EN 235-003: Honors Early Literature in English

Dr. Karen Gardiner
kgardine@bama.ua.edu

Course Description: Honors Early Literature in English introduces you to the early British literary and cultural traditions that still profoundly influence American culture today. The course involves intensive reading, which will include various texts from the Anglo-Saxon to the Restoration periods, including Early American writings. Special attention will be devoted to Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton. We will also examine theories of literary criticism and databases for online research of critical articles. In addition, we will examine a contemporary film and a classic television show to determine how these both incorporate and revise many of the themes the canonical writers address.

Required Texts:
· The Longman Anthology of British Literature (2nd Ed), Vols 1A & 1B (2003)
· Othello, New Folger Library Edition, Washington Square P (1993)

Special Supplies:
· Turn in 3 blank exam books before September 18
· 2 manilla folders for turning in reading journal and final paper, draft, and peer critiques

Attendance, Class Participation, and Daily Work: Attendance and participation are critical. You MUST come to class having read ALL assigned material.
· You are allowed THREE ABSENCES with no questions asked.
· After the third, a full letter grade (10 points) will be deducted from your participation grade for each additional absence.
· Expect homework writing and in-class writing or quizzes based on homework reading. (1 v= completely done, mostly correct; 0=incomplete, mostly incorrect, or not done)
· Late Policy: daily work missed due to any absence cannot be made up or turned in late.
· Your three lowest daily grades will be dropped.
· Everyone begins the semester with a solid “C” (75) for participation and earns up from there based on the quality of participation in class.

Papers: One of the English Department’s conditions for a passing grade in this course is that students write logical and carefully edited prose in a minimum of two papers, at least one of which will be commented upon, graded, and returned before mid-semester.
· You will write a 1-2 page summary & critique of a critical article.
· You will maintain a reading journal, with several one-page entries, as assigned on WebCT.
· You will write a 3-4 page response paper on a topic generated from classroom discussion.
· For this longer paper, you will be required to have a rough draft to be workshopped with a peer-editing group and conferenced or pre-read with the instructor.
· You will also be required to turn in the marked draft and peer critiques with the final paper.
· Late policy: You may turn in ONE and ONLY ONE paper up to ONE class meeting late with no penalty. Beyond that, late papers will receive a letter-grade reduction for each class meeting that they are late (i.e., due T, turned in R = -one letter; due T, turned in next T = -2 letters). Papers more then 2 classes late WILL NOT be accepted. Final paper will not be accepted late, as noted on Schedule of Assignments below.
· All papers and journals must be typed (double-spaced, 12-point font, with 1-inch margins) using MLA guidelines.

Examinations: You will have a mid-term and a final exam

Grade Distribution:
· Daily work (homework, quizzes, etc.) 10% (100 points; based on % of checks earned)
· Participation 10% (100 points; based on quality of class participation)
· Summary/Critique paper 10% (100 points)
· Reading journal 15% (150 points)
· Longer response paper 20% (200 points)
· Mid-term 15% (150 points)
· Final Exam 20% (200 points)

Paper Grades will be awarded using letters, which will be converted to a number (using the chart below) for determining final grade. If a paper is worth 150 points, it will receive 1 ½ times the points indicated below; if 200 points, then twice the points.

Final Grade will be determined by adding totals points out of 1,000 and dividing by 10. Number grades will be converted to letters as follows:

A+ = 98 B+ = 88 C+ = 78 D+ = 68 F = 59 or below
A = 93 B = 83 C = 73 D = 63
A- = 90 B- = 80 C- = 70 D- = 60

Academic Misconduct/Plagiarism: This class adheres to The UA Code of Academic Conduct, and you will be expected to sign a copy of the Academic Honor Pledge at the beginning of the semester and to abide by this pledge throughout the course. Hence, all work submitted must be your own. If you use ANY outside sources you MUST cite them according to the MLA Handbook. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. All instances of academic misconduct will be turned over to the Dean’s Office, per University policy. Punishments are determined by that office and can range from a zero on the assignment to expulsion from the University (UA 2002-04 Undergraduate Catalog, URL: http://catalogs.ua.edu/undergraduate/10480.html). If you have questions, please see me.

Student Conduct: You are also expected to comport yourselves in class according to the Proscribed Conduct section of UA’s Code of Student Conduct (UA 2002-04 Undergraduate Catalog, URL: http://catalogs.ua.edu/catalog02/11340.html ). In addition, please turn off your cell phones and beepers during class. No food in class, please; and, if you bring drinks to class, please be careful not to spill and clean up after yourselves.

Disabilities will be accommodated according to University policy. Please inform me and provide me with copies of your paperwork within the first full week of classes.

