English
3351:003
British
Literature I
Fall
2009
Thomas A.
Ryan
Tuesday/Thursday
12:30-1:50 p.m.
202
Carlisle Hall
104
Preston Hall
817-272-2758
or 817-272-2692
Email: ryan@uta.edu
Web page: http://www.uta.edu/english/TAR/tar.html
Office
Hours: TR,
2-
3:00 p.m.
Text: Norton
Anthology of English Literature.
Eighth Edition, vols. 1A, 1B, 1C
Course Description: The
primary focus of this course will be the literature of England
from its beginnings to
about 1800.
Course Goals: There
are three interdependent goals that this course will seek to accomplish
this
semester. These goals are to acquaint students with a wide selection of
works
from the first ten centuries of British literature, to provide students
with an
understanding of literary history and the British literary tradition,
and to
enable students to read, appreciate, and explicate poetry. In order to
accomplish these goals, the students will be asked to read the assigned
literary texts and the introductions in the Norton
Anthology, to participate in class discussions--both oral and
electronic--,
and to write explications of poems. I tentatively plan to devote part
of most
class periods after the Medieval period to the explication of poetry to
allow
you to prepare for these explications.
Attendance and Drop
Policy: Attendance in class and class
participation are important. Frequent absences will have a deleterious
effect
on your grade. It is extremely important that you read the assigned
material
before coming to class. I will give reading quizzes, if necessary, as
an
incentive. If for some reason you cannot continue in the class,
remember to
officially drop the course. Students may drop or swap
(adding and dropping a class concurrently)
classes through self-service in MyMav from the beginning of the
registration
period through the late registration period. After the late
registration
period, students must see their academic advisor to drop a class or
withdraw.
Undeclared students must see an advisor in the University Advising
Center. Drops
can
continue through a point two-thirds of the way through the term or
session. It
is the student's responsibility to officially withdraw if they do not
plan to
attend after registering. It is now against University policy
for
faculty members to drop students. Repayment of certain
types of financial aid
administered through the University may be required as the result of
dropping
classes or withdrawing. Contact the Financial Aid Office for more
information.
Course Requirements: In
addition to a Midsemester and a Final Examination, both of which will
be part
Scantron and part essay/explication, an exercise on the Middle English
lyric and
three (3) explications (each three to five pages in length) will be
required on
poems to be assigned throughout the semester. Be sure to
acknowledge and correctly document any secondary sources you use. Additionally,
you will be encouraged to
contribute to an ongoing electronic discussion about the reading
assignments
and your exploration of Internet resources for the course on the class
blog.
The blog may be found at http://blog.uta.edu/histbritlit/ .
Course Evaluation and Final
Grade: The
two examinations (which will be part machine-graded
multiple choice and part explication) will count fifty (50) percent,
the three
explications and ME. lyric exercise will count forty (40) percent, and
your
contributions to class discussion and the course blog will count ten
(10)
percent. The in-class and out-of-class explications will be graded on
their
coherence, their use of evidence from the poems, the degree to which
they
convey thematic and formal insight into the work, and their writing
mechanics.
Student Evaluation of
Teaching:
Toward the end of the semester, I shall ask your opinion
of the course by having you complete the Student Evaluation of Teaching
Survey.
Americans with Disabilities
Act: The University of Texas at Arlington is on
record as
being committed to both the spirit and the letter of federal equal
opportunity
legislation; reference Public Law 93112: The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
as
amended. With the passage of new federal legislation entitled Americans
with
Disabilities Act [ADA],
pursuant to section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act, there is renewed
focus on
providing this population with the same opportunities enjoyed by all
citizens.
As a
faculty member, I am required by law to provide "reasonable
accommodation" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate
on
the basis of that disability. Student responsibility primarily rests
with
informing faculty at the beginning of the semester and in providing
authorized
documentation through designated administrative channels.
Academic Dishonesty: It is the philosophy of the University of Texas at Arlington that
academic dishonesty is a
completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in
any form.
All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in
accordance
with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include
suspension
or expulsion from the University.
"Scholastic dishonesty
includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the
submission
for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or
in part
to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act
designed
to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such
acts."
(Regents' Rules and Regulations, Part One, Chapter VI, Section 3,
Subsection
3.2, Subdivision 3.22)
Student
Support Services Available: The University of Texas
at Arlington
has established a variety of programs to help students meet the
challenges of
college life. Support to students includes advising, counseling,
mentoring,
tutoring, supplemental instruction, and writing assistance. For a
complete list
of academic support services, visit the Academic Assistance resource
page of
the Office of Student Success Programs, www.uta.edu/uac/studentsuccess/academic-assistance. To help students address personal,
academic and career concerns, individual counseling is also available.
