10, 13, 14, 17; "A Hymn to God the Father, 1302; Jonson 1428 ("Daughter"), 1430 ("Son"), 1436 (both works)
Week 12	11/7	Herbert 1605, "Easter Wings," "The Collar," "The Pulley"; Herrick 1653, "To the Virgins . . .,"; Marvell 1695, "To His Coy Mistress," "The Definition," "The Mower Against Gardens," "The Mower's Song," "The Garden"
Week 13	11/14	*Milton 1785, "On Shakespeare," "L'Allegro," "Il Penseroso," "Lycidas," Johnson 2768-2774; Milton "Areopagitica," 1828 ("When I Consider . . . "); Paradise Lost--book I*
Week 14	11/21	No Class on Thursday--Thanksgiving Holiday; Locke: 2151 (biography), 2152 ("An Essay Concerning Human Understanding"); Swift 2301 (biography), 2462 ("A Modest Proposal")
Week 15	11/28	Pope 2493 (biography), 2513 ("The Rape of the Lock"), 2540 ("An Essay on Man"); Astell 2284, 2285 ("Reflections on Marriage");Defoe 2288, Roxana 2289; Read all the selections on "Debating Women" 2589-2611
Week 16	12/5	Johnson 2664, 2749 ("A Dictionary"); Thomson 2860 (biography), and 2860 "From Autumn"; Gray 2862 (biography), 2867 ("Elegy"); Popular Ballads 2898 (all selections)
Week 17	12/12	Final Quiz on Tuesday, December 13, at 11:00 a.m.