Masterpieces of English Literature ENGL 231 Fall 2016 Class time: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 3.10 4 pm Location: Culpin Room Name of Faculty: Professor Rutledge Contact details: Office hours: Course Description Masterpieces of English Literature I (3) Studies major works of English literature from 750 to 1780. Includes such authors as Chaucer, Spenser, Marlowe, Jonson, Milton, Defoe, and Swift. Credit Hour Policy Statement This class meets the federal credit hour policy of: Standard lecture e.g. 1 hour of class with an expected 2 hours of additional student work outside of class each week for approximately 15 weeks for each hour of credit, or a total of 45-75 hours for each credit. General Education Objective This course meets the General Education requirements for:- Outcome 2: Engagement with Imaginative Expressions of the Human Condition. Learning Objectives Listed below are the Learning Objectives for the course: 1. To recognize the characteristics of the major literary texts from 750-1750 2. To analyze specific texts in relation to their historical context 3. To articulate that analysis in suitable essay form Further Information about the Course Welcome to English 231 Masterpieces of British Literature I. This course covers about a thousand years of British literary history! Wow! To make the work more manageable, we will organize our readings by genre. First, we will begin with drama from its medieval beginnings until the eighteenth century, then poetry, and then prose. Instead of in-class examinations, we will have five out-of-class papers of three to four double-spaced, typed pages in length. My experience is that students often learn more and retain more when they actually have time to think through a topic and articulate their thoughts on paper. We are beginning with drama because Macbeth is being performed at the Globe Theatre on September 3rd when we are in London. I am urging everyone to attend. Other possible field-trip locales include Stratford-upon-Avon and sites associated with John Bunyan. The unique feature of studying English literature in England is that one can actually visit the places associated with the authors. As corny as it may sound, such an experience truly brings the material to life! I am eager to get started.
Schedule of topics Tentative Course Calendar Week of August 21-27: Arrival and getting acquainted. Week of August 28-September 3 DRAMA M The Beginnings of English Drama. T The Second Shepherd s Play. Reading Quiz # 1. Th Introduction to Shakespeare. F London Weekend S Globe Theatre Production of Macbeth. Week of September 4-10 M Shakespeare: Macbeth, Acts I & II. Quiz # 2. Last day to drop or add a class. T Shakespeare: Macbeth, Acts III & IV. Quiz # 3. Th Shakespeare: Macbeth, Act V. Reading Quiz # 4. F (Class Day to make up for Sept 29). Discussion continued. S Cambridge Day Trip. Week of September 11-17 M Wycherley: The Country Wife, Acts I & II. Reading Quiz # 5. T Wycherley: The Country Wife, Acts III-V. Reading Quiz # 6. Th Essay # I due. Topics to be announced. F British Studies Field Trip to Lincoln. S Stratford Day Trip. Week of September 18-24 POETRY M Introduction to the Anglo-Saxon Period. A brief history of the English language. T A brief history of the English language continued. Quiz # 7. Th A brief history of the English language continued. Quiz # 8 F Northumberland Trip (to be confirmed). Week of September 25-October 1 M Beowulf, lines to be announced. Reading Quiz # 9. T Beowulf, lines to be announced. Reading Quiz # 10. W Long Weekend Begins. Week of October 2-8 M Beowulf, lines to be announced. Reading Quiz # 11. T The Wanderer, The Seafarer, and The Dream of the Rood. Quiz #12. Th Essay # II due. Topics to be announced. F North Wales Trip. Week of October 9-15 M Introduction to the Medieval Period. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, lines to be announced. Reading Quiz # 13. T Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, lines to be announced. Reading Quiz # 14. Th Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, lines 1-444. Quiz # 15. F Lake District Trip. Week of October 16-22 M Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, lines 445-end. Quiz # 16. T Chaucer: The Miller s Tale. Reading Quiz # 17. W Class Day to make up for Tuesday. Chaucer: The Wife of Bath s Tale. Quiz # 18. Th Essay # III due. Topics to be announced. S York Day Trip. Week of October 23-29 M Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets. T Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets. Th Donne: Selected Poetry to be announced. Quiz # 19. F Bath and Stonehenge Trip.
