Download Medieval and Renaissance Survey

Dr. Deb VanderBilt
Spring 2006 Office Hours:
MW 2:30-3:15, T 2-3, F 9-10, 2:30-3
Office: Basil 109
Phone: 385-8193
Email: [email protected]
English 293: Early English Literature
Medieval and Renaissance Survey
Course Description
This course surveys important works of English literature from approximately 800 to 1660 C.E.
You will gain knowledge of some of the main genres and themes of medieval and Renaissance
literature as well as familiarity with earlier forms of the English language itself. The primary
skills the course will emphasize are close reading of texts and research on literary interpretation
using secondary materials.
Required Text
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 1, 7th ed.
Course Requirements
4-5 p. Paper (15%)
7-10 p. Paper (20%)
Midterm Exam (15%)
Final Exam (20%)
Oral Presentation in pairs (10%)
Group work (5%)
Frequent (almost daily) reading quizzes (15%)
Students must complete both papers and exams to pass the course. Missing two or
three quizzes will not significantly affect the quiz final grade. Late papers will be graded down.
Group Work
There will be two projects in the course. 1) Students will be assigned to permanent
groups of about 4-5 people. Each group will be assigned terms to look up and present to
the class, and each group will lead class discussion for one class period before 3/24. 2) In
pairs, students will make an oral presentation of a poem on March 24 or after. Details
are on the “Group Project” handout.
Attendance Policy
Students may miss 3 classes without penalty. The next three absences will lower your
class grade. Any student missing more than six classes will fail the course. There is no
difference between excused and unexcused absences, except in cases of circumstances
beyond your control (e.g. a blizzard), so choose your absences with care.
Policy on Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the undocumented use of another person's ideas, organization, or research
on a written assignment. It is plagiarism to turn in a paper written by another student
or to copy or paraphrase any portion of your text from another source (for example, study
guides) without proper acknowledgment. Any case of plagiarism will be prosecuted
according to the guidelines in the SJFC Student Handbook; in the case of intentional
plagiarism, students will fail the course.
Policy on Disabilities
In compliance with SJFC policy and applicable laws, appropriate academic
accomodations are available to you if you are a student with a disability. All requests for
accomodations must be supported by documentation/diagnosis and determined
reasonable by SJFC. Students with documented disabilities are encourages to make an
appointment with the Ms. Chris Hogan in K202. Late notification will delay requested
accomodations.
Terms
Date
Read
Terms
1/13 Introduction to Class
Caedmon’s Hymn
----------------------------------------------------------------1/16 MLK Celebration
Oral tradition 1/18 Beowulf to p. 79
1/20 Beowulf to end
----------------------------------------------------------------------Elegy
1/23 Dream of the Rood 26,
Dream vision
“Ubi sunt”
The Wanderer 99
Battle of Maldon 103
Courtly love
1/25 Lanval 126;
Morte D’Arthur 421
Romance
Alliterative
revival
1/27 Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight 156
(Parts 1 & 2)
Mystery play
Guild
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Morality play 2/6
Allegory
Estate satire
Everyman 445
2/8
Chaucer, “The General
Prologue” 215
2/10 Recess Day
Read
3/13 Spenser, The Faerie
Epic &
Queene , Book 1
epic conventions
Cantos 1-6 (p. 622-698)
3/15
FQ, Cantos 7-12
3/17
No class
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Petrarch
Petrarchan
sonnet
3/20 Wyatt 525-535
3/22 Sidney 917-924
Shakespearean 3/24 Shakespeare
Sonnet
1029-1043
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
3/27 Webster, Duchess of
Malfi Acts 1-3
3/29 Duchess of Malfi Acts 4-5
3/31 Elizabeth Cary,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1/30 Sir Gawain, Parts 3 & 4
2/1 SGGK, discussion
2/3 The Second Shepherds’
Play 391
Date
The Tragedy of Miriam
1508-1527
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Metaphysical
Poetry &
Metaphysical
Conceit
4/3
Donne 1233-1246
4/5
4/7
Donne 1247-1268
Herbert, 1597-1614
Crashaw 1630-1640
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Fabliau
Cavalier Poetry 4/10 Jonson, 1392-1421
Herrick 1644-1655
4/12 Aemlia Lanyer,
1281-1291
Katherine Philips, 16791683
4/14 Easter Break, No class
Antifeminist
tradition
2/13 Chaucer, conclude GP,
& “The Miller’s Tale” 235
2/15 Miller’s Tale
2/17 Chaucer “The Wife of
Bath’s Prologue” 253
Paper #1 Due
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mysticism
2/20 “Wife of Bath’s Tale” 272
2/22 WBT, secondary sources
2/24 The Book of Margery
Kempe, 355
Piers Plowman
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Humanism
Ballad
2/27 More, Utopia 503
3/1 Midterm Exam
3/3 Early poetry 346-354
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3/6-10
Spring Break
Relax!
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4/17 Easter Break, No class
4/19 Marvell 1685-1704
Paper #2 Due
4/21 Review & Evaluation
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Final Examination
GROUP PROJECTS FOR ENGLISH 320
Project 1: I am going to assign each of you to a permanent group for the semester. This group
will have two tasks.
1) When it is your turn, look up the assigned literary term of the day, make a handout
about it, post that handout in Blackboard, and present the definition and its application to the
works we’re studying that day. How the group divides up this work is up to each group. There
are about 23 terms, and there will be about 5 groups. The internet is an acceptable source for
this information, but please be critical of the sources you use. An excellent print source is
Holman, A Handbook to Literature.
2) Each group will lead discussion on a day of your choice, any day except the days we
study individual poets. (This is not connected to the day you explain terms). I’ll give you time in
class today to look over the syllabus and discuss what works look interesting to you. Then each
group can give me a ranked list of your top 5 choices. Leading discussion means taking over the
class for at least 30 minutes of the 55 minute class period. (You may have the entire period if
you like.) The only requirement is that there be some sort of student engagement in your plan,
and that all students leave the classroom that day with a good idea of what is important about
that day’s texts.
Project 2: In pairs, each of you will give an oral presentation about 10 minutes in length on an
individual poem. Presentations will occur after March 26. Pairs can be self-chosen, or I will
assign them in a couple of weeks.
Tasks: 1. Read the chosen poem aloud.
2. Explain the poem’s meaning, taking into account things you’ll have learned by then
about poetic devices.
3. Read one example of literary criticism about the poem, and present the information
from that article using a handout you prepare for the class. I’ll give an example
during the first week of lyric poetry (March 22).
Again, how the pair divides up this work is up to you and your partner.
After this project, everyone will leave our class with 12 very useful summaries of critical views
on at least 12 poems.