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Stephen Cohen Willard Hall 320 860-832-2751 cohens@ccsu.edu |
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This course is an introduction to British literature from its Anglo-Saxon origins through the eighteenth century. As a historically-organized literary survey, the course will have two major goals: to locate and understand the texts we study in their historical contexts, and to explore and explain the things that make those texts “literary.” In pursuing the former goal, we will locate our texts historically by asking not only how a text might be the product of its historical, philosophical, political or theological circumstances, but also how it might in turn have worked to produce or influence those circumstances. In pursuing the latter goal, we will investigate the specifically literary elements of our texts--form, style, genre--that distinguish them from their historical period’s other discourses like history, philosophy, politics, or theology. And whenever possible, we will try to bring our two goals together, asking how a text’s particular literary features are shaped by, and in turn attempt to shape, its historical context.
To accomplish these goals, you will need to do two things. First, you must complete the assigned readings--both specific texts and historical introductions--on time; please note that all reading assignments in the schedule of classes below are to be completed by the date they are listed. As you read, try to be active rather than passive: be curious, take notes, underline passages that seem important or interesting (or puzzling), ask yourself questions, and try to answer them. Second, you must come to class prepared to participate in the close examination of the texts you have read; it is here that we will work on the interpretive skills that will allow you to understand not only what a literary work means, but how it creates meaning. Again, you will need to be active, not passive, in the classroom, asking questions, offering answers, and expanding discussion.
TEXT: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, seventh edition, volume 1. All page numbers listed below in the schedule of classes refer to this edition.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Midterm:
Monday, October 21. Short and medium-length answers. 15%
2. Final Exam: Section 04: Wednesday, December 18, 8:00-10:00.
Section 05: Wednesday, December 18, 11:00-1:00.
Objective and essay components. 30%
3. Paper: 4-5 pages, limited choice of topics. Due in class, Monday, November
25. 30%
4. Reading Journal: To encourage your active engagement with our texts, I would
like you to keep a reading journal in which, roughly twice a week,
you respond to the current reading assignment or class discussion. Your
entries, roughly a page in length, should not simply summarize the text
or reiterate our discussion, but should represent your thoughts. Responses
might begin with whether or not you liked a text, found it difficult,
etc., but should go beyond these often productive starting points to explore
why you did or didn’t like a text, or how a text’s difficulties might
be resolved, or at least explained. Please buy a separate, bound notebook
for your journal, bring it to class, date your entries, and try to keep
them current; I will collect your journals unannounced several times during
the semester. They will be evaluated based not on the quality of
the ideas, but on your efforts to keep up and
to engage with the texts. 15%
5. Participation/Quizzes/Exercises: Because this class will emphasize discussion
rather than lectures, your participation is essential to the success of
the class. Be sure to complete the assigned
reading before each class, and come prepared with questions and comments.
I prefer not to give quizzes, but if participation
is low and you seem not to be keeping up with the reading, I will give them
unannounced. I may also occasionally give
you exercises, either in-class or take-home, to allow you to apply some of the
reading skills we will discuss; they will be incorporated into your
participation grade as well. 10%
COURSE POLICIES
1. Attendance:
Because of our discussion-based format, your attendance is crucial not only
to your own success in the course, but to your classmates’
as well. You are allowed four unexcused absences; each additional absence
will reduce your final grade by one increment (e.g. a B becomes
a B-). More than eight absences are grounds for failure of the course.
Absences are excused only in the case of university-sponsored travel
or confinement for illness, and must be verified by a note from a doctor or
the appropriate university official.
2. Late Arrivals: Please be on time; late entrances disrupt the class.
If you arrive after I have taken attendance, you are late. Two late arrivals
(or two early departures, or one of each)
equal one absence.
3. Late Assignments: Quizzes, in-class exercises, and journal collections may
be made up only if you have an excused absence on the day they took place.
I will not accept late journals if you are in class on the day that I ask for
them. Late papers will only be considered if you discuss the situation
with me before the paper is due. Likewise, missed exams must be discussed
with me in advance, and may--or may not--be rescheduled at
my discretion.
4. Special Needs: Disabled students or students with other special needs should
inform me as soon as possible, and I will make every effort to
accommodate you.
5. Office Hours: Willard 329, MWF 11:00-12:00, Tues. 3:00-5:00, and by appointment.
I am also available by phone (Office: 832-2751; Home: 232-1396)
and e-mail (cohens@ccsu.edu). Keep in touch!
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
OF CLASSES
Note: I say
that this is tentative because we will try to maintain enough flexibility to
give more time to the texts and topics that interest us, and
less to those that do not.
