1 East China Normal University International Summer Session ENG 22 Selected Works of British Literature, Medieval to 1800 Term: July 5 th August 8 th, 2018 Time: 13:35-15:25 (1:35-3:25 p.m.) Instructor: Dr. Mark Stephenson Home Institution: Western University Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdys 11:00-12:10 Email: mstephe9@uwo.ca Teaching Assistant: TBD Course Description By way of a selection of major works of literature in English by a number of English/British authors, this course takes you on a journey through the historical periods, genres, and forms of English/British literature, from the Old English and Medieval Periods of English literature and the language, up to and including the literature of The Restoration. You will study lyric, epic and narrative poetry, and works of prose and drama, with attention paid to their use of literary form and structure, as well as to the works as products of the linguistic, historical, and cultural contexts in which they were written. The assignments for the course will provide you with training in close reading and literary analysis, and in logical and rhetorical argumentation, and will help you to develop your grammatical and compositional skills. Course Goals Students who successfully complete this course will: 1) discuss the development of English/British literature and language and textual traditions from the Old English/Medieval Periods to The Restoration 2) recognize the periods of the English language, and some of the salient features of the lenaguge in those periods 3) understand the role these periods of the language in an appreciation of the literature from those periods 4) recognize literary texts relationships to the general tradition of English/British literature 5) recognize and discuss formal and rhetorical features of literary texts 6) engage in close reading of literary texts 7) become acquainted with some of the major theoretical approaches to English/British literature prior to 1800. 8) learn about the general outline of British/English history up to 1800 9) sharpen their comprehension and writing skills
2 Required Text Black, Joseph and Connolly, Leonard, et. al., General Editors, The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, Concise Edition, Volume A. Second Edition. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2007/2009. ISBN: 9781770485808, 1770485805. This is available for download via coursesmart. There will also be a small amount of extra reading which will be posted to the course website. Course Hours The course has 25 class sessions in total. Each class session is 110 minutes in length, for a total of 2750 minutes of in-class time. The course meets from Monday to Friday each week (except for the first and last weeks). Attendance Summer school is very intense and to be successful, students need to attend every class. Occasionally, due to illness or other unavoidable circumstance, a student may need to miss a class. ECNU policy requires a medical certificate to be excused. Any unexcused absence may impact on the student's grade. Moreover, ECNU policy is that a student who has more than 4 unexcused absences will fail the course. Grading Policy ECNU awards grades of A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, D, and F. Most colleges and universities do not award transfer credit for grades of D or F. In this course, grading will be based on the following: Class Attendance and Participation 10% Test 1 10% Test 2 10% Reading Journal 20% Sonnet Analysis 10% Reading Portfolio 20% Final Exam 30% 100% For due dates and dates of tests, see the course calendar. Work must be submitted by the beginning of class on the day it is due. Any work submitted
3 once class has commenced will be considered one day late. Late work is subject to a penalty of 5% per business day. Special Arrangements Requests If circumstances in your life pose an obstacle to your getting your work in on time, you may propose an alternative arrangement. This request must be submitted to the professor in writing 48 hours before the due date for the work. Submitting the request does not guarantee that your proposed special arrangement will be approved. However, the professor will give all requests serious consideration. General Expectations Students are expected to: Attend all classes and be responsible for all material covered in class and otherwise assigned. Any unexcused absence may impact a student's grade. Moreover, SIE policy is that a student who has more than 4 unexcused absence will fail the course Complete the day s required reading and assignments before class Review the previous day s notes before class; make notes about questions you have about the previous class or the day s reading Refrain from texting, phoning or engaging in computer activities unrelated to class during class ( 不要用手机 ) Participate in class discussions and complete required written work on time Academic Honesty Students are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty. Specifically, unless otherwise directed by the professor, students may not consult other students, books, notes, electronic devices or any other source, on examinations. Failure to abide by this may result in a zero on the examination, or even failure in the course. Students are also expected to adhere to appropriate scholarly conventions in essays and research papers. This class includes paper assignment(s) in which students must give credit to all outside sources used by means of citations and a bibliography. Failure to do so may result in a zero on the paper assignment, or even failure in the course. Punishment for Academic Dishonesty Normally, a student who is found to have violated the principles of academic integrity on coursework will, on the first such offence, be assigned a zero on the work, and will receive a further deduction of 10% from her/his overall grade for the course. On the second offence, the student will receive a grade of zero in the course.
