ENGL 2316, English Literature I: Syllabus and Calendar

Note: Most course materials originally linked to this syllabus are no longer available.

Course Identity

Semester: Spring 2006
Sequence number: 2055
Classroom: Irby 313
Class days and time: MW, 6:00–7:20 pm

Instructor's office and contact information

Instructor: Dr. Jonathan A. Glenn
Office: Library 327 (Office of the Provost)
Meetings with students: By happy chance or appointment. (I will try to keep Wednesday mornings, 8:30-11:30, free for students, but it would be wise to call ahead.)
Office phone: (501) 450-3126
E-mail: jona@uca.edu

Course Description and Objectives

The UCA Undergradaute Bulletin describes ENGL 2316 thus: “This course for English majors and minors offers a foundational survey of English literature from the Anglo-Saxon period through the Renaissance. Conducted as a lecture/discussion class, it will pay attention to the social, political, and historical matrix within which the literature developed. Prerequisites: none.” The course has the following general aims:

• To provide English majors and minors with a sense of the nature and contexts of literature in English during the Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English periods
• To trace the origins and growth of specific literary types in the English tradition, especially epic poetry, lyric poetry, and drama
• To introduce students to major traditional tools for the study of English literary history (e.g., bound reference works and printed periodicals) and to some newer resources (e.g., Internet databases and the online MLA International Bibliography) so that they will be well-prepared to study English and American literature.

Texts

Required

Greenblatt, Stephen, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. 8th ed. New York: Norton, 2006.

Two parts of this multi-part anthology are required for English Literature I: Volume 1A (The Middle Ages) and Volume 1B (The Sixteenth Century / The Early Seventeenth Century). The publisher has developed on-line resources to accompany the anthology at http://wwnorton.com/literature. I encourage you to register at this site—purchase of a new copy of the Norton Anthology includes twelve months of free access—and to make use of its resources throughout the semester.

Recommended

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003. You will need this reference tool throughout your academic career. If you do not have it already, acquire it and use it.

You will also find useful one of the several available handbooks of literature. Three of the good ones:

Abrams, M. H., and Geoffrey Galt Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 8th ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.

Frye, Northrop, et al. The Harper Handbook to Literature. New York: Longman, 1997.

Harmon, William, and Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006.

Finally, anyone who expects to make language and literature her/his profession will want to acquire and use the newest Introduction to Scholarship from the MLA:

Gibaldi, Joseph, ed. Introduction to Scholarship in Modern Languages and Literatures. 2nd ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1992.

Assignments and Grades

Final grades are based on the following percentage ranges:

A = 90 or higher
B = 80–89
C = 70–79
D = 60–69
F = 59 or lower

Major assignments and their role in the final course grade are as follows:

Examinations			60%
	Exam 1: Old English	20%
	Exam 2: Middle English	20%
	Exam 3 (final): Early Modern English	20%
Research and Writing Assigments			30%
	Research Assignment 1 (a problem)	10%
	Research Assignment 2 (tools)	10%
	Research Assignment 3 (bibliography, solutions)	10%
In-class work			10%

Notes on assignments and grades:

Examinations will include definition, identification, commentary on passages from works, and short essay questions. Missed examinations can be made up at the discretion of the instructor; if at all possible, inform me of an anticipated absence ahead of time.

Three research and writing assignments will require students to identify a problem to be solved by research, to develop a “toolbox” with which to tackle the problem, and to prepare a bibliography on the problem and outline a solution to the problem. A more detailed assignment will be made by the end of February. See the course calendar for due dates.

In-class work will include attendance, general participation, quizzes (if any), and in-class writing assignments (if any). Your presence in class is important, the assumption being that your knowledge, understanding, and skills will benefit more from participation in the life of the class than from merely working on your own. You will be asked to sign in after the beginning of each class period and will earn a baseline “attendance credit” of three points per day for doing so; you cannot earn the “attendance credit” if you are absent, whether with a valid reason or not, but up to three during the semester will be forgiven/dropped. Any quizzes or in-class writing assignments will earn points in addition to the “attendance credit”; missed quizzes and in-class assignments cannot be made up, regardless of the reason for missing, but one such score (if any) will be forgiven/dropped.

Attendance

As noted above, your presence in class is important and expected. Regardless of “attendance credits” earned, any student with more than three consecutive absences or with a total of six absences during the semester will be asked to withdraw from the course or will be administratively withdrawn with a grade of WF. All university policies and deadlines regarding W, WP, and WF grades will be followed.

University Policies

You should make yourself familiar with UCA policies presented in the Student Handbook and in the Undergraduate Bulletin. The Student Handbook is updated annually; the Undergraduate Bulletin is issued every two years, with interim updates as necessary. Both are available in their current editions on-line:

Student Handbook: http://www.uca.edu/divisions/student/handbook/
Undergraduate Bulletin: http://www.uca.edu/ubulletin/

I draw your attention to several policies in particular:

• Students are expected to follow strict standards of academic honesty. Any academic dishonesty (plagiarism) will result in an F for the assignment involved and/or an F/WF for the course. In general, academic dishonesty is representing the work of another (whatever the source) as one’s own, whether inadvertently or in an attempt to cheat. If in doubt, talk with me about appropriately crediting another scholar’s work. See Student Handbook 37–38.
• See the Student Handbook for the university’s sexual harrassment policy (112–17) and its consentual relationships policy (117–19).
• Academic policies—including academic appeals procedures—are detailed in the Student Handbook 35–40.
• The University of Central Arkansas adheres to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need accommodation under this Act due to a disability, please contact the UCA Office of Disability Services, 450-3135.

