Fall 2000  v  ENG 221

T 6:05-8:55  v  LL 109

Dr. Obermeier v British Literature Survey v Part I

Office Hours: MWF 11:40-12:30, T 5:15-5:45, and by Appointment in LL 214A

( and Voice Mail: 480.965.7736 

Email: Anita.Obermeier@asu.edu 

Web Site: http://www.public.asu.edu/~agaah

Mailbox on Office Door and in Main English Department Office on 5th Floor

Required Texts

Abrams, M. H. and Stephen Greenblatt, eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 2 vols. 7th ed. 2000. Vol. 1.

English Department Guide to Style.  Newest Edition. MU Fast Copy Center.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth.  Penguin. Or any edition you might already have.

Recommended Reference Texts

Harmon and Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 8th ed. MacMillan, 1999.

See also the English Department Guide to Style for additional reading suggestions English majors should be familiar with.

Course Requirements

2  5-page papers                   worth 15 % each          

2  In-class midterms             worth 15 % each   

1  In-class final                     worth 20 % 

Written Responses              worth 15 %                

  Class Participation               worth 5 %

Tentative Syllabus 

General Reading Assignments in The Norton Anthology:

Geographic Nomenclature, 2933

British Money, 2934

The British Baronage, 2937

Religions in England, 2942

Poetic Forms and Literary Terminology, 2944-60

All headnotes for the assigned authors and texts 

 A: The Old English Period

T 8.22 Introduction to the Course. The Persistence of English xlvii-lxi. Introduction to the Middle Ages and the Old English Period: 1-6, 19-22. Video Presentation.
T 8.29 Heroic Poetry: Battle of Maldon 103-9 (optional); The Wanderer 99-102; Beowulf 29-99; The Wife's Lament 102-3; The Dream of the Rood 26-28. Response 1 due.

B: The Middle English Period

T 9.5 Introduction to the Middle English Period: 7-18; The Aristocracy: Wace 118-22; Layamon 122-24; Monmouth 124-26; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 156-210. Response 2 due.
T 9.12 The Aristocracy cont.: Sir Thomas Malory 419-39; The Commoners: Chaucer, The General Prologue 211-35. Response 3 due.
F 9.15 Unrestricted Course Withdrawal Deadline.
T 9.19 The Commoners cont.: The  Miller’s Prologue and Tale 235-52; The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale 253-81; Close of CT and The Retraction 310-13; Middle English Lyrics 349-55. Response 4 due.
T 9.26 The Clergy: Langland, Piers Plowman, Prologue 317-22; Margery Kempe 366-79; The Wakefield Second Shepherd’s Play  379-80 and 392-419. Midterm 1 Review. Response 5 due.

       

C: The Sixteenth Century

T 10.3 Midterm 1; Video Presentation on the Renaissance and Age of Discovery.
T 10.10 Paper 1 due. Introduction to the Sixteenth Century: 469-99; The Religious Conflict: Everyman 445-67; "The English Bible" 539-42; Calvin 544-47; Askew 547-50; Foxe 551-53; Ascham 563-69.
T 10.17 Allegory: Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 1, cantos i, iv, vii, viii, x-xi­614-16, 622-41, 662-74, 698-710, 710-21, 734-62. Response 6 due.
T 10.24 Sonnets: Poems of Wyatt 525-31, and Surrey 569-77; Sidney, Astrophil and Stella 909-11, 916-31; Shakespeare Sonnets 1026-43. Response Optional.
F 10.27 Restricted Course Withdrawal Deadline
T 10.31 Drama, etc.: Lanyer 1281-87; Sidney, Defence of Poesy 933-54; Lyly 906-9; Golding 600-1; Ralegh 878-88; Shakespeare, Macbeth. (not in the Norton). Midterm 2 Review. Response 7 due.

