DESCRIPTION
| REQUIREMENTS | TEXTS
| SCHEDULE | TOOLS
| QUIZZES
|
©D.W.
Mosser
|
ENGL
2515
Survey
of British Literature
| Daniel
Mosser |
|
| Office:
Shanks 229 |
(540)
231-7753 |
| Classroom:
Pamplin 1010 |
FAX:
231-5692 |
| CRN
92406 |
Office
Hours:
10:30-12
MW & by appointment |
Fall
2005: MW 2:30-3:45PM
|
©D.W.
Mosser |
class e-mail list: 2515.05@wiz.cath.vt.edu
(Second
draft 8/18/05: subject to revision)
This
course examines the literature of the Old, Middle, and Early Modern English
periods and the contexts (literary, historical, social) that informed it.
Some texts that we will read include Beowulf, Chaucer's "General
Prologue" to the Canterbury Tales, the "Pardoner's
Prologue and Tale," Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, selections
from Morte Darthur, Book 1 of Spenser's Fairie Queene, Shakespeare's
Henry IV, Part 1, Books I & IX of Paradise Lost, extracts
from Pepys' Diary, and Gulliver's Travels.
Texts
Texts may be purchased at the Tech
Bookstore / 118 S. Main
St. / 552-6444]
Requirements
Plagiarism
is a violation of the Tech
Honor Code and, more to the point, a violation of intellectual integrity.
Such violations will be subject to the severest academic penalties. DON'T
DO IT! If you don't understand what plagiarism is, be sure to visit
the link at the head of this paragraph. If you still have questions, or have
questions at anytime during the semester, ASK BEFORE YOU TURN IN YOUR WORK.
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Schedule
(click here
for a "printer-friendly" version)
[Readings
are to be done before class on the date they are assigned]
| Mon.,
Aug. 22 |
Introductory
sort of stuff: resources, language, etc. |
| Wed.,
Aug. 24 |
NAEL
1a, pp. 1-22; Beowulf, 29-49 (through line 835) |
| Mon.
Aug. 29 |
Finish
Beowulf; Quiz
1 due by midnight |
| Wed.
Aug. 31 |
Discuss
translations of Beowulf. |
| Mon.,
Sept. 5 |
NAEL
1a, pp. 23-26: "Cædmon's Hymn"; begin Sir Gawain:
pp. 156-68, through line 490 |
| Wed.
Sept. 7 |
Quiz
2 due before class; Finish
Sir Gawain |
| Mon.,
Sept. 12 |
Discuss
translations of SGGK; begin Chaucer's General Prologue:
pp. 210-26, through line 446 |
| Wed.
Sept. 14 |
Finish
the General Prologue;
first translation critique due by midnight |
| Mon.,
Sept. 19 |
Pardoner's
Prologue & Tale;
Quiz
3 due by midnight |
| Wed.
Sept. 21 |
Morte
Darthur, pp. 419-39 |
| Mon.,
Sept. 26 |
NAEL
1b, pp. xxxvi-1 ("The Persistence of English") pp.
538-42: The
English Bible (538-544); Askew (547-8);"The First Examination of
Anne Askew" (548-50). Foxe (551-3); Ascham, "The Schoolmaster"
(565-67) |
| Wed.
Sept. 28 |
Spenser's
Faerie Queene, pp. 622-52; "Roadmap"
to Book I of the Faerie Queene" ;
Quiz
4 due by midnight |
| Mon.
Oct. 3 |
No
class today |
| Tues.
Oct. 4 |
Second
translation critique due by noon (revised due date) |
| Wed.
Oct. 5 |
Faerie
Queene, pp. 652-721 |
| Fri.
Oct. 7 |
Take-home
midterm due by midnight |
| Mon.
Oct. 10 |
Fall
Break |
| Wed.
Oct. 12 |
Faerie
Queene, pp. 721-72
|
| Mon.
Oct. 17 |
Sidney,
The Defense of Poesy, headnotes (pp. 919-11; 933-4); pp. 935-54;
Marlowe, headnote (pp. 970-1); "The Passionate Shepherd to His
Love" (989-90);
Quiz
5 due by midnight |
| Wed.
Oct. 19 |
Shakespeare's
Sonnets, NAEL 1b, pp. 1026-43 |
| Mon.
Oct. 24 |
Henry
IV, Part 1 (Signet paperback) |
| Wed.
Oct. 26 |
Quiz
6 due before class; Henry
IV, Part 1)
|
| Mon.
Oct. 31 |
Video
of Henry IV, Part 1 |
| Wed.
Nov. 3 |
NAEL
1b, 1209-35; Donne, "The Flea" (1236), "Song"
(1237-8), "The Bait" (1247). "Elegy 19. To His Mistress
Going to Bed" (1256-7); Aemilia Lanyer (1281-2);"Eve's Apology
in Defense of Women" (1285-7), "The Description of Cooke-ham"
(1287-92); Jonson (1292-4); "To Penshurst" (1399-1401); "To
the Memory of William Shakespeare" (1414-16); NAEL 1b, Marvell
(1684-5); "To His Coy Mistress" (1691-2) |
| Mon.
