English 241

Oakland University
Department of English

Course Information

English 241 -- British Literature

Winter 2006


Brian Connery
521 Wilson Hall, x2254
T/Th 3-4, T 5:15-5:45, & by appointment
connery@oakland.edu

Course Description: We'll explore major periods, authors, traditions, and conventions of British literature, while developing and practicing skills in reading, analysis, interpretation, and discussion. Three continuing concerns will be the nature of the hero and the heroic, the representation of women in literature, and the representation of the monstrous Other. We'll read and discuss classic texts--primarily narrative verse and prose--from the Middle Ages to the turn of the twentieth century, including Beowulf and works by the Gawain poet, Shakespeare, Milton, Finch, Swift, Wordsworth, Coleridge, E. B. Browning, and Conrad. Students will keep a reading journal and a commonplace book, and take quizzes and three tests. Regular attendance is essential; classwork will be primarily discussion. Course Prerequisites/Corequisites – none.

Texts:

  • The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Major Authors Edition, 7th edition, edited by Abrams et al (Norton)
  • Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, (Broadview).

    This class satisfies the General Education requirements in Literature.

    General Education Learning Outcomes:

    The student will demonstrate:

  • knowledge of how literature is an expression of culture – We will do this by placing literary texts in the context of historical periods and cultural attitudes to social values, individual aspiration, class, and gender, and by considering how individual texts reflect developments and conflicts in British and/or European history and social history.

  • knowledge of literary form – We will do this by considering differences of genre (prose and poetry; fiction and non-fiction) and by developing attentiveness to other aspects of literary artistry such as point-of-view, tone, and style.

    Cross-cutting capacity: critical thinking

    Other course objectives:

  • Sense of the breadth and development of literary history: English 241 gives students a breadth of reading in British literature from the Old English Period (c.750) to the early twentieth century, and helps students “place” literature in a social, cultural, and historical context.

  • Introduction to literary genres: the course introduces students to a variety of literary genres, such as poetry, the novel, short fiction, and drama and helps students learn about the distinguishing characteristics of literary genres and forms.

  • Development of critical thinking, reading, and writing skills: students learn to locate textual support for their ideas in speaking and writing, and learn to read more closely and carefully (to go a step beyond “reading for the plot”). Students develop a critical vocabulary of literary terms.

  • Consideration and discussion of a broad range of human experience, including issues of gender, class and identity, from a variety of different perspectives.

  • Teacher preparation: Many students elect English 241 to meet curricular requirements for the STEP program. As they prepare for secondary education teaching careers, they should concentrate on developing knowledge, analytic skills, and confidence in approaching literary texts that will be useful when they enter their own classrooms.

    Policies: Faithful attendance and regular participation in class are expected.

    Students with special needs are welcome to discuss them with me. Some services for students with special needs are available through the Office of Special Advising, 144 Oakland Center.

    The grade of Incomplete is available only to students who have demonstrated regular and steady progress in the course but for whom unforeseeable and uncontrollable circumstances make impossible the timely completion of the course. Students must petition in writing for a grade of incomplete.

    Students suspected of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Students and the Senate Committee on Academic Conduct. Cheating on any course assignment may result in failure for the course.

    Classroom decorum is everybody’s responsibility. Please arrive on time and plan to stay for the full meeting. Turn your cell phone off for the duration of the class meeting. Work to create a classroom environment in which everybody feels comfortable and unthreatened. In addressing your classmates (or your instructor), in class or on the discussion list, you may argue vigorously, indeed passionately, but please maintain the same respect for others as you wish them to maintain toward you. Some links of interest:

  • Background on Beowulf: Benjamin Slade's "Introduction to the Structure and Making of the Old English poem known as Beowulf
  • Resources on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: The McDaniels Lectures on British Literature
  • Modern translation of The Canterbury Tales
  • A Harvard course on The Canterbury Tales
  • View the British Library's Caxton manuscript of The CanterburyTales
  • Listen to experts in Middle English read Chaucer's tales aloud. (Real Audio files).
  • Study guide for Henry IV, Part 1
  • Study guide for Paradise Lost
  • The Aphra Behn Page
  • The British Library's historical illustrations of places featured in Moll Flanders

    Major Assignments: The following simple formula will determine your final grade for the course:

  • Quiz average 15%
  • Journal average (1/24, 3/7, 4/11) 15%
  • Commonplace book average (1/24, 3/7, 4/11) 10%
  • Test 1 (2/2) 15%
  • Test 2 (3/30) 15%
  • Participation 10%
  • Test 3 (4/25 AM class; 4/20 PM class) 20%

    Schedule: Unless we get very tired very fast, we will adhere to the following schedule. If a class meeting is canceled for any reason, please continue reading according to the schedule.