Late Instructor: Please wait for me for at least 10 minutes. If I do not appear, you may leave. Please have your next class assignment ready as scheduled. One student should report my absence to the office, as there may be an emergency that needs to be checked on.
Schedule of Assignments:
· Subject to change with appropriate notice
· Always check WebCT for specific assignments
· Assignments should be COMPLETED by the date listed

Week 1 – Housekeeping
R 8/21 Introduction to course (policy and syllabus); Introduction to Middle Ages

Week 2 – The Middle Ages before the Norman Conquest
T 8/26 Homework reading: Intro to Middle Ages (pp. 3-26); Beowulf (episode 1, pp. 27-51);
Wilhoit chapter on Journals on e-reserve
Homework writing: Journal #1a: Write a 250-300 word reading journal entry;
choose one of this week’s journal assignments to turn in. Then place it in your
journal folder.
W 8/27 Last day to register or add a course
R 8/28 HW reading: Beowulf (episodes 2 & 3, pp. 51-91)
HW writing: Journal #1b: Write a 250-300-word reading journal entry

Week 3 – Arthurian Legend
T 9/2 HW reading: The Wanderer (150-3); Wulf & Eadwacer and The Wife’s
Lament (153-5); Judith (120-5); Riddles (155-8); Perspectives: Arthurian Myth
(159-73)
R 9/4 HW reading: Sir Gawain & the Green Knight (192-248)
HW writing: Journal #2: Write a 250-300 word reading journal entry

Week 4
T 9/9 HW reading: Malory (249-79)
R 9/11 HW reading: Introduction to Literary Criticism materials on e-reserve
In class: View “Gilligan’s Island” episode 92 (“The Second Ginger Grant”)

Week 5 – Literary Criticism & Research
T 9/16 HW reading: Wilhoit chapters on Summary & Critique on e-reserve
HW writing: Journal #3: write a 250-300-word journal entry
In class: briefly discuss literary criticism; walk to Gorgas Library for 11:30
orientation on online research; select article for summary/ critique
R 9/18 HW reading: Chaucer, General Prologue to Canterbury Tales (279-84; 301-20;
focus on Knight, Squire, Miller, & Wife of Bath)

Week 6 - Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
T 9/23 HW reading: Miller’s Tale (321-37); PAPER #1 DUE
R 9/25 HW reading: Wife of Bath’s Prologue & Tale (337-64)
HW writing: Journal #4a: write a 250-300 word journal entry; choose one of the
Journal #4 assignments to write and turn in; then place it in your journal folder.

Week 7 - Mid-term Exam and Modern Film
M 9/29 First day for midterm grade submission for first-year students
T 9/30 MID-TERM EXAM (will include quote & term ids and an essay);
W 10/1 Last day for midterm grade submission for first-year students
R 10/2 In class: view excerpts from Monty Python & the Holy Grail; mid-term course
evaluations
Week 8 - The Early Modern Period
T 10/7 HW reading: The Early Modern Period (640-61); Perspectives: Government &
Self-Government (756-76)
HW writing: Journal #4b: write a 250-300-word journal entry; choose one of
your two Journal #4 assignments to include in your journal folder
In-class: final discussion of knighthood, Arthurian legend, & historicism; begin
Early Modern period; give out Paper #2 assignment
R 10/9 Marlowe (1123-4), The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus (1143-91)

Week 9
M 10/13 First day for advising for spring 2004
T 10/14 HW reading: Sonnets: Wyatt, “My Galley” (672); Sydney, #71 (1045-6); Surry,
“The Soote Season” (680-1); Spenser, #22 (955) and #75 (957); Shakespeare, #18
(1226-7) and #130 (1236)
R 10/16 HW reading: Shakespeare (1222-5); Othello, Act 1

Week 10 – Shakespeare’s Othello
T 10/21 HW reading: Othello, Acts 2-3
R 10/23 HW reading: Othello, Acts, 4-5
HW writing: Journal #5: write a 250-300 word journal entry
F 10/24 Last day for advising for spring 2004

Week 11
T 10/28 HW reading: John Donne (1647-8), “The Flea” (1655), “The Bait” (1656), “The
Ecstacy” (1658-60), “Elegy 19” (1661-2), “Valediction” (1657-8); Holy Sonnet 10
(1666)
W 10/29 Last day to drop a course with a grade of “W”; please let me know
R 10/30 HW reading: Wroth (1668-9), #77 (1673) and #103 (1674); Herrick (1674-5),
“Corinna” (1677-8), “Virgins” (1678-9); Marvell (1724-5), “Coy Mistress”
(1730-1); Phillips (1738-9), “The World” (1745-7)

Week 12 – Writing in “The New World”
T 11/4 HW reading: Perspectives: England in the New World (1354-81; Drayton,
Smith, Ffethorne, Donne, Bradford)
R 11/6 HW reading: Perspectives: England in the New World (1381-1406; Rowlandson,
Bay Psalm Book, Revel)
HW writing: Journal #6: write a 250-300 word journal entry; choose one of the
two Journal #6 assignments to write and turn in; then place it in your reading
journal