4 Readings Almost all of the readings for the course will come from The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, Concise Edition, Volume A. These readings are listed in the Course Outline, below; you will be expected to have done the readings before class for the day on which they have been assigned. There may also be a small amount of extra reading beyond what is listed below; this will be posted to the course website. You may find some of the readings a little difficult; however, we will be taking them up extensively in class; see also the Reading Journal, below. Also, see the note, below, in the Course Outline, on reading Chaucer: you will *not* be expected to read Chaucer in the original Middle English, which is how it appears, however, in the Broadview Anthology. As well, all Old English texts will be taken up in translation (although we will briefly consider aspects of the original language). Tests Tests will be held in class on the days in question (see Course Outline, below); they will be 50 minutes in length, and will consist of multiple choice and short answer questions. Tests are not cumulative the second test takes up where the last test left off. Exam The exam will take up our usual class time (110 minutes); it will be held in class during the exam period. The exam will cover the entirety of the course; it will consist of multiple choice and short answer questions like the test, but will also feature some other sections as well (for instance, identification of significant passages). Assignments Reading Journal Each Monday of the course (excluding the first), you will hand a journal of your readings for the prior week. I will give more information on this when the course starts, but essentially, you will be asked to focus on two texts from the week, and give your impressions of them; you will be asked to write 2-3 pages on each. The writing does not have to be formal; it is, to repeat, more concerned with your general impressions and thoughts about the readings; it can include accounts of your difficulties with your readings, questions you may have about them, and so on. Reading Portfolio At the conclusion of the course, you will be asked to hand in two of your writings from your journal which you have developed into more formal essays; these will be no more than 4-5 pages each.
5 Sonnet Analysis See the Course Outline for the due date on this; this will not take the form of a formal essay, but instead, will ask you to engage with a particular sonnet based on a rubric which I will hand out in class; the assignment will be no more than 3-4 pages in length. Attendance/Participation Attendance will be taken daily, and your attendance in class will form the bulk of this grade. However, your participation in class answering and asking questions, engaging in discussions and so forth will also play a factor in determining the full extent of this grade. (This supplements SIE s official policy on attendance which is given above). Students with Disabilities The professor is committed to making the course accessible to students with disabilities. To this end, students are encouraged to communicate with the professor at the beginning of term about any disabilities they have that might affect their performance in the course. ENG 22 Course Outline Note: This outline is subject to change with sufficient advance notice WEEK ONE (July 5 - July 6): Thursday, July 5 Introduction to the Course; British? English? and the Periods of British/English Language and Literature to 1800; Caedmon s Hymn (at the conclusion of Bede s Ecclesiastical History of the English People) Friday, July 6 Old English: Caedmon s Hymn (conclusion); The Medieval Period to England After the Norman Conquest, and then Language and Prosody; Bede, from Ecclesiastical History of the English People, The Coming of the English to Britain; Old English Riddles (course website) WEEK TWO (July 9 - July 13): Monday, July 9 Exeter Book of Elegies Tuesday, July 10 Introduction to Medieval English; England After the Norman Conquest in The Medieval Period ; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Wednesday, July 11 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (concl.) Thursday, July 12 Chaucer, The General Prologue from The Canterbury Tales ***Note***: Chaucer in the course textbook is in the original Middle English; I will not expect you to read it in that manner, but you can take a look at it, if you want to, and we will look at it, a
6 little bit, in class. Rather, I will post a link to the course website of a contemporary translation of the required readings. Friday, July 13 Chaucer, The Wife of Bath s Prologue and Tale ***Test 1*** WEEK THREE (July 16 - July 20): Monday, July 16 Chaucer, The Pardonner s Prologue and Tale Tuesday, July 17 Introduction to The Renaissance and the Early Seventh Century (skim this); Selected sonnets of Petrarch, Wyatt, Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare and Wroth (exact readings TBA) Wednesday, July 18 Selected Sonnets (cont.) Thursday, July 19 Selected Sonnets (concl.) Friday, July 20 Donne, from Songs and Sonnets and Holy Sonnets (exact readings TBA) WEEK FOUR (July 23 - July 27): Monday, July 23 Donne, conclusion Tuesday, July 24 Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama: King Lear Wednesday, July 25 King Lear (concl.) Thursday, July 26 Selected poems from Herbert, Herrick, Marvell and Philips (exact readings TBA) Friday, July 27 Introduction to Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I ***Sonnet Analysis Due*** WEEK FIVE (July 30 - August 3): Monday, July 30 Paradise Lost, Book II ***Test 2*** Tuesday, July 31 Paradise Lost, Book IX and from Book XII Wednesday, August 1 Introduction to the Restoration; The Restoration and the 18 th Century (skim this), Pope, The Rape of the Lock Thursday, August 2 The Rape of the Lock (concl.); Behn, Oronooko Friday, August 3 Behn, Oronooko (concl.) ***Reading Portfolio Due*** WEEK SIX (August 6 - August 8): Monday, August 6 Swift, Book IV of Gulliver s Travels Tuesday, August 7 Course conclusion and Exam Review
Wedesday, August 8 Final Exam 7