ENG 205-051 British Literature I

UNION COUNTY COLLEGE
ENG 205 British Literature I

Fall 2009

Sec. 051 M&W 7:10pm-8:30pm, N-28

Dr. Susannah Chewning
Office Phone: (908) 709-7182
Office: H-125
email: chewning@ucc.edu

Office Hours: M&W 12:30pm to 2pm, T&Th 1pm-3pm by appointment

Course Description: Study of the major British poets and prose writers from Beowulf to Pope and Swift, studied in their historical context and in their aspects of enduring merit. Prerequisites: ENG 101 and 102 or ENG 122.

Course Objectives: by the end of the semester each student will

understand the chronology and historical continuity as a basis for the study of British literature, so that writers and their works may be observed within their cultural milieu and moment.
through an examination of the literature and culture of England from the Anglo-Saxon period through the eighteenth century, obtain a broad understanding of the tradition of literature in England.
develop techniques of accurate and appreciative interpretation through the practice of critical thinking and writing
examine the power of literature throughout the medieval and early modern periods; through texts that will address such issues as heroism, human relationships, spirituality, gender issues, justice, love, literacy and morality, each student will identify the cultural distinctions among the various genres of these periods in an effort to make connections with the cultures of writers of previous eras and their own lives.
identify and discuss the ethical dimensions in a specific literary work
produce a well-defined thesis on a topic pertinent to the course and develop it into an effective and well-organized essay.
conduct effective research on her chosen topic, using both Library and Internet resources.
identify and correct errors in mechanics and develop a clear and readable style.

Required Texts:

The Norton Anthology of English Literature 8e

Greenblatt, Stephen, et. al., eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Volume 1. Eighth edition. New York: WW Norton, 2006.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Richard II. New York: Washington Square P, 1996.

Hacker, Diana, ed. A Pocket Style Manual. Fourth edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.

Course Requirements: For class etiquette and behavior, please see my handout: click here.

Conferences. Please feel free to come to my office, H-125, before or after class (or by appointment) and speak to me informally about your work. My office hours are M&W 12:130pm-2pm, T&Th 1pm-3pm, by appointment only.

Reading assignments. Please make sure you read all the assignments on time. You will also be expected to discuss what you have read at length in class. Participation, which is 20% of your grade, includes being in class, taking quizzes, and being prepared to participate.

Note on Research: By the conclusion of the semester, all students who pass this course will have demonstrated, in at least one substantial graded essay, that they understand the fundamentals of research. This will include doing basic research, being able to evaluate sources and citing at least five such sources in the proper MLA style in the graded essay. Some of these sources must be electronic, including but not necessarily limited to the Internet. Students must pass this essay with a grade of C or higher, and students will not be allowed to pass it unless they can adequately demonstrate their ability in this area to quote and integrate multiple sources.

Three papers: two shorter papers, of approximately 750 words, due September 30 and November 2, and one longer paper of at least 1,200 words (five typed pages) due on the day of the final exam. Topics will be assigned and discussed at length in class. All papers written for this class must be typed and must conform in style and format to the MLA System of Style and Documentation. Late papers will not be accepted. If you turn in a paper late, it cannot be revised. Please submit late papers to the revision link on ANGEL. All revisions are due by May 5th.

Response Papers: Twenty-three short response papers based on your readings, each of at least one hundred words. These are informal papers in which you discuss your response to the readings we do for class. It is the best way for you to communicate with me and, at least on paper, participate with the class in your discussion of what you have read. These papers will not be accepted late and cannot be revised. You may write additional response papers for extra-credit, but please turn in a minimum of twenty-three. If you miss a class, please post your response on ANGEL on the day it is due; otherwise responses are due in class.

Mid-term and final exams in class.

Breakdown of Grades: Participation 20%; Papers 50%; Exams and Quizzes 30%

Grading Scale: 100-92 A; 91-87 B+; 86-82 B; 81-77 C+; 76-70 C; 69-66 D+; 65-62 D; below that F. Please see the attached grading criteria for an explanation of each grade.

Extra Credit and Revisions: We can discuss this on an individual basis. Please keep in mind that you cannot revise a paper which you failed due to plagiarism.

