English 212 D: TH 11:50-1:05

Survey of British Literature             

3 hour lecture course

 

Instructor: Dr. Marrs 

Office:        314 Jennings Hall                         

Office hours:  M         10:00-12:00

MW       1:30-3:00

                         TTh      1:15-3:15

Email: marrs@mc.edu

 

 

Prerequisites: Students should have completed or received credit for Eng 101 and 102.

 

Course Description (Catalog): A survey of major British literary figures and their works.  Fulfills the core curriculum requirement.

 

Rationale for Eng 212: Survey of British Literature:

            1.  The course fulfills part of the requirements for the students “core” at Mississippi College.  As part of the core, it is designed to help students develop critical thinking and reading skills, to introduce them to cultures outside of their experience, and to enhance their appreciation of the arts and creative expression.

            2.  The course supports the mission statement of Mississippi College by offering students a traditional liberal arts content course which stimulates the students’ intellectual development and which through the reading of literature raises issues related to the living of a balanced, satisfied and meaningful life.

            3.  This course also satisfies part of the requirements for a major in English at Mississippi College by introducing students to major male and female writers, important texts, and significant contexts in the study of British literature.

 

Learning Objectives:

            1.  The student will learn to identify major male and female writers, important texts, and significant contexts in the study of British literature.

            2.  The student will continue to develop critical reading and thinking skills.

            3.  The student will continue to develop writing skills related to clear expression of ideas and support of those ideas within a well developed essay.

 

Attendance: Your attendance is especially important in this class and your grade will suffer with more than a couple of absences!  That is not a threat; it is an observation.  See pp. 54 of the General Bulletin for details and for the appeals process; in this course, 8 absences result in an automatic “F” grade.  Appeals of absences may be directed according to the guidelines in the General Bulletin: “If a student misses more than the number of class periods specified in university policy and believes that there are reasonable explanations for the absenses [sic], he/she may appeal the absences to the dean of the school in which the course is being taught.  Students may obtain a Student Absence Appeal Form from the office of the appropriate dean” (p. 54).

 

Makeup Exams:  All makeup exams will be given on dead day ONLY.  If you miss the makeup exam on dead day, you will not be given another chance to take the exam.

 

Academic Integrity Statement:  “Mississippi College students are expected to be scrupulously

honest.  Dishonesty, such as cheating or plagiarism or furnishing false information, including forgery, alteration or misuse of College documents, records or identification, will be regarded as a serious offense subject to severe penalty, including, but not limited to, loss of credit and possible dismissal” (MC General Bulletin, p. 57). 

 

 

Outline of Topics To Be Covered:

            Students will read works from the major periods of British Literature, including

                        1.  The Anglo/Saxon period

                        2.  The Medieval period

                        3.  The Renaissance

                        4.  The Commonwealth and Restoration

                        5.  The Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Centuries.

            Works may be organized in the course either historically or thematically.

 

Text and Required Materials:

            Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors.  Seventh Edition.

            A modern English translation of The Canterbury Tales.

            Class hand-outs

            Blue books are required for all exams.

           

 

Requirements:

* Four major exams, memorizations of poetry, reading quizzes, short writing assignments, and collaborative assignments. 

* Daily quizzes and group assignments cannot be made up.  I will drop the lowest of these daily grades at the end of the semester.

* I follow the attendance policy of Mississippi College (see your college catalog).  Please note that in a course that meets twice a week, eight absences will result in a failing grade.

* Attendance and timeliness are required.

 

This course will consist of lecture, class discussion, in-class writing, and collaborative work.  Occasionally, you will be given a writing assignment that you will complete for the following class period.  We will have frequent daily quizzes on the assigned reading. To get the most out of this class, you will need to interact with the course material--think about it, write about it, talk about it, and certainly read it--not just listen to me lecture.  For this class, your participation is essential.  We will read the works assigned in relation to their historical context and talk about how the works reflect the concerns and issues of their time.

 

This course will help you gain knowledge and understanding of canonical British writers, along with an understanding of the cultural and social contexts in which these authors wrote. It will also help you develop critical skills as you actively read and write about the works studied. 

Four Exams:  80%

Quizzes: 10%

Memorization: 10%

 

Week One

Aug.23 /24       Introduction to the course

 

Week Two

Aug.28 /29       “Dream of the Rood,”  overview of Beowulf.

                        Recordings of OE language.

Aug.30/31        Middle Ages; “General Prologue” to the Canterbury Tales.

 

Week Three

Sept. 4             Holiday

Sept. 5            “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”(NOT Prologue); “The Franklin’s Tale.”

Sept. 6             “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” “The Franklin’s Tale”          

Sept. 7             Renaissance; Christopher Marlowe

 

Week Four

Sept.11/12       Test #1

Sept. 13/14      Dr. Faustus

 

Week Five      

Sept.18/19       Dr. Faustus

Sept.20/21       Shakespeare, Sonnets

 

Week Six

Sept. 25/26      Shakespeare, Sonnets

Sept. 27/28      John Milton

 

Week Seven

Oct. 2/3           Milton,  Paradise Lost, Book 1, pp.725-733; Book 4, pp.778-794;  Book 5,                           pp. 794-797

Oct. 4/5           Milton, Book 8, pp.802-811; Book 9, pp.811-835; Book 10, pp.840-848, Book 12, pp.849-852.

 

Week Eight

Oct. 9/10         Exam #2          

Oct. 11/12       The Restoration; Classical Models

 

Week Nine

Oct. 18                        Pope, “Rape of the Lock”

Oct. 20                        Swift, “A Modest Proposal”

Week Ten

Oct. 23/24       Fall Recess

Oct. 25/26       19th Century

 

Week Eleven

Oct. 30/31       Wordsworth, Coleridge. 

Nov. 1/2          Tennyson;  LAST DAY TO RECITE SONNETS

 

Week Twelve

Nov. 6/7          Tennyson

Nov. 7/8          Browning         

                       

Week Thirteen

Nov. 13/14      Exam #3

Nov. 15/16      Joyce, “The Dead”

 

Week Fourteen

Nov. 20/21      “The Dead”

Nov. 22/23      THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

 

Week Fifteen

Nov. 27/28      Virginia Woolf, “A Room of One’s Own,” Chs.1-3

Nov. 29/30      “A Room of One’s Own,” Chs.4-5

 

Week Sixteen

Dec. 4/5           Review

Dec. 6                         

 

EXAM #4 WILL BE HELD DURING FINALS WEEK—NO EARLY EXAMS.

ALL MAKEUP EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN ON DEAD DAY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Information Sheet

                                            (To be turned in to the instructor)

 

 

 

NAME:                                                                        MAJOR:

 

 

 

EMAIL ADDRESS:                                                     CLASSIFICATION:

 

 

 

What English courses have you taken at Mississippi College?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name three important English writers.

 

 

 

 

 

Describe yourself in two sentences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I AFFIRM THAT THE INSTRUCTOR HAS EXPLAINED THE MEANING OF PLAGIARISM AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF HAVING COMMITTED PLAGIARISM.  SHE HAS ALSO DISCUSSED METHODS OF DOCUMENTATION AND ATTRIBUTION TO AVOID PLAGIARISM.

 

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