Week 13
T 11/11 PAPER #2 ROUGH DRAFT due; workshop in class
R 11/13 RESPONSE PAPER conferences

Week 14 – Milton’s Paradise Lost
T 11/18 HW reading: Milton (1810-2); Paradise Lost Book 1 (1837-56)
HW writing: write your final 300-400 word reading journal response;
READING JOURNAL Due
R 11/20 HW reading: Paradise Lost Book 9 (1934-59), Book 12 (1979-85)

Week 15
T 11/25 PAPER #2 Due (turn in with rough draft and peer critiques; this paper WILL
NOT be accepted late); course evaluations (please be present)
W 11/26 Last day for all tests; Thanksgiving Holidays Begin at 5:00 p.m.
R 11/27 HOLIDAY – no class

Week 16 – Study Week; Prepare for Final Exam
T 12/2 Milton, Samson Agonistes (1985-2028)
R 12/4 Finish Milton; Review for final exam

Final Exam:Early Modern Period (will include quote ids, term ids, short answer, & essay)

Monday, December 8 You will need pencils or pens
8:00 – 10:30 a.m. You may bring something to drink
102 Morgan Hall I will provide exam books and sausage biscuits

Instructions for Accessing E-Reserves

Several of your readings for class are housed on electronic reserve at the Gorgas Library. To access these readings, do the following:
1. Go to the UA Gorgas Library Web site (http://www.lib.ua.edu/libraries/gorgas/)
2. Click on the “Course Reserves” link
3. Use the pop-down list to find my name under “Instructors”; then hit “Search”
4. Select your course and the appropriate reading.
5. You can read it online and/or print it out to read.


EN 235-003: Honors Early Literature in English Dr. Karen Gardiner, Fall 2003

Reading Journal Instructions

Theory: Your reading journal is designed to be expressive writing (or writing-to-learn). It is NOT private writing (a diary), and you should not write anything in these Reading Journal assignments that you do not want to share with your classmates. In your Reading Journal, you should write about what you read—ask questions and try to answer them, connect a reading with other things you know, analyze how the writing works, argue with the writer, critique, respond. Your entries will probably begin with emotion, but they should do more than just emote. Here is the place where you can analyze not just the text but also your response to it. It is okay to take chances in your Reading Journal; here is the place where it is okay to be “wrong.”
Your journal assignments will be used in several ways: sometimes you may be asked to bring copies to share with small groups of your classmates; sometimes you may be asked to read them aloud; sometimes you may be asked to summarize your entry as a basis for class discussion. Your journal will also allow me to point out to you the important issues you raise. You might find topics for your longer class paper in your entries, for instance.
Procedure: You will write six 250-300 word journal entries to be due on each of the dates indicated on the Schedule of Assignments. The topics and formats for these entries should come from the attached list of Reading Journal Assignments. They should typed and turned in during the class in which they are due.
Keep these marked entries, but you should NOT revise them after they are marked.
At the end of the semester, you will write a 400-500 word response to your marked Reading Journal entries. I want you to explore how your reading and/or writing have/has changed as a result of this series of assignments and our discussion of them in class. You might also analyze your best work and explore ways you might continue to improve.
You should then place your response in your folder on top of your marked entries and turn your whole folder in on the final due date listed on the course policy.
Grading: I will mark your journal entries with a “check” for a good honest effort, a “check plus” for absolutely superior work, or a “check minus” for work that is too rushed or sloppy. In addition, you will receive an “NC” for work so poorly done or so clearly inadequate that it might as well not have been done at all; and you will receive a “0” for entries not turned in as scheduled. You may not make up journal entries, so be sure to turn them in on or before their due date, even if you are absent (e-mail them as attachments, if necessary).
You will have 6 entries in your journal, plus your final response essay. Each marked entry in your folder will earn you 12 points, for a total of 72 points. I will then add a point for each plus, and deduct a point for each minus on the 6 entries. NCs and 0s will not earn any points. Then, I will add up to another 20 points for the quality and insightfulness of your final response essay. This should total up to 92 points for work that is completely and adequately done, with the chance for up to a 98 for consistently superior work. You will not receive credit for lost work, even if it was turned in and marked earlier. Your entries must be in your folder at the end of the semester to be graded. (To be safe, you might make backup photocopies of your marked entries as you get them back.)
Reading Journal Assignments
Your reading journal entries must be turned in on or before the due date listed on the schedule of assignments in the course policy. They will not be accepted late. However, there are a couple of places where you may choose between two assignments due on different dates. If you do not opt to do the first of these, then you will need to do the second (and have it in on time). All of these assignments are based on the types of journal entries Stephen Wilhoit advises that college students should know how to write (Chapter 2: Journals, on e-reserve at Gorgas Library).
Reading Journal #1a: (choose either #1a or #1b to turn in on the scheduled dates) Read “How to Write with Style” by Kurt Vonnegut from handout and do journal assignment found on the bottom of page 3. This is a 250-300 word summary journal entry.
Reading Journal #1b: Write a 250-300 word response to your choice of a group of lines or a scene from Books 2 or 3 in Beowulf. State your reaction (positive or negative) to the lines or scene and identify what specific aspects of the reading made you respond that way. Why do you think this particular reading had that effect on you?
Reading Journal #2: Write a 250-300 word journal entry in which you explore a question you have about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. What, specifically, did you find puzzling? Then try to answer your question: how do you think the puzzling aspect works?
Reading Journal #3: Using any ONE of the five critical approaches we discussed in class, write a 230-300 word synthesis entry. Apply the reading material to the episode of “Gilligan’s Island” that we watched in class. In other words, try to apply a critical approach to any aspect of the TV episode.
Reading Journal #4a: (choose either #4a or #4b to turn in on the scheduled dates) Assuming that the Wife of Bath is telling us the truth about men and marriage, speculate on the meaning or usefulness of her words in your life. What are the consequences of her ideas? How might they apply to your life, or how might you put them to use? Write a 250-300 word application journal entry.
Reading Journal #4b: Write a 250-300 word critique journal entry, in which you analyze the strengths or weaknesses of the Monty Python comedy troupe’s parody of Arthurian legend. However, don’t record your own response to the film; rather, evaluate it according to a set of more formal criteria. How well/poorly did the troupe present any aspect(s) of Arthurian myth? Try to support your observations with references to a text or texts that we have read in class.
Reading Journal #5: In Biographia Literaria (ed. 1817, i, 249), English Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge says, “We have imprisoned our own conceptions by the lines which we have drawn in order to exclude the conceptions of others." Considering Coleridge’s statement and the question of race raised by Iago in Othello, write a 250-300 word journal entry based your personal experience. How and where and by whom are the exclusionary lines drawn in the play, and how do your own experiences confirm or contradict Iago’s philosophy?
Reading Journal #6: Write a 250-300 word journal entry in which you use the writings of John Smith or Mary Rowlandson to refute common popular-culture stereotypes of Native Americans.