Writing Expectations: This is not a writing class, but in a sense all college English classes are writing classes. This is a class in which your writing will be closely examined and in which you will be expected to express your opinions of the texts we will read in writing. Thus I have fairly high standards which I expect you to meet in your written work. All papers must conform to the MLA System of Style and Documentation. They must also be free of careless grammatical errors and typos. I strongly urge you to meet with me when your papers are due--if necessary, to show me outlines, rough drafts, and other pre-writing--so you can be sure that your writing is at the level that I expect for this class. You are also strongly urged to pursue assistance from writing tutors (available in the ALC).

How to reach me: Phone: (908) 709-7182. E-mail chewning@ucc.edu. ANGEL: http://ucconline.ucc.edu. Regular mail:

Dr. Susannah Chewning
Department of English
Union County College
1033 Springfield Avenue
Cranford, NJ 07016

My mailbox on campus is in the Nomahegan Faculty Lounge. Because of my very busy schedule, it is difficult for me to return telephone calls. You are much more likely to get an immediate response from me if you e-mail me during the hours of 9am and 5pm. I cannot accept e-mailed or faxed papers, nor can I relay grades (including final course grades) via e-mail or phone. No exceptions. My office hours are M&W 12:30pm-2pm, T&Th 1pm-3pm, (and this semester I must ask that you make an appointment) but please feel free to drop by my office immediately before or after class to discuss your progress in this course.

Schedule of Assignments: In addition to these assignments, there may be homework given in class. If you miss a class, you should speak to a classmate (not me) to get the assignment. Not being in class is no excuse for not completing an assignment--please keep in touch with me, especially if you have to miss a class.

Schedule of Assignments: In addition to these assignments, there may be homework given in class. If you miss a class, you should speak to a classmate (not me) to get the assignment. Not being in class is no excuse for not completing an assignment--please keep in touch with me, especially if you have to miss a class.

The assignments in this class are organized into two categories: required assignments and options. One option is required for each student for each class, and the assignments that are required are required for everyone. The options are set up as an opportunity for you to look at texts that interest you from a particular perspective, rather than simply reading all the texts I want you to read in a particular order. There are three options for each assignment after the first day: option 1 is religion, option 2 is gender/sexuality/love, and option 3 is politics/warfare. You can stick with one option for the whole course (see paper 1 and paper 3 assignments) or you can pick a different one each time; it’s up to you. Please make yourself aware of each option (I will discuss each one in more detail in class) and what you want to get out of this class in order to make selections that will be more interesting and useful to you as a student. Click here for the Option Chart.

W	9/2	Introduction to class.
W	9/9	Required: Beowulf, pp. 29-69. Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Option 1: The Dream of the Rood. Option 2: The Wife’s Lament. Option 3: The Wanderer. Response due.
M	9/14	Required: Beowulf, pp. 69-100.Anglo-Saxon poetry. Anglo-Saxon culture. Response due. Response due.
W	9/16	Option 1: King Alfred’s Preface to Pastoral Care. Option 2: Judith. Option 3: The Battle of Maldon. Response due.
M	9/21	The Legend of King Arthur. Required: “Legendary Histories of Britain,” Norton, pp. 117-128. Response due. See attached handout for more information.
W	9/23	The Mabinogi of Pwyll and “Exile of the Sons of Uisliu.” Option 2: Le Roman de Tristran. Option 3: Sir Thomas Malory, Le Mort Darthur (pp. 439-53). Response due. Post responses to ANGEL.
M	9/28	Required: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, parts 1 and 2. Response due.

W	9/30	Required: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , parts 3 and 4. Geoffrey Chaucer, The General Prologue. Option 1: Pilgrim Portraits of the Nun’s Priest, the Prioress, and the Monk. Option 2: Pilgrim Portraits of the Wife of Bath and the Miller. Option 3: Pilgrim Portraits of the Knight and the Shipman. Paper 1 due.
F	10/2	Extra-Credit: Discuss some aspect of medieval religion (ie, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, or any of the pagan traditions alive at the time, such as Norse or Celtic paganism) by choosing a divine figure (ie, saint, patriarch, or god) and finding medieval representations of that figure. For example, our textbook includes a tale of the Old Testament's Judith; or you could look at the figure Loki from Norse myth and find medieval images or other depictions of him. Look at Encyclopedia Mythica as a starting point.

