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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "EN 230"
COURSE NAME: "English Literature I: Literary Beginnings to Milton"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2015
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Shannon Russell
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: TTH 10:00 AM 11:15 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: EN 110 with a grade of C or above
OFFICE HOURS:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
What makes Caedmon's Anglo-saxon dream a miracle and Eve's dream in Paradise Lost a predictor of the fall of man?  How are Chaucer and the sonnet connected to Italy? Why are the English so obsessed by the legitimacy of their kings and queens and what does King Lear have to do with it?   Who works to "invent" English literature and why?  How does John Donne make spirituality sexy and sexuality spiritual?   Why are there so many medieval visionary women? What is the importance of the flea to English culture and literature? Is Shakespeare's "dark lady" in his love sonnets really a man?   Are Eve and Satan the true heroes of Milton's Paradise Lost?

These questions and others will be debated in this survey of English literature from the Anglo-saxon period to the seventeenth century.  Students are introduced to some of the major writers in these centuries and are encouraged to see how historical and cultural changes are related to the works studied.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
This course deals with works by major writers in the English language over a period of nearly one thousand years. Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton are represented in a course which begins with Anglo-saxon poetry, continues through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concludes with a study of Milton’s Paradise Lost. 
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

In the context of the course, students should develop both their general background knowledge of literary history as well as their ability to appreciate and criticize particular texts. The importance and depiction of women in this literature as well as emerging work by women will also be a special focus of the course.
TEXTBOOK:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberCommentsFormatLocal BookstoreOnline Purchase
The Broadview Anthology of English Literature Vol II: The Renaissance and the early Seventeenth CenturyBlack et al.Broadview Press 978-1-55481-028-4     
Broadview Anthology of English Literature Vol I: The Medieval Period Black et al.Broadview Press 978-1-55111-965 or most recent edition     
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Two Essays 8-10 typed pagesEssays need to conform to MLA style guidelines. 50% (25% each)
Reader response/Initiation of Class DiscussionStudents will prepare a response to the reading assignment for the day and will be responsible for initiating class discussion. For the second assignment they will be asked to analyze a sonnet and to hand in their work on the poem selected.10% (two times of 5% each)
Mid-term exam 15%
Final Exam 20%
Participation Participation is mandatory.5%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the cours
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Attendance is mandatory. At three absences your overall grade for the course is automatically lowered.  
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE

Session Date

Session Focus

Reading Assignment

Exam Date

Week 1 Tues. Jan 20

Introduction to the Course and Discussion of Requirements
PLEASE VIEW the first episode from Simon Schama's History of Britain  series -- On RESERVE in the library

Read Old English Riddles and Charms in the anthology 

Week 1 Thurs. Jan. 22

"Caedmon’s Hymn" Read Abbess Hild of Whitby: The Miraculous Poet Caedmon and "Caedmon's Hymn" that follows pp. 11-15 of older edition of our anthology or 19-23 of newer edition.

"The Dream of the Rood"

"The Wanderer"

What is litotes and what are kennings?

Recommended reading in addition to poetry:   
The Medieval Period

Week 2 Tues.  Jan. 27

"The Wife's Lament"

"The Seafarer"

Schedule Set for Reader Response/Seminars Please let me know today if you have any potential conflicts with dates for seminars

Week 2
Thurs. Jan. 29

Anglo-Norman England: Arthurian Romance and Female Fairy Worlds

Marie de France  "Lanval" and
"Bisclavret" (The Werewolf)

 

Week 3 

Tues. Feb. 3



Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Recommended Reading in addition to "Gawain" 
In Context: The Crises of the 14th century pp. 200ff

Week 3
Thurs. Feb. 5

 Chaucer:  From The Canterbury Tales  

The General Prologue 

The Miller's Tale

READER RESPONSE 1

Recommended Reading in addition to Chaucer selections
In Context: Love and Marriage in Medieval Britain

Week 4 

Tues. Feb. 10

Chaucer 

The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale

READER RESPONSE 2

 
Week 4 Thurs. Feb. 12


 Piers Plowman 



READER RESPONSE 3:  		  Recommended Reading for Tuesday.  In Context:  Religious and Spiritual Life  p. 547ff

