ENGLISH 240F ( )

Transcription

1 ENGLISH 240F ( ) DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Instructor: Dr Michael Ullyot Office: Social Sciences 1106 Phone: (403) FACULTY OF HUMANITIES UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Web: Office hours: By appointment (phone or ) COURSE DESCRIPTION & GOALS This is a survey of literature in English from the 7th to the 21st century, from its origins to its contemporary forms and interpretations. It is also a gathering of texts designed to provoke thought and conversation: to stock your mind with ideas, and to provoke your arguments about them. Our reading list follows two tracks: the chronology of English literature (in the Norton Anthology of Poetry) and the criticism of John Carey (in his polemic What Good Are the Arts?). By the end of this course, you will know the major periods, genres, and movements of English literary history as presented in the anthology, and in our readings of William Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, Lewis Carroll, E. M. Forster, and Zadie Smith. You will also learn techniques to read and interpret the poetry, prose, and drama of any period. You will develop your ability to think critically and irreverently; and to make oral and written arguments that are clear, logical, and substantive. You will critique the canonical status of representative texts in literary history, and explore their alternatives. You will learn how texts intersect with one another, and with music and visual arts. And you will explore literature s indistinctness, in Carey s phrase its refusal to resolve the conflicts it provokes. TEXTBOOKS These books are available in the university bookstore. But you can also find most of them used online; try (Make sure that you order the right edition and year, as noted.) Required: 1. The Norton Anthology of Poetry, Shorter Fifth Edition, ed. Ferguson, Salter, and Stallworthy (2005) 2. John Carey, What Good Are the Arts? (Faber & Faber, 2005) 3. William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida (any edition; I ve ordered The Oxford Shakespeare, 1982) 4. Samuel Johnson, The History of Rasselas (Penguin Classics, 1976; reprinted 1985) 5. Lewis Carroll, Alice s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (Penguin Classics, 1998) 6. E. M. Forster, Howards End (Penguin Classics, 2000) 7. Zadie Smith, On Beauty (Penguin, 2005) Recommended: 8. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, Fourth Edition, ed. Cuddon TEXTS & READINGS: FALL SESSION Read these texts before each class, and be prepared to discuss them. {R}=Recommended readings. Please bring your textbooks to class. Page references are to the Norton Anthology, except those to Carey. Sept 10 I NT R O D UC T I O N Course Requirements and Policies ENGLISH 240F Page 1 of 6

2 Critical Reading, Thinking, and Writing The Reading List Sept 12 P OE T R Y Pound: In a Station of the Metro [846] Williams: The Red Wheelbarrow [829-30]; This is Just to Say [830] Koch: Variations on a Theme by William Carlos Williams {R} [1053] Carroll: Jabberwocky; Humpty Dumpty s Explication [736-38] Sept 14, 17, 19 P OE T I C S Carey: Introduction, What is a work of art? from What Good Are the Arts? [xi-31] Thomas: In My Craft or Sullen Art [990-91]; Hughes: The Thought-Fox [ ] Lowell: Epilogue [1009]; Seth: The Golden Gate (excerpt) [ ] Stallworthy: Versification (Rhythm, Meter, Rhyme) [ ] Marlowe: The Passionate Shepherd to His Love [168] Spenser: The Faerie Queene (Proem to Book I) [125-26] Hardy: The Darkling Thrush [746-47] Sept 21 Sept 24 Sept 26 Sept 28, Oct 1 Oct 3, [No class Oct 5], 10, 12 Oct 15, 17 Oct 19 Oct 22, 24, 26(s1), 29, 31, Nov 2(s2) Nov 5 Nov 7, 9(s1) Nov 14, 16(s2) A NG L O-SAX O N S Anon: Cædmon s Hymn [1]; Levertov: Cædmon [ ] Anon: Riddles [10-11]; Raine: A Martian Sends a Postcard Home [ ] Anon: The Seafarer [11-14] Anon: Beowulf (trans. Heaney) (excerpts) [2-10] C HA UC E R Chaucer: The General Prologue from The Canterbury Tales [15-35] [Response Paper Due: Wednesday, October 10, at the beginning of class (1:00 p.m.)] O N S HA K E SPEARE Carey: Is high art superior? from What Good Are the Arts? [32-64] Jonson: To the Memory of William Shakespeare [217-19] Milton: On Shakespeare [260]; Arnold: Shakespeare {R} [704] Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida (EA R L Y) M O DE R N LOV E Wyatt: My Lute Awake! [105-6] Stallworthy: Versification (The sonnet) [ ] Daniel: Delia (1, 50) [164-66] Drayton: Idea ( To the Reader of these Sonnets, 6) {R} [166-67] Sidney: Astrophil and Stella (1, 31, 49, 71, 90) [157-62] Shakespeare: Sonnets (18, 29, 30, 55, 71, 73, 106, 116, 130, 138) [170-79] Meredith: Modern Love (30) {R} [717] Nov 19 CR I T I C I S M Jonson, Timber: or Discoveries (excerpts) [handout: Vickers 559, , ] [complete text at Nov 21 Nov 23 TH E S E V E N T E E NT H CE NT UR Y Donne: The Sun Rising [193-94]; A Valediction Forbidding Mourning [198-99]; The Relic {R} [202-03] Herrick: The Argument of his Book [225]; Delight in Disorder [226] Jonson: Still to be Neat [216] ENGLISH 240F Page 2 of 6