M	10/5	Required: John Gower, Confessio Amantis, pp. 319-330. Gower’s Vox Clamantis and the Mirour de L'Omme (read the relevant excerpts for your option). Option 1: Chaucer, the Pardoner’s Tale. Option 2: Chaucer, the Wife of Bath’s Tale. Option 3: Chaucer, summary of the Knight’s Tale and the Miller’s Tale. Response due.
W	10/7	Required: Ancrene Riwle, excerpts, and handouts on early English Christianity. Response due.
M	10/12	Option 1: Julian of Norwich, all selections. Option 2: Margery Kempe, pp. 384-98. Option 3: and excerpts from The Vision of Piers Plowman, pp. 356-67. Response due.
W	10/14	Required: Edmund Spenser, Amoretti and Epithalamion. Option 1: “Faith in Conflict,” pp. 616-32. Option 2: Sir Thomas Wyatt, all selections. Option 3: Niccolo Macchiavelli, The Prince, chapters XIV to XXI. Response due.
F	10/16	Extra-Credit: Choose a medieval film from the following list and compare it to your understanding of the Middle Ages based on our readings and class discussions. Choose from the following list: Anchoress (available in the UCC library); Monty Python and the Holy Grail; Kingdom of Heaven; Tristan and Isolde; The Thirteenth Warrior; A Knight’s Tale; King Arthur (2004); Ladyhawke.
M	10/19	All Options: from British History Sources website: Ordinance of Labourers, 1349; Statute of Labourers, 1351; Peasant's Revolt, 1381. Thomas Nashe, “A Litany in Time of Plague.” Response due.
W	10/21	Midterm examination.
M	10/26	Required: Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Richard II, Act 1. Response due.
W	10/28	Option 1: WWNorton.com, “Dissent, Doubt, and Spiritual Violence”; Option 2: Choose any four of William Shakespeare’s sonnets, pp. 1058-1077; Option 3: Shakespeare’s Sources. Response due.
M	11/2	Required: Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Richard II, Acts 2 and 3. Film: Richard II. Paper 2 due.
W	11/4	Required: Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Richard II, Act 4. Response due.
F	11/6	Extra-Credit: Watch two of the three videos on the authorship of Shakespeare (on reserve in the Library) and write an extra response paper arguing who you think is the author of Shakespeare’s work (due by this date).
M	11/9	Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard II, Act 5 and Sonnets. Please read and write a response on at least five of the sonnets in the anthology. Response due.
W	11/11	Required: Ben Jonson, “To the Memory of My Beloved,” “On My First Son,” Christopher Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” Sir Walter Raleigh, “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,” Elizabeth Cary, The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry. Response due.
M	11/16	Option 1: John Donne, pp. 1295-1303. Option 2: Mary Wroth, all selections. Option 3: “The Wider World,” pp. 927-943. Women writers/witchcraft. Response due.
W	11/18	Required: “Debating Women,” pp. 2589-2610. (Options are available on “Gender, Family, and the Household on WWNorton.com.) Option 1: T. E. (?), from “The Law's Resolutions of Women's Rights; Or, the Law's Provision for Women.” Option 2: Dorothy Leigh, from “A Mother’s Blessing.” Option 3: “Two Households.” Response due.
M	11/23	Required: John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I. Response due. Honors Projects due.

W
W	11/25	Thanksgiving break, no class. Required: WWNorton.com, “Paradise Lost in Context.” Option 1: “Genesis and the Commentaries,” excluding Rachel Speght. Option 2: Rachel Speght, from “A Muzzle for Melastomus” and gallery of images of Adam and Eve. Option 3: “Literary Analogues and Andrew Marvell’s “On Mr. Milton’s Paradise Lost.” Response due.
M	11/30	John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II, ll. 1-500.
W	12/2	Required: John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II, ll. 500-1055 Response due. Honors projects due.
M	12/7	Required: John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IX and Sonnets, pp. 830-832. Response due. All revisions due by this date.
W	12/9	Required: Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal.” Thomas Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.” Response due.

M	12/14	Developmental Post-test date, no classes. Final Conferences. Rough draft of Paper 3 due.


M	12/21	ENG 205-051: Final exam 6:30pm-9:00pm. Final paper due.

ENG 205-001/051 British Literature Paper Topics

Please keep in mind that all papers must be typed and must conform to the MLA System of Style and Documentation. If you are an English major, I strongly recommend that you buy The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. It will help you through four years of College English papers. If not, Hacker’s Manual should be enough, but please be conscientious about format. Also, keep in mind that late papers will not be accepted and that your final paper must conform to the UCC English Department’s requirements in order for you to pass this class.