Week of October 30-November 5 M Donne: Selected Poetry to be announced. Quiz # 20. T Cavalier Poets: Herrick and Marvell. Poems to be announced. Quiz # 21. Th Milton: Paradise Lost, Book I. Quiz # 22. F Class Day to make up for Nov. 10th. Milton: Paradise Lost, Book II. Quiz 23. S Oxford Day Trip. Week of November 6-12 M Milton: Lycidas. Quiz # 24. W Long Weekend Begins. Week of November 13-19 M Pope: The Rape of the Lock. Quiz # 25 T Gray: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. Quiz # 26. Th Essay # IV due. Topics to be announced. F British Studies Field Trip to London. Week of November 20-26 PROSE M Bunyan: Pilgrim s Progress (excerpts). Quiz # 27. T Defoe: Robinson Crusoe (first half). Quiz # 28. Th Defoe: Robinson Crusoe (last half). Quiz # 29. Week of November 27-December 3 M Swift: Gulliver s Travels (first half). Quiz # 30. T Swift: Gulliver s Travels (last half). Quiz # 31. Th Discussion. Week of December 4-10 M Essay # V due. Topics to be announced. T To be announced. Th Departure. F Flight home. Teaching Methods
Teaching Methods: 1. Lecture 2. Discussion 3. On-site field trips Books: Anglo-Saxon Lyric Poems: The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Dream of the Rood. (To be provided.) Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition), trans Seamus Heaney. Norton. (ISBN: 978-0393320978) Bunyan, John. Pilgrim s Progress. (To be provided.) Chaucer. Geoffrey. Chaucer s Canterbury Tales (Selected): An Interlinear Translation, 3rd edition, trans. Vincent F. Hopper. Barrons Educational Series. (ISBN: 1438000138) Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. Penguin Classics, 2003. (ISBN: 0141439823) Donne, John. Selected Poetry. (To be provided.) Gray, Thomas. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. (To be provided.) Herrick, Robert. Selected poems. (To be provided.) Marvell, Andrew. To His Coy Mistress. (To be provided.) Milton, John. Paradise Lost. ( To be provided.) Milton, John. Selected Poetry. (To be provided.) Pope, Alexander. The Rape of the Lock. (To be provided.) Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Penguin Classics. (ISBN: 0143128566) Shakespeare, William. Selected Sonnets. (To be provided.) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. (To be provided.) Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver s Travels. Penguin Classics, 2003. (ASIN: B004TMOFYC) The Second Shepherd s Play. (To be provided.) Wycherley, William. The Country Wife. (To be provided.) Schedule of Assignments See Tentative Course Calendar. Assessment and Grading Criteria Grade Value: Essay # I 1 Essay # II 1 Essay # III 1 Essay # IV 1 Essay # V 1 Reading Quiz Average 2 Total 7 grades for the course Reading Quizzes: Oh my! We are having a ridiculous number of reading quizzes! But in lieu of make-up work, we will drop two of the grades, leaving twenty-nine. All quizzes will be given at the beginning of the class hour; if a student arrives after the quiz has been given, he or she will not be permitted to take it.
Attendance Policy Harlaxton College operates a mandatory attendance policy that is binding on all faculty and students. Please make a solid commitment to this course. Attendance is defined as attending the entire class. Perfect attendance: 2 points added to the final course-grade average 1-4 absences: no effect upon the final grade average 5 absences: 2 points deducted from the final course-grade average 6 absences: 2 more points deducted from the final course-grade average 7 absences: 2 more points deducted from the final course-grade average 8 or more absences: failure in the course. All absences are treated equally. If a student misses eight or more class sessions (that s over 20% of the class sessions), he or she will earn a failing grade in the course. Official withdrawals with a W must be made according to the date established in the university calendar. Note: departure immediately after taking a quiz = 1 absence. Students are responsible for the academic consequences of their failure to attend class. If any assessment (e.g. in-class test, exam, paper, presentation, etc.) is missed, there is no expectation or requirement that a faculty member will accept the work after it is due, provide an extension to a deadline, or offer an alternative assessment opportunity for a student with an unexcused absence. Drop/Add and Withdrawal Policy There is normally about a 10 day period at the beginning of semester what a student may drop and class and/or add a class. The deadline date is published in the Semester Guidance handbook. Drop/Add forms are available from the library and completed forms should be returned to the same place. Faculty signatures are required for all classes being added Students may withdraw from a class, with the exception of British Studies, for a longer period of time. Again the deadline date is published in the Semester Guidance handbook. Forms are available from the College Secretary, to whom completed forms should be returned. Forms must be signed by the faculty member of the class being withdrawn from and the Principal. All students must register for, and be continuously enrolled in, 12 credit hours of study to be eligible to study at Harlaxton and remain in the United Kingdom. Disability Policy It is the policy of the University of Evansville (Harlaxton College) to make reasonable accommodations for students with properly documented disabilities. University of Evansville students should contact the Office of Counselling and Health Education to seek help with this. Students from Partner Universities/Colleges should contact their own relevant student support office. For assistance whilst at Harlaxton students should contact the College Secretary whose office is located adjacent to the Principal s office. Written notification to faculty from the College Secretary is required for academic accommodations to be implemented. Honor Code
All students at the University of Evansville (Harlaxton College) agree to and are bound by the principles and practice of the honor code: I understand that any work I submit for course credit will imply that I have adhered to this Academic Honor Code: I will neither give nor receive unauthorized aid, nor will I tolerate an environment that condones the use of unauthorized aid. The full Honor Code is available online: https://www.evansville.edu/offices/deanstudents/downloads/honorcode.pdf