For more
information, students are encouraged to contact Counseling Services www.counseling.uta.edu at (817) 272-3671 or visit a counselor in 216 Davis Hall.
Electronic
Communication Policy: The University
of Texas at Arlington has
adopted the University
“MavMail” address as the sole official means of communication with
students.
MavMail is used to remind students of important deadlines, advertise
events and
activities, and permit the University to conduct official transactions
exclusively by electronic means. For example, important information
concerning
registration, financial aid, payment of bills, and graduation are now
sent to
students through the MavMail system. All students are assigned a
MavMail
account. Students are responsible for checking
their MavMail regularly.
Information about activating and using MavMail is available at http://www.uta.edu/oit/email/. There is no additional charge to students
for using this account, and it remains active even after they graduate
from UT
Arlington.
Tentative Schedule
(Some of the
works listed on this schedule will not receive intensive coverage in
class
discussions, but information on them will be provided in the Norton Anthology introductions and on
the class blog.)
|
Tu
|
Aug
25
|
Introduction
|
|
Th
|
Aug
27
|
Caedmon’s
Hymn, “Dream of the Rood”; “The Wanderer,” “Judith,” “The Wife’s
Lament,” Beowulf
|
|
Tu
|
Sep
1
|
Beowulf; “Exile of
the Sons of Uisliu”
|
|
Th
|
Sep
3
|
Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales:
from The General Prologue; from The Parson's Tale
|
|
Tu
|
Sep
8
|
Chaucer,
Miller's Tale; Wife of Bath's Prologue & Tale; Nun’s Priest Tale;
Pardoner’s Tale
|
|
Th
|
Sep
10
|
Chaucer, cont.; Langland, Piers Plowman,
Prologue, Passus VII, XVIII
|
|
Tu
|
Sep
15
|
Margery Kempe; Julian of Norwich
|
|
Th
|
Sep
17
|
Arthurian
Literature (119-127; 439-456); “Lanval,” Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight
|
|
Tu
|
Sep 22
|
Presentation
on Poetry; Sonnets: Wyatt, Surrey, Shakespeare, and others;
Middle
English Lyric Assignment Due
|
|
Th
|
Sep 24
|
Sidney, The
Defense of Poesy, Astrophil and Stella
|
|
Tu
|
Sep 29
|
Spenser, The Faerie Queene: A Letter ...;
Book One; Amoretti
|
|
Th
|
Oct 1
|
Marlowe, The
Tragical History of Dr. Faustus
|
|
Tu
|
Oct 6
|
In-Class Sonnet Explication
|
|
Th
|
Oct 8
|
Shakespeare, King
Lear
|
|
Tu
|
Oct 13
|
Midsemester Test
|
|
Th
|
Oct 15
|
Jonson, Volpone
|
Tu
|
Oct 20
|
Donne,
Herbert, poems
|
Th
|
Oct 22
|
Jonson; Herrick; Marvell; etc., poems
|
Tu
|
Oct 27
|
Webster, Duchess of Malfi
|
|
Th
|
Oct 29
|
Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 1, 4, 9, 12
|
|
Tu
|
Nov 3
|
In-Class Poetry Explication
|
|
Th
|
Nov 5
|
Bunyan; Dryden, Criticism, “MacFlecknoe,” Absalom
and Achitophel
|
|
Tu
|
Nov 10
|
Pepys; Congreve, The Way of the World;
Astell; Defoe
|
|
Th
|
Nov 12
|
Swift, Gulliver’s Travels: Part 3, Part 4;
|
|
Tu
|
Nov 17
|
Pope, An Essay on Criticism, An Essay on Man
|
|
Th
|
Nov 19
|
Gay, The Beggar’s Opera
|
|
Tu
|
Nov 24
|
Debating Women (2589ff); Hogarth; Out-of-class
explication due
|
|
Th
|
Nov 26
|
Thanksgiving
|
|
Tu
|
Dec 1
|
Johnson, A
Dictionary . . ., The Preface to Shakespeare, Lives of the Poets
|
|
Th
|
Dec 3
|
Thomson, Gray, Goldsmith,
Crabbe, Cowper
|
|
Th
|
Dec 10
|
Final Exam 11:00 a.m. - 1:30
p.m.
|