3 Nov 26 Herrick: To the Virgins, to make Much of Time [228] Marvell: To his Coy Mistress [293-94] Nov 28 S HA PE P OE T R Y Herbert: Prayer (I); Jordan (I); Easter Wings [236-40]; The Altar {R} [235] Hollander: Swan and Shadow [1104]; Mahon: The Window [1196] Nov 30, Dec 3 M I L T ON Ferguson: Poetic Syntax [ ] Milton: Paradise Lost (excerpts) [276-80] Marvell: The Garden [296-98]; Meredith: Lucifer in Starlight {R} [718] Dec 5 Dec 7 OPERA Tate (libretto) and Purcell (music): Dido and Aeneas [ Mid-year Exam (in class) TEXTS & READINGS: WINTER SESSION Jan 14 Jan 16 Jan 18 Jan 21 Jan 23, 25, 28 LO ST V OI C E S Bradstreet: The Prologue [282-84]; The Author to Her Book [285-86]; Verses upon the Burning of Our House [287-88] Grey: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard [410-13] Woolf: A Room of One s Own (excerpt) [handout] TH E G O O D LIFE Carey: Do the arts make us better? from What Good Are the Arts? [96-134] Johnson: The History of Rasselas Jan 30, Feb 1, 4 BLAKE Blake: Songs of Innocence; Songs of Experience (excerpts) [441-48] Feb 6, 8, 11 Feb 13, 15 [Reading Week] Feb 25 Feb 27, 29 Mar 3 Mar 5 Mar 7, 10, 12, 14(s1), 17 NAT UR E Thomson: Winter (excerpt) [394-97] Wordsworth: My Heart Leaps Up [478]; Expostulation and Reply [456-57]; The Tables Turned [457-58] Whitman: When I Heard the Learn d Astronomer {R} [689] Wordsworth: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud [483]; Lines Tintern Abbey [458-62] R O MA NT I C S Coleridge: Kubla Khan [486-87] Shelley: Ozymandias [541]; Ode to the West Wind [543-45]; To a Skylark [547-49] Keats: On First Looking into Chapman s Homer [567-68]; When I Have Fears {R} [568-69]; Ode on a Grecian Urn [585-86] V I C T OR I A NS Tennyson: Ulysses [629-31]; The Lady of Shalott {R} [621-25] Carroll: Alice s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass ENGLISH 240F Page 3 of 6

4 Mar 19,24,26,28(s2) Mar 31 BL O OM SB UR Y Forster: Howards End Carey: Literature and indistinctness, Afterword from What Good Are the Arts? [213-60] Apr 2 Apr 4 M O DE R NI SM Yeats: When You Are Old [769]; Adam s Curse [769-70]; The Second Coming [774]; The Lake Isle of Innisfree {R} [768-69] Auden: The Shield of Achilles [946-47]; Musée des Beaux Arts [939] Williams: Landscape with the Fall of Icarus {R} [838] Apr 7 (HU MA N) NAT UR E Thomas: The Force That Through the Green Fuse [986-87]; Fern Hill [989-90] [Critical Paper Due: Monday, April 7, at the beginning of class (1:00 p.m.)] Apr 9, 11, 14, 16 Apr 18 Apr M O DE R N LOV E Smith: On Beauty Hughes, Theme for English B [915-16] Review and catch-up Exam Period N.B. You must be available for examinations up to the last day of the exam period. EVALUATION Participation 20% Response Paper, October 5 10% Mid-year exam, December 7 20% Critical Paper, April 7 30% Final Exam 20% Each component is graded on a percentage scale. At right are their equivalents in the University of Calgary s official grading system. You must complete all four assignments (two papers and two exams) to earn a passing grade in the course. 90+ % A/A % A % B % B % B % C % C % C % D % D % F 0 PARTICIPATION (20%) Your participation grade depends on two components: your regular readings of the assigned texts; and your readiness to discuss them in class and in seminars, including your ed responses to discussion questions (see below). You can improve this grade by doing either a Poetry Recital or the Bonus Exercise (see next page). ENGLISH 240F Page 4 of 6