    January

    Th     5     Orientation

    T     10     “The Triumph of English” xli-xlii;
            “The Emergence of the English Language” xliii-xlv
            “The Middle Ages” 1-5
            “Old and Middle English Prosody” 16-18
            Timeline 19-20
            Beowulf 23-74
                Sign onto email discussion list: point your web browser to http://lists.oakland.edu/mailman/listinfo/britlit to go to the home/sign-up page.

    Th     13 Beowulf 74-94.

    T     17     “Middle English Literature in the 14th & 15th Centuries” 8-12.
            Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 119-131

    Th     19     Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 131-173

    T     24     “Sounds of Middle English: General Rules” 12-13
            “Parts of Speech and Grammar” 14-16
            Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, “General Prologue” 178-198 (ll. 1-207 (general introduction, Knight, Squire, Yeoman); ll. 447-530 (Wife of Bath, Parson); ll.547-568 (Miller); ll.717-860 (The host proposes a game.))
            *Journals & commonplace books will be collected.

    Th     26     The Miller’s Prologue and Tale 198-215

    T     31     The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale 216-244

    February

    Th     2     *Test 1.

    T     7     “The Sixteenth Century 1485-1603" 315-338
            Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, Act 1 506-523.

    Th     9     Henry IV, Part 1, Acts 2-3 523-554

    T     14     Henry IV, Part 1, Acts 4-5

    Th     16     “The Early Seventeenth Century” 557-596
            “Milton” 691-94
            Milton, Paradise Lost Books 1-3 724-77

    T     21     Paradise Lost Books 4-6 777-801

    Th     23     Paradise Lost Books 7-9 801-836

    February 25-March 5: Winter Break -- go far away

    March

    T     7     Paradise Lost Books 10-12 836-853
            *Journals will be collected.

    Th     9     “Dictionaries and Rules” xlv-xlvii
            “The Diffusion of English” xlvii-xlix
            “English and Englishness” xlix-li
            “The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century” 855-875
            Behn, Oroonoko 916-939

    T     14     Oroonoko 939-962

    Th     16     Defoe, Moll Flanders 35-113 (inc. title page and preface)
            Defoe, from Conjugal Lewdness, in MF 377-382

    T     21     Moll Flanders 113-192

    Th     23     Moll Flanders 192-271

    T     28     Moll Flanders 271-334

    Th     30     *Test 2

    April

    Th     4     Finch, “The Introduction” 963-964
            Swift, “A Description of a City Shower” 967-69
            Cowper, “The Castaway” 1289-1291
            Burns, “Holy Willie’s Prayer” 1390-1393
            “To a Mouse” 1393-1394
            Wordsworth, “We Are Seven” 1427-1429
            “Lines (Composed . . . above Tintern Abbey) 1432-1435

    T     6     “The Romantic Period” 1313-1327
            Coleridge, “Frost at Midnight” 1613-1615
            Shelley, “To a Skylark” 1750-52
            Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” 1820-1822

    Th     11     “The Victorian Age” 1859-1874
            E. B. Browning, Aurora Leigh 1898-1910
            Tennyson, “Ulysses” 1929-1930
            Arnold, “Dover Beach” 2090-2091
            Rossetti, “Goblin Market” 2140-2152; “‘No, Thank You John’” 2152
            *Journals and commonplace books will be collected.

    T     13     “The Twentieth Century”2271-2283
            Eliot, “The Hollow Men” 2627-2630
            Conrad, Heart of Darkness 2302-2363

    Th     18     Catch up! Last class meeting!

    Th     20     PM Class: Test 3 3:30-6:30 PM, 110 ODH

    T     25     AM Class: Test 3 8-11 AM, 110 ODH




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