Course Calendar

This course calendar indicates the expected sequence of major assignments during the semester. Adjustments may need to be made as the semester unfolds, and additional readings or other work may be assigned. I assume that you will read the textbook’s various introductory materials with attention. Unless otherwise indicated, all reading assignments refer to the Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol. 1 (the parts of the volume are numbered continuously).

Day	Date	Topic/Assignment
M	1/16	Martin Luther King Holiday, no class
W	1/18	Introduction to the Course Old English Reading (in class): The Story of Cædmon (25-27)
		Additional Materials (for OE section of the course): Table of OE Dates Terms to Know, 1 OE Passages for Exam 1 Anglo-Saxon Poetic Diction (PDF) Works Cited MS to Translation (PDF) OE (Beowulf) Class Presentation (PDF)
M	1/23	Reading: The Dream of the Rood (27–29) and The Wanderer (112–13). Acquire and read as well my verse translations of these poems and of the The Battle of Maldon, linked from http://faculty.uca.edu/~jona/.
W	1/25	The Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer, The Battle of Maldon, cont.
M	1/30	Reading: Beowulf, lines 1–1887 (34–73)
W	2/1	Reading: Beowulf, lines 1888–3182 (73–100).
M	2/6	Old English, continued Review for exam Optional (no new reading assignment): The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu, from the Old Irish Táin Bó Cuailnge (129–36)
W	2/8	Exam 1: Old English View or print instructor-annotated copy of Exam 1 (PDF)
M	2/13	Middle English Reading: Lanval, a Breton Lai by Marie de France (142–55), and selected Middle English lyrics (368–70 and 436–37)
		Additional Materials (for ME section of the course): Table of Middle English Dates Terms to Know, 2 [updated 3/6] ME Passages for Exam 2 [added 3/6] ME Persons/Characters for Exam 2 [added 3/7] Notes on ME Language (PDF) Literary Landscape of ME: A Summary Further Notes on the World of ME Literature Lanval, lines 1–20: The Translation Effect CT, General Prologue: Outline Additional On-Site Resources for SGGK: Notes on ME Romance Notes on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Notes on Descent Themes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Notes on Thomas Malory (ranges beyond our reading selections) Works Cited
W	2/15	Background, Lanval, lyrics, continued
M	2/20	Reading: Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales,The General Prologue (218–38)
W	2/22	Reading: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, parts 1 and 2 (162–85)
M	2/27	Reading: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, parts 3 and 4 (185–213)
W	3/1	Reading: Malory, selections from the Morte Darthur (439–56) RESEARCH ASSIGNMENTS detailed (see due dates below)
		Additional research resources: Resources for Research on Words
M	3/6	The English Morality play: Everyman (463–84)
W	3/8	Middle English, continued
M	3/13	Middle English, continued Prep for Exam 2
W	3/15	Exam 2: Middle English View or print instructor-annotated copy of Exam 2 (PDF) (to be added)
3/18–26		Spring Break
Schedule for Early Modern English updated 3/16/2006: Please note new due dates for readings and for research assignments.
M	3/27	Early Modern English Reading: Wyatt (selections): “The long love . . .” (594), “Whoso list to hunt” (595), “I find no peace” (596), “My galley” (597), “They flee from me” (599, 600); Surrey (selections): “The soote season” (608), “Love, that doth reign and live . . .” (608–09), “Alas! so all things now . . .” (609), “Wyatt resteth here . . .” (612–13)
		Additional materials (for EME section of the course) Early Modern English/Renaissance: Times and Ideas Terms to Know, 3 Persons/Characters (to be added) Passages for EME (to be added) Works Cited
W	3/29	Reading: Spencer, from Amoretti: sonnets 1 (903), 34 (903–04), 68 (905–06), 75 (906), 79 (907); Sidney, from Astrophil and Stella: sonnets 1 (975–76), 10 (978), 18 (979), 34 (981), 41 (982–83), 45 (983), 49 (983–84); Shakespeare: sonnets 1 (1062), 15 (1063), 18 (1063), 13 (1064), 65 (1067), 73 (1068), 98 (1071), 129 (1074), 146 (1076) RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT 1 due
M	4/3	Reading: Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Acts 1–3 (1079–1124)
W	4/5	Reading: Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Acts 4–5 (1124–39)
M	4/10	Twelfth Night, cont.
W	4/12	RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT 2 due Come to class prepared to hand in your assignment but also to talk about your project and its "toolbox" and bibliography.
M	4/17	Reading: Donne: “The Good-Morrow” (1263–64), “The Sun Rising” (1266), “The Canonization” (1267–68), “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” (1275–76), from Holy Sonnets (1 [1295], 7 [1295–96], 10 [1296–97], 14 [1297–98]), “Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness” (1301–02); Herbert: “The Altar” (1607), “Easter Wings” (1609), “The Collar” (1619–20), “The Pulley” (1620); Vaughan: “The World” (1632–33), “They Are All Gone into the World of Light” (1634–35), “The Waterfall” (1638–39)
W	4/19	Reading: Jonson: “On My First Daughter” (1428–29), “To John Donne” (1429), “On My First Son” (1430), “To the Memory of My Beloved, The Author, Mr. William Shakespeare . . .” (1444–46); Herrick: “Delight in Disorder” (1656), “Corinna’s Going A-Maying” (1658–59), “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” (1659–60), “His Prayer to Ben Jonson” (1662), “Upon Julia’s Clothes” (1664); Marvell: “To His Coy Mistress” (1703–04), “An Horatian Ode” (1712–1716)
M	4/24	Early Modern English Poetry, cont.
W	4/26	Early Modern English, cont. Prepare for Exam 3 RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT 3 due
M	5/1	Exam 3 (final), 6:00–8:00 pm: early Modern English