English 6250: #22042
W 5:30-8:20 pm
Fall 2007
SS 229
|
Dr. M. Diane Krantz |
dkrantz@weber.edu |
|
344 Social Sciences |
Phone 626-6543 |
|
Off. Hours: M & T: 9-9:45 am; W 4:30-5:15 pm or by appointment |
Course Description:
Seminar in British Literature (3-3.5 credits):
This course covers includes texts by the most influential writers of the Sixteenth
and early Seventeenth Centuries in England. The writings reflect the profound
changes in English culture and society brought about by (amoung
other things) the Italian Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, increasing
nationalism and colonialism, and the growing power of the middle class. We will
read poetry, prose, drama, and essays, by authors whose works span the period.
In the case of well-known figures such as Shakespeare, Spenser, and Milton, we
will read works not usually studied in courses devoted to those writers.
Because the course is a seminar, each student will be responsible for leading one class period. I will supply material for the
remainder of the classes, but you are responsible for the reading and for
contributing to discussion in each class.
Texts: All of
the following can be found on Amazon.com. If you prefer book
stores, don’t worry about the editions except for the prose by More. I
recommend the paperback versions.
Baldassare Castiglione The Book of the Courtier (Dover Value Editions)
Thomas More’s Utopia
(Crofts Classics) by Thomas, Sir, Saint More and H. V. S. Ogden (Jun 1949)
Philip Sydney’s Astrophil and Stella and Defense of Poesy or Apology for Poetry
Edmund Spenser’s Shepherd’s Calendare. (Amazon has used and new versions of
the Norton Critical Edition of Edmund Spenser’s Poetry)
Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine
(Dover Thrift Editions)
Webster’s Duchess of Malfi (and other plays) (Oxford World's
Classics) by John Webster and Rene Weis
John Donne's Poetry
(Norton Critical Edition) ed. Donald R. Dickson (Nov 19, 2006)
George Herbert The Complete
English Poems (Penguin Classics) by George Herbert and John Tobin
(Jun 28, 2005)
Milton’s Lycidas
and selected other poems. The
Complete Poems (John Leonard ed. Penguin Classics)
William Shakespeare The Sonnets
and A Lover's Complaint (New Penguin Shakespeare) by William
Shakespeare and John Kerrigan (Feb 3, 1987)
Course Format:
This course will meet three hours weekly. Lectures will be supplemented with group discussions on questions related to critical readings on the texts. Students will take turns presenting to the class the results of research done on social, cultural, political background and/or a critical interpretation for one of the four texts. Choice of a date will determine which author's work is discussed.
Assessment:
Students will be evaluated through a class presentation [20 points], an
extended (15-18 pages including end notes and Bibliography) research paper
which may build on the presentation topic [50 points], 300-word response paper
for the reading due each week including a discussion question [15 points], and
class participation in group discussions [15 points].
Students with Disabilities: Any student requiring accommodations or services due to a disability must contact Services for Students with disabilities (SSD) in room 181 of the Student Service Center. SSD can also arrange to provide course materials (including this syllabus) in alternative formats if necessary.
Ethics: Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, falsification, accessing unauthorized course or test information, using unauthorized resources, or breaching copyright law. The penalty for such dishonesty will be an E in this course, and it may result in charges issued, hearings held, and/or sanctions imposed.
Topical Outline:
Week 1. Introduction and Background. Here is a link to my web page for
one of my undergraduate courses in English lit. It contains numerous links to
reading guides, background, and socio-cultural history to help you with the
texts for this course and possibly with a start on the research for your
presentation and your paper. Some of the links no longer work, but many will
provide you with rich source material. Check it out early to get an idea of
what is available to you as the semester proceeds.
Week 2. Castiglione'sThe Book of the Courtier
Week 3. More’s Utopia
Week 4. Elizabethan England
Week 5. Sydney’s Defense of Poesy
Week 6. Sydney’s Astrophil
and Stella
Week 7. Shakespeare's The
Sonnets
Week 8. Shakespeare's A
Lover's Complaint
Week 9. Spenser’s Shepherd’s Calendare.
Week 10. Marlowe’s Tamburlaine;
Working Thesis or paper topic submitted
Week 11. The Stuarts: Webster’s Duchess
of Malfi ; Working Bibliography submitted
Week 12. Donne's
Poetry; Thesis paragraph and one
polished body paragraph submitted
Week 13. Herbert's The
Complete English Poems
Week 14. Milton’s Lycidas, Comus, selected other
poems and Aeropagita.;
Final Paper due
Week 15. Summing up and reporting on research.