British Literature I
Fall 2001
Dr. Eve Salisbury
Course: Engl.330-24867
Office: Sprau
919 Meets:
TR 11:00-12:15
Office Phone: 7-2622
Room: Brown 02020
Office Hours: TR:
1:00-3:30 or by appointment
Home Phone: 382-0669
e-mail: eve.salisbury@wmich.edu
Required Texts:
Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol. 1, seventh edition. Eds. M. H. Abrams, et al.
Hacker, Diane. Rules for Writers. Boston: St. Martin’s Press, 1998.
British Literature: Cultural & Linguistic Change
This course offers a wide variety of texts written in English over a significant span of time during which England experienced profound ideological and linguistic change. Beginning with “Caedmon’s Hymn” and Old English poetry, continuing through the Middle English period of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales into the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries of pre-modern English, we see not only how these texts provide evidence of dynamic linguistic transformation, profound cultural change, but also how they contribute to a distinctively British literary tradition.
Papers/Discussion:
There are two papers. The first is a critical analysis that requires you to think carefully about some aspect of the literary work under consideration (five-page minimum, double-spaced). The second offers you the option of either a critical analysis much like the first paper OR some kind of creative project, perhaps your own set of sonnets, a metaphysical poem with accompanying commentary, a short play, your own intellectual pilgrimage, an invented language within a narrative frame, or some variation of these possibilities (five-page minimum with maximum determined by the subject, though longer than fifteen pages would be excessive). If you choose the second option, please do talk with me about it before starting. Discussion is an important component of this course and participation is expected at each class meeting.
Grading:
The final grade is based on your written work (50%), your contributions to classroom discussion (15%), participation in the pilgrimage (15%), and the general improvement of your work over the course of the semester. There is a midterm exam and a final. Each counts as 10% of the final grade.
Attendance:
In order to accrue full credit for the classroom discussion component of the final grade, attendance is necessary at every class. Also keep in mind that both the mid-term and final examinations draw upon class discussions and lectures. Needless to say, should you be absent from a class for any reason, make sure to inquire about what you might have missed that day.
Reading assignments:
Works that appear on the syllabus on specific days are to be read and thought about before you come to class.
Academic integrity and a statement from the Professional Concerns Committee:
You are responsible for making yourself aware of and understanding the policies and procedures in the Undergraduate Catalog that pertain to Academic Integrity. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. If there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. You will be given the opportunity to review the charge(s). If you believe you are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a hearing. You should consult with me if you are uncertain about an issue of academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or test.
Syllabus
Week 1
T 8/28 British Literature: Cultural & Linguistic Change
Writing sample
R 8/30 “Caedmon’s Hymn,” / “Dream of the Rood”
Week 2
T 9/4 “The Wanderer” / “The Wife’s Lament”
R 9/6 Old English Riddles (handout)
Week 3
T 9/11 Beowulf
R 9/13 Beowulf
Week 4
T 9/18 Marie de France, “Lanval” Paper #1 due
R 9/20 Chaucer, General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
Week 5
T 9/25 Miller’s Prologue and Tale
R 9/27 Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale [pilgrimage]
Week 6
T 10/2 The Wakefield Second Shepherds’ Play
R 10/4 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part I, II
Week 7
T 10/9 SGGK, Part III, IV
R 10/11 Malory’s Morte Darthur (Film clip from Excalibur)
Week 8
T 10/16 Poetry of the “Virgin Queen” (Queen Elizabeth I) “Speech to the Troops at Tilbury”
“On Monsieur’s Departure” (Film clip from Elizabeth)
R 10/18 Midterm Exam
Week 9
T 10/23 Christopher Marlowe’s Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
R 10/25 Faustus
Week 10
T 10/30 Shakespeare’s sonnets (#18, #130)
R 11/1 Aemilia Lanyer
Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum
“Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women”
Week 11
T 11/6 John Donne, “The Flea,”
Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress”
Abraham Cowley, “Of Wit”
R 11/8 Paradise Lost, Books I-III
Week 12
T 11/13 Paradise Lost, Books IV-VI
R 11/15 Paradise Lost, Books VII-IX
Week 13
T 11/20 Paradise Lost, Books X-XII
THANKSGIVING BREAK!
Week 14
T 11/27 John Dryden, “Epigram on Milton”
“In Praise of Chaucer”
On Cowley: “Metaphysical Wit”
On Milton’s Paradise Lost
R 11/29 Samuel Johnson, Dictionary of the English Language
Paper #2 due
FINAL EXAM
(Monday, December 3rd, 8:00-10:00 A. M.)