Week 1: Mon. 9/2: LABOR DAY: NO CLASS
Wed. 9/4: Introduction to Course
Fri. 9/6: Introduction to Old English History and Prosody
Read: “The Middle Ages,” pp. 1-9, 19-22
Week 2: Mon. 9/9: Introduction to Beowulf
Read: Beowulf Introduction and lines 1-11
Wed. 9/11: Beowulf and Heroism: Grendel
Read: Beowulf lines 1-1250
Fri. 9/13: Beowulf and Irony: Grendel’s Mother
Read: Beowulf lines 1251-2199
Week 3: Mon. 9/16: Beowulf and Christianity: The Dragon
Read: Beowulf lines 2200-3182
Wed. 9/18: Introduction to Middle English History
Read: “The Middle Ages,” pp. 9-15
Fri. 9/20: Introduction to Middle English Prosody
Read: The Canterbury Tales, Intro. and General Prologue lines 1-18
Week 4: Mon. 9/23: The Canterbury Tales: Pilgrims
and Pilgrimage
Read: The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue
Wed. 9/25: The Miller’s Tale and Medieval Social Structure
Read: The Canterbury Tales, The Miller’s Prologue and Tale
Fri. 9/27: The Wife of Bath: Medieval Feminism?
Read: The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale
Week 5: Mon. 9/30: The Canterbury Tales: Conclusion
Read: The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer’s Retraction
Wed. 10/2: Introduction to the Sixteenth Century
Read: “The Sixteenth Century,” pp. 469-498
Fri. 10/4: Sidney’s Defense of Poesy: Poetic Form and Function
Read: Sir Philip Sidney, Defense of Poesy, pp. 933-947
Week 6: Mon. 10/7: Sidney’s Defense of Poesy:
The Politics of Poetry
Read: Defense of Poesy, pp. 947-954
Wed. 10/9: Introduction to Renaissance Drama
Read: Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus, Prologue
Fri. 10/11: Dr. Faustus and Early Modern Social Structure
Read: All of Dr. Faustus
Week 7: Mon. 10/14: Dr. Faustus and Christianity
Wed. 10/16: Dr. Faustus and the Politics of Form
Fri. 10/18: Catch-Up and Review
Week 8: Mon. 10/21: MIDTERM
Wed. 10/23: Introduction to Prosody
Read: Sir Thomas Wyatt, pp. 525-534
Fri. 10/25: Introduction to Scansion
Read: Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, pp. 569-576
Week 9: Mon. 10/28: Astrophil and Stella: Love
and Poetry
Read: Sir Philip Sidney, Astrophil and Stella 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9,
10, 15, 16, 18
Wed. 10/30: Astrophil and Stella: Love and Desire
Read: Astrophil and Stella 20, 21, 28, 31, 37, 45, 47, 52, 56,
61
Fri. 11/1: Astrophil and Stella: Love and Frustration
Read: Astrophil and Stella 69, 71, 72, 74, 81, 87, 89, 108
Week 10: Mon. 11/4: Introduction to the Early Seventeenth Century
Read: “The Early Seventeenth Century,” pp. 1209-1232
Wed. 11/6: Introduction to Early Seventeenth-Century Style
Read: John Donne, “The Flea”; Ben Jonson, “Song: To Celia”
Fri. 11/8: John Donne and Metaphysical Poetry
Read: Donne, “The Good Morrow,” “Song” (“Go and catch a falling star”), “The
Sun Rising,” “The Canonization,” “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,”
“The Ecstasy,” “The Funeral,” “The Relic”
Week 11: Mon. 11/11: John Donne: Love and the
World
Wed. 11/13: John Donne: Sexuality and Spirituality
Read: Donne, Elegy 19, Holy Sonnets 1, 2, 10, 12, 14, 17
Fri. 11/15: Done with Donne
Read: Donne, “A Hymn to Christ, at the Author’s Last Going into Germany,” “A
Hymn to God the Father”
Week 12: Mon. 11/18: Ben Jonson and the Classical
Style
Read: Jonson, “To My Book,” “To William Camden,” “On My First Daughter,” “To
John Donne,” “On My First Son,” “My Picture Left in Scotland”
Wed. 11/20: Ben Jonson: Public Poet
Read: Jonson, “Inviting a Friend to Supper,” “To Penshurst”
Fri. 11/22: Andrew Marvell: Classical or Metaphysical?
Read: Marvell, “The Coronet,” “To His Coy Mistress,” “The Definition of Love”
Week 13: Mon. 11/25: Andrew Marvell and Gardens
Read: Marvell, “The Picture of Little T. C. in a Prospect of Flowers,” “The
Mower Against Gardens,” “The Garden”
Wed. 11/27 & Fri. 11/29: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY: NO CLASS
Week 14: Mon. 12/2: Introduction to the Restoration
and Eighteenth Century
Read: “The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century,” pp. 2045-2070
Wed. 12/4: The Rape of the Lock: Form and Satire
Read: Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock
Fri. 12/6: The Rape of the Lock continued
Week 15: Mon. 12/9: “A Modest Proposal”: Politics
and Satire
Read: Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”
Wed. 12/11: Catch-Up and Conclusion