EH 235-003, Honors Early Literature in English Dr. Karen Gardiner, Fall 2003

Summary & Critique Assignment: Paper #1

Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to make you aware of the wide variety of secondary research material available in the library that can help you shed light on the works we are studying this semester and that can help satisfy the curiosity I hope you feel about some of the material we read for class. You will see that there are as many different opinions about the literature as there are critics who write about it. Sometimes all of them seem correct; sometimes you may find them to be wrong. Therefore, you need to know how to read the critics and make judgments about their writing.

Procedure: Use the Library’s instructional handouts to access the MLA or other approved data base, either in the library or online. Type in the title of one of your reading assignments. Read the titles of the articles you find on the data base. If you do not understand the title—if it contains very technical words or is written in another language—go on to the next or the next, until you find an article whose title is clear to you and interests you. For example:
Reject: “Velais and Palatais in Old English Alliteration” (only for OE scholars!)
Reject: “The Half-line ‘feond’ on ‘fraetewum’ (Beowulf 962a)” (What?)
Reject: “Le Roi Arthur et la Semiotique Viswelle” (It’s in FRENCH!)
Consider: “Guenevere in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
Consider: “The Concept of Old Age in King Lear”
Write down or print out the complete entry for each article you are considering. This will include: (1) Author’s name; (2) Title of article; (3) Title of journal; (4) Volume number; (5) Year of publication; (6) Page numbers. You must copy down all of this information, as you will need every bit of it to locate your article in the library if the whole text is not available online. Print out your chosen article if it is available online. If not, locate the call number of each journal you need (use MLA’s “Master List of Journals and Series” in the front of each volume to decode journal abbreviations). Then find the journals in the stacks and scan each article to see which one you want to use. Photocopy the article. Never, NEVER cut or tear an article from a book.

Assignment: Read the article you have chosen and then READ IT AGAIN. Know exactly what it is saying so that you will be able to state the thesis and to elaborate on it briefly in your paper. Write the full bibliographical citation at the top of your paper as the title, like this:

Gellrich, Jesse M. “The Parody of Medieval Music in the Miller’s Tale.” JEGP, 73
(1974): 477-82.

Next, write a 150-250 word paragraph, summarizing its thesis and main points. Then write a second 150-250 word paragraph giving your carefully considered opinion of your article. Did you learn something from reading it? Did you agree with what was said, or not? Were the writing and organization clear? Why or why not?

Things to remember:
1. DO NOT read anything labeled DAI because this is a dissertation summary, not an article;
2. DO NOT read a one-page article or “note.” Your article needs to be at least 5 pages long.