Paper 1, due September 30 (minimum of three pages). Based on one of the three options (religion, gender, and politics) for readings on the syllabus, discuss two or more texts (at least one required and one from an option, through 9/30 only) and discuss the similarities and differences of the works, authors, and historical context of the works. You may write this paper using only the texts we’ve read so far; further research is not necessary but is welcome. If you do use other sources, remember that the use of encyclopedias, especially Wikipedia, are not permitted in this class.

Paper 2, due November 2 (minimum of four pages). Choose one of the topics listed on www.wwnorton.com/literature for the Middle Ages and write a paper based on one of the following questions. Cite all sources and any additional sources you use carefully (see above regarding Wikipedia).

(a) Medieval Estates and Orders: Read over the introduction to medieval estates on the website. Then choose at least two texts, one from the website and one from your reading in class (both can be from the website if one has already been assigned). In your paper discuss the estates or levels of society represented in the texts, how those classes of society are represented, and how society in the Middle Ages can be better understood using those texts.

(b) King Arthur: Read over the introduction to King Arthur on the website. In your paper write about two or three aspects or characteristics of the Arthurian tradition as they are represented in some of the texts we have read in class and that are available on the website (choose at least two texts). Some characteristics you might look for would include religious significance (Christian and non-Christian); sexuality and love; mythology; story-telling and narrative; historical issues; or more specific ideas about specific characters (ie, Lancelot, Gawain, Guinevere, or Arthur as they are represented in two or more texts).

(c) The First Crusade: Choose one of the twelve questions listed under “Explorations” on the website’s link to The First Crusade.

(d) The Magician, the Heretic, and the Playwright: read over the material about Christopher Marlowe on the WW Norton site and in our textbook. Choose one of the five questions listed under “Explorations” on the website’s link to this topic.

November 23, Honors Projects due. If you are in Honors Studies or if you would like to seek Honors designation in this class, you can do so by completing an additional project, the nature of which we will discuss one-on-one. A typical project would be a twenty-minute presentation on a text or author we are discussing in class, complete with visual material (PowerPoint or handouts) and your own particular approach to the topic (not simply the regurgitation of a history or literature source). Any project completed for Honors credit in this class must receive a B or higher. If the grade is less than B you may receive extra-credit, but it will not earn Honors credit.

Paper 3, due 12/21 (minimum of five pages). This paper must be a research paper and should include the use of five sources (at least one of which should be electronic). The topic should reflect an issue or concern that best defines your knowledge of the development of British literature from AD 1000 to AD 1750. You may use texts from a specific option on the syllabus (ie, follow a topic through the time period of the course and discuss how it changes, develops, stays the same). We will discuss the kind of research I expect for this paper at length in class, but some suggestions for topics include:

(a) Take a topic from one of the options and choose two or three texts from different time periods covered by the course and discuss how that topic or issue changes (or does not change) over time. For example, how does Christianity change from The Dream of the Rood to Julian of Norwich to John Donne to Paradise Lost? Find at least three outside sources besides texts we’ve read this semester and discuss them in the context of the idea or topic you’ve selected.

(b) Discuss the life and influence of one of the authors we’ve discussed this semester (not Shakespeare) and include in your discussion the following: a thesis that explains what aspect(s) of the author’s life you will emphasize in your paper; a brief biography of the author; a discussion of one or more texts you’ve read by that author, providing a connection between events in the author’s life and the works you discuss; the use of three or more secondary sources (not websites) that support your discussion of the author and his or her works.

(c) Discuss a concept or idea from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, or Restoration period as it is represented by one or more texts from that period and from something more contemporary (a modern novel, tv show, or film). For example, how medieval is J.R.R. Tolkien and his representation of “middle earth”? Is the recent British tv series, Robin Hood, authentic to the tradition of Robin Hood in medieval and Renaissance literature? Is the use of witchcraft (or mythology, dragons, etc) in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series accurate according to sources from British literature? Find something contemporary and connect it to it’s pre-Modern literary roots.

(d) Discuss the historical and literary connection between the late fourteenth century as we have studied it and how it is represented in Shakespeare’s Tragedy of King Richard II. You can compare Shakespeare’s Richard to what you can learn of the historical figure, or you can compare the period based on aspects of the literature (Chaucer, Gawain, other works or figures) and Shakespeare’s version.

(e) Choose one of the major characters in Milton’s Paradise Lost and compare the presentation in this text with the representation of the same character in one or more other texts (such as the Bible, works of art, or other literary works).