Nov. 7 |
NAEL
1b, Milton,
(1771-74);
Paradise Lost, Book 1: pp. 1815-36 |
| Wed.
Nov. 9 |
NOTE
CHANGE: NAEL 1b, Milton, Paradise Lost, Book
9: pp. 1961-1986;
Quiz
7 due by midnight |
| Mon.
Nov. 14 |
NAEL
1c, pp. 2045-70; Dryden, "In Praise of Chaucer" (2121-2);
Pepys' Diary, (2122-31); Locke (2145-6); "Concerning Human
Understanding" (2146-50); Johnson (2660-2); "A Dictionary
of the English Language" (2719-25); "The Preface to Shakespeare"
(2725-36) |
| Wed.
Nov. 16 |
Swift,
Gulliver's Travels, pp. 2329-64 |
| Fri.
Nov. 18 |
Quiz
8 due by midnight |
|
Nov.
19-27 |
Thanksgiving
Break |
| Mon.
Nov. 28 |
Swift,
Gulliver's Travels, pp. 2364-414 |
| Wed.
Nov. 30 |
Swift,
Gulliver's Travels, pp. 2414-79;
Term papers/projects due |
| Mon.
Dec. 5 |
Quiz
9 due by midnight; finish
Gulliver's Travels; Dream of the Rood (NAEL 1a, pp. 26-8).
|
| Wed.
Dec. 7 |
Evaluations;
Final Exam info. |
| Monday,
December 12: 3:25-5:25PM |
Final
Exam
|
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Tools
-
Oxford
English Dictionary, online
(on-campus/e-proxy only)
-
-
-
-
-
-
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Translation
Critiques
Since much of what we read
in the early part of this class is translated from an early form of English
into a modern equivalent, it is worth considering, I think, what that means:
on the plus side, this makes your access to those texts easier and expedites
your reading of the material. But there is always a trade-off involved in
reading a translated text, and these excercises are intended to make you more
aware of these consequences.
We will practice for these
by looking at several translations of a passage from Beowulf and
the "original." The two texts you will write on will be Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight and early English translations of the Bible.
Your critiques should be 2.5-3 pp. each and consider issues such as word choice
(does a particular word or phrase constrain meaning in a particular way, provide
greater resonance or ambiguity, or what?); reflection of poetic devices in
the original (where appropriate: e.g., rhyme, alliteration); syntax (the organization
of words into phrases and sentences); clarity of expression. For the Bible
passages you won't really have an "original" to work from, so you
will have to look closely at what the passages have in common and consider
the impact of the ways in which they vary.
In evaluating your critiques,
I will look at how well you frame your discussion (thesis statement), its
organization, your use of specific detail to support and illustrate the assertions
of your thesis, and the quality of your own writing (cohesiveness, word choice,
sentence structure, absence of grammatical and mechanical problems). More
details as we get closer to the first assignment...
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Quizzes
The quizzes for this class
are "Whiz Quizzes," which you will take online. The threshhold is set to 70%,
meaning that no grades below that are reported and once you have achieved
at least that score, whatever you achieve (70% or better) is recorded as your
grade. Quizzes are worth a maximum of 5 points each; I will drop the three
lowest scores (or as many as there might end up being over the six that will
be counted) . Any quizzes taken after the day and time the quiz is due will
receive no higher than half credit. Be
sure to click on the "Submit for grading" button at the bottom of the quiz!
Here
is a tentative description of what the quizzes will cover:
Quiz
1 covers the Introductory Material in
NAEL 1a, Beowulf. Click here
for the quiz.
Quiz 2 covers
"Cædmon's Hymn" and Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight. Click here
for the quiz.
Quiz 3 covers
Chaucer's General Prologue, and the Pardoner's Prologue
and Tale. Click here
for the quiz.
Quiz 4 covers
the Morte Darthure, NAEL
1b, pp. xxxvi-1, pp. 538-542;
547-553; 565-567. Click here
for the quiz.
Quiz 5 covers
The Faerie Queene, Book 1; Sidney (933-4; 935-54); Marlowe (970-1;989-90);
Click here
for the quiz.
Quiz 6 covers
Henry IV, Part One. Click here
for the quiz.
Quiz 7 covers
the Donne, Lanyer, and Johnson readings (NAEL 1b, pp. 1209-35; 1236; 1237-8;
1256-7; 1281-2; 1287-92; 1292-4; 1399-1401; 1414-16; 1684-5; 1691-2); John
Milton (1771-74); Paradise Lost, Books 1 and 9. Click here
for the quiz.
Quiz 8 covers
NAEL 1c, "Introduction:
(pp. 2045-70); Dryden,, (2071-2); "In Praise of Chaucer" (2121-2);
Pepys' Diary, (2122-31); Locke (2145-6); "Concerning Human Understanding"
(2146-50); Johnson (2660-2); "A Dictionary of the English Language"
(2719-25); "The Preface to Shakespeare" (2725-36); Gulliver's
Travels, pp. 2329-64. Click here
for the quiz.
Quiz
9 covers Gulliver's Travels, pp. 2364-2479. Click
here for the quiz.
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| DESCRIPTION
| REQUIREMENTS | TEXTS
| SCHEDULE | TOOLS
| QUIZZES