          

D: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

T 11.7 Midterm 2; Video Presentation on the Language of Shakespeare and the King James Bible.
T 11.14 Introduction to the Early Seventeenth Century: 1209-35; Jonson 1292-4, Volpone 1304-93; Classicism: Jonson, "On My First Son" 1396, "Inviting a Friend to Supper" 1398, "To Penshurst" 1399-1401, "To the Memory" 1414-16; Cavalier Poetry: Herrick 1643-4, "Delight" 1646, "Corinna" 1648-9, "To the Virgins" 1649-50; Suckling, "Song" 1665. Response 8 due.
T 11.21 Metaphysicals: Donne 1233-35, "The Flea" 1236, "The Canonization" 1240, "A Valediction" 1248-9, "Holy Sonnets" 1268-72; Herbert 1595-6, "The Altar" 1597, "Easter Wings" 1599, "The Collar" 1609; Marvell 1684-5, "Bermudas" 1686, "A Dialogue" 1687-8, "To His Coy Mistress" 1691-2;Bible Epic: Milton 1771-74, Paradise Lost, Books 1-2, 9-10, 1815-58, 1961-2010. Response 9 due.
T 11.28 Introduction to the Restoration and the Eighteenth Century: 2045-70; Roots of the Novel: Behn 2165-7, Oroonoko 2170-2215; Dryden 2071-73, "Mac Flecknoe" 2099-2106, "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day" 2106-8, Criticism 2114-22; Pepys, 2122-7; Wilmot 2162-5. Response 10 due.
T 12.5 Paper 2 due. Satire: Swift 2298-2300, Gulliver’s Travel  Part 4, 2428-73; Pope 2505-8, "The Rape of the Lock" 2525-44; Johnson 2660-2, "Prologue Spoken by Mr. Garrick" 2670-2, Rambler No. 4, 2712-15; "A Dictionary of the English Language" 2719-25; Boswell 2749-50, Life of Johnson  2752-65.
T 12.12 Final Exam 6:05-7:55pm

Course Objective

This course is designed to familiarize students with the major works of the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century. Because this is, in essence, a survey course, the primary emphasis is on reading; we will survey the literature of these periods, using the assigned works as representative texts. Thus my lectures and our discussions will concentrate not only on the structure and meaning of individual works but on the ways in which these works reflect the times in which they were written and/or published. The discussions and tests will require you to make connections between and among the periods of the course. 

Course Policies

1. Tests and Papers: Separate instructions will be handed out for each test and paper. Tests are closed book.

2. Written Responses: You are expected to write a brief 1-page response for each indicated 3-hour session, handing it in that night. These responses should be informal, journal-like, typed pieces, expressing your thoughts and reactions to the text. Do not be afraid to express puzzlement and unfamiliarity or even delight and interest. I am interested in your untutored, uncritical reactions to the texts. We will leave more structured and analytical writing for the formal papers.

3. Attendance: is mandatory. The class covers about 1,000 pages of literature, and you can fall irrevocably behind if you miss even a few of these three-hour classes.  I will pass out attendance sheets, and it is your responsibility to sign the sheets. So if the sheet passed you by, come up to the desk and sign at the end of class. Your grade may be affected after 2 unexcused absences (from a B+ to a B for one additional absence, etc.). An excused absence is a doctor’s note, letter from an employer, etc. If you have an emergency situation, you can leave a message on my voice mail or email. Note: While you are welcome to check with me on what you have missed, I do not "reteach" class periods you missed during my office hours or over email. Please consult with your fellow students for notes.

4. Assignments: Students must attempt all assignments to pass the course. This means that you cannot simply skip an assignment because you are happy with your grade at the time; hence you cannot, for instance, skip the final.

5. Pertinent Web Sites: My own web site will be under construction all semester. I will keep you apprised as to the availability of materials from the web site. The English Department web site address is http://www.asu.edu/clas/english. One of the pages I recommend to check is the page about career paths for English majors.

6. Plagiarism: Don’t do it!  For clarification, see statements in English Department Guide to Style.