For Thurs:  View Simon Schama selection on The Plague in the library on reserve		  

Week 5 

Tues. Feb. 17



The Plague, Visionary Women, Dream Visions and Religious Allegory

Julian of Norwich from A Revelation of Love and Margery Kempe from The Book of Margery Kempe

READER RESPONSE 4: 

In addition to the reading view Simon Schama's History of Britain series Disc 2 Episode:  King Death

                         
Week 5 Thurs. Feb. 19

FIRST ESSAY DUE		  Thomas Mallory: Selections from Morte D'Arthur

READER RESPONSE 5: 

    
Week 6
Tues. Feb. 24		 Everyman
READER RESPONSE 6:

 Week 6 
Thurs. Feb. 26
 Thomas More's Utopia
READER RESPONSE 7: 		   

Week 7
Tues. March 3



Sidney's Defense of Poetry
Castiglione's The Courtier 

READER RESPONSE 8:


Week 7
Thurs. March 5

MID-TERM EXAM

 

 

Week 8

Tues. March 10

Spenser's The Shepherd's Calendar

The Faerie Queen  Book II Canto 12 "The Bower of Bliss" 

READER RESPONSE 9:

 Recommended Reading:  In Context "Culture"


Week 8

Thurs. March 12
  The Sonnet

Read all of the sonnets in the anthology by:
Sir Thomas Wyatt (detailed discussion on "Whoso List to Hunt" and Spenser's Sonnet 67 in "Amoretti" sequence
Sir Philip Sidney (detailed discussion on 1, 7, and 71)
Shakespeare (detailed discussion of 130, 116, 147)


    

Week 9
Tues. March 17



                         






Thurs. March 19 

                       

The Sonnet
Presentations:

1. Shakespeare Sonnet 29
2. Spenser Sonnet 75 and Shakespeare's Sonnet 60 (compare)
3. Sidney Sonnet 52
4. Shakespeare Sonnet 20
5. Shakespeare Sonnet 147
6. Milton's "On His Blindness"


                         


Thursday:  Poetic Dialogues on Sex, Marriage Anxiety and The Pastoral Ideal. 

Christopher Marlowe “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”
Sir Walter Ralegh “The Nymphs Reply to the Shepherd”
John Donne “The Bait”
Robert Herrick “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”
Andrew Marvell “To His Coy Mistress”
“Corinna’s Going A-Maying”
Thomas Carew “A Rapture”
Sir John Suckling "A Ballad Upon a Wedding" 
Katherine Philips "A Married State" 



Week 10 Tues. March 24  Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus

READER RESPONSE 10:		    
 Week 10 Thurs. March 26

  Shakespeare King Lear

READER RESPONSE 11:		    
 Week 11 Tues. March 31


Week 11 Thurs. April 2		  Shakespeare King Lear




Thomas Hobbes Selections from Leviathan		    
Week 12 April 6-10 MARCH BREAK

Week 13
Tues. April 14

                       

                       

Ben Jonson's "Clerimont's Song" p. 580
"Song to Celia," 
"Inviting a Friend to Supper" and "To Penshurt"; 
Read Herrick "Delight in Disorder" p. 756
Also have a look at Amelia Lanyer's "The Description of Cooke-ham" -- first Country House poem



Week 13 Thurs. April 16

 

George Herbert and John Donne
Read Herbert's "Easter Wings"
"The Pulley"
"The Altar"
Donne's "Good Friday, 1613 Riding Westward"


Week 14 Tues. April 21

SECOND ESSAY DUE

John Donne
"The Flea"
"A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" 
"Elegy 19. To His Mistress Going to Bed"

 

SECOND ESSAY DUE
Week 14 Thurs. April 23  John Milton Paradise Lost    
Week 15 
Tues. April 28
                       
 John Milton Paradise Lost


    

Week 15 Thurs. April 30

Meet at Protestant Cemetery (Piramide) for this last class

John Milton 
Paradise Lost