5 In September, I will divide the class into two seminar groups (s1 and s2) who will meet with me on occasional Fridays for seminars. These six (6) seminars are noted in the calendar. (That means you are responsible for coming to three seminars this year.) The seminars give you the opportunity to discuss the assigned reading(s), and to exchange ideas with your peers. Two days before the seminar, me a short answer (about 100 words, or five sentences) to the pre-assigned question on that day s text; I will use these comments anonymously to begin our conversations. Poetry Recitals: Learn a poem by heart, and you have it forever, writes John Carey. Memorize a poem from the reading list, or part of a poem or play, and recite it to the class. Be prepared for questions about tone, emphasis, emotions, and other elements of your interpretation. I will circulate a sign-up sheet in September. You must do your recital on the date you sign up for. It will count for ¼ of your participation grade, or 5% of your grade in the course. If you miss your recital for any reason, or if you would prefer not to do one, you can only make up for it by completing the Bonus Exercise (below). Bonus Exercise: Write a 750-word introduction to a poem in the Norton Anthology that deserves to be on our reading list. Find a poem from the 18th, 19th, or 20th centuries (i.e. from p. 303 onward) whose themes and style complement other texts we have read. (For instance, do any of Seamus Heaney s poems echo the themes and style of his Beowulf translation?) Then choose another poem of comparable length that is on our reading list, and argue why it ought to be replaced with yours. I m especially interested in finding poems by authors who aren t on the list yet, including women. This exercise can boost your grade in the course by up to 5%. You must submit your introduction by March 19. RESPONSE PAPER (10%) The Response Paper, due October 10 at 1:00 p.m., requires you to download a podcast from the BBC Radio 4 program In Our Time [ (If you need a computer to access and play MP3 files, contact me.) After you listen to this program about Geoffrey Chaucer, answer the following question in a 750-word essay: Carolyne Larrington refers to the Canterbury Tales presenting a conspectus of society, with characters from almost every social level. What does she say about their moral conduct? How does Chaucer describe this conduct? Quote his descriptions of at least two characters in your answer. Guidelines Use only the evidence of Chaucer s text to make your argument; do not do external research. 750 words is a strict maximum. Do not waste precious words on long introductions or conclusions, or on vague statements like In this essay I will discuss. Plunge directly into your argument, and write with economy and concision. Use each of the four rhetorical modes discussed in class: analysis, description, paraphrase, and quotation. CRITICAL PAPER (30%) The Critical Paper will involve sustained analysis (2500 words maximum) of at least one text studied in class. It is due on April 7 at 10:00 a.m. I will provide questions for this paper early in the Winter session. One week before the paper is due, you must me a brief outline of your argument, including a provisional thesis statement. This outline will be weighed in the determination of your final mark. ENGLISH 240F Page 5 of 6

6 SUBMISSION POLICIES & ACADEMIC INTEGRITY I do not give extensions. I penalize late papers submitted after 1:00 p.m. on the due date at a rate of 5% daily for the first two days, and 1% daily thereafter, excluding weekends and university holidays. (For example, a paper due on Wednesday the 10th that you submit on Monday the 15th would be penalized 11%.) The only legitimate excuse for late submissions is a documented medical emergency as opposed to less drastic misfortunes like the deaths of beloved family pets. Last-minute technological malfunctions (mail servers, printers) are your own responsibility, but you can prevent them from costing you marks by finishing before the due date. You can submit papers in hard copy or by , in one of three formats: RTF, DOC, or PDF. However, until I send you a reply to confirm that I can read your file, it has not officially arrived (for the purpose of calculating late penalties). N.B. Please make all efforts to submit printed papers directly to me, in class. If that is impossible, take your paper to the Department office (SS1152) and put it in the drop-box, where your paper will be date-stamped and placed in my mailbox. Always keep a copy in case of loss. Papers will not be returned by office staff. Using any source whatsoever without clearly documenting it is a serious academic offense. If you submit an assignment that includes material (even a very small amount) that you did not write, but that is presented as your own work, you are guilty of plagiarism. The consequences include failure on the assignment or in the course, and suspension or expulsion from the university. For details, see RESOURCES My guide to effective critical writing includes advice on drafting and revising, managing your time, citing secondary sources, and avoiding plagiarism: The Department s guide to essay presentation: English Department Website: Offers information about courses, programs, policies, events and contacts in the Department of English. Students with disabilities: If you are a student with a disability who may require academic accommodation, you must register with the Disability Resource Centre ( ), and discuss your needs with me no later than fourteen (14) days after the start of this course. Grade appeals: Consult the University Calendar under Reappraisal of Grades and Academic Appeals. Please note that mere dissatisfaction with a decision is not sufficient grounds for the appeal of a grade or other academic decision. Safewalk Program: Campus Security will escort individuals day or night: call Use any campus phone, emergency phone or the yellow phone located at most parking lot pay booths. ENGLISH 240F Page 6 of 6