Required Text:
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th ed. Vol. B

Description: English 4620 is an introduction to the best works of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. We cover a variety of genres in order to appreciate the extraordinary diversity and richness of the period. Throughout the semester, we'll be reading with a consciousness of the historical continuity of the period, its connection with the artistic works of the Medieval period, and its difference and similarity to our own time.
You are the architects of this class. It is only worth as much as you put into it. I am a resource, not a supplier of produce. What you learn will depend on the work you do, and therefore your grade will reflect to a large extent how well you keep up with the reading (more so than perfect understanding) and the amount you participate (almost as much as how well you write).

Writing Requirements Undergraduate/Graduate*: A midterm (10%) a final exam (20%), a critical paper of about 10/18* pages on a topic suggested or approved by the instructor (25%), a short essay of 2/5* pages (10%) and a journal (20%). You may, if you wish, hand in the long essay, at least a week before it is due, and receive written feedback–but no grade–on it. Failure to submit a required paper within a week of the due date, without prior consent of the instructor, will result in an "E" for the final grade for the course.

Journal Assignment: (Easy A) You will submit journal entries on the reading by 5:30 pm on Tuesday of the week for which they are assigned. The entry should be one page, typewritten, (at least 200 words and double-spaced) with the date submitted and your name. You may focus on one or two readings. Your grade for journaling begins as an A. You can only lower it by a) failing to hand entries in at the start of class on the day they are due or b) by inappropriate responses (summary rather than interpreting or critiquing; lacking enough specifics to show you read the work). Sample Journal

DISCUSSION REQUIREMENT (Another easy "A"!) Not only does your attendance contribute to the community we make in this class, your contribution to class discussion is crucial to helping others understand the texts in different ways and to clarifying your own position--ideas that will show up in your papers. I grade your participation according to the number of times you attend class during the semester, working on the basis that you can't participate if you don't attend.
0-1 absence = A; 2 absences = B+; 3 absences = C+; and so forth. Your 1 freebie is intended to cover an emergency such as the day you were sick, the day the baby sitter didn't make it. After your freebie, every absence counts against your attendance/participation grade. You can't hand in a journal entry after it is due, (you may email one before a class you expect to miss), but 1 missing journal entry is free!
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Possible Alternate Grading System: If you wish not to be responsible for the class day-by-day, you may sign a contract to be graded on only the following: A midterm (15%) a final exam (35%), a critical paper of about 10/18* pages on a topic suggested or approved by the instructor (35%), a short essay of 2 pages (15%). This contract must be submitted, signed and dated, by September 21. These are the only conditions under which this grading system will be used.

I, _______________________________________, wish to be graded according to the system described immediately above. I understand that once this contract is submitted, it is non-negotiable.
Warning: This contract assumes you are highly self-motivated and well disciplined. You will find it almost impossible to pass the class if you don't keep up with the reading. The assignments and test will assume you have done all of it. Also, while you won't lose credit for absences, neither will you gain it for attendance or journaling. Your entire grade will depend on your writing skills.

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SYLLABUS

Disclaimer: This is a contract between us for the work needed to pass this class. Unavoidable circumstances may necessitate adjustment of the syllabus, but I will try to adhere to it as given.

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: Failure to maintain academic ethics/academic honesty, including the avoidance of cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and falsification, will result in an E in this course, and may result in charges issued, hearings held, and/or sanctions imposed.

Readings are due on the day for which they are listed. When no page numbers are given, read the complete selection by the author. You are expected to produce a typed page of response by 5:30 pm each Tuesday on one of the readings for that week unless you have chosen the alternate grading system.

Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10
Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15

Week 1
1. Intro to class; Book; expectations. Computer Teaching Room: Assignments
2. Introduction to the 16th C; 485-513; Outlined background: Social and Political; Literary historical; Indepth: Socio-political description; literary history; definition and history of European Renaissance (optional reading):http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/renaissanceinfo.htm
3. Castiglione: outline; lecture; reading guide 645-661

Week 2
1. Wyatt; Surrey 592-613; notes
2. More's Utopia; overview; reading guide; notes

Week 3
1. Bible Translations 618-21 and Calvin, "The Institution of the Christian Religion" 525-27; medieval notions of predestination
2. Sidney 953-74; "The Defense of Poesy," reading guide; notes
3. Queen Elizabeth 687; 694-96; 697; 699-703, notes and reading guide; Herbert: 993-997, notes; Sidney's Astrophil and Stella 975-79; 986-87; 989-90, notes

Week 4
1. Raleigh 917-26, notes; Marlowe's Passionate Shepherd 1022; Southwell: 640-41.
2. Spencer's Faerie Queen pp714-86, diagram Book I thanks to Winfried Schleiner, UC Davis English Dept; medieval cosmos; Book 1 summary; reading guide

Week 5
1. Spencer's Faerie Queen pp786-867;  scholarly lecture(optional); short form

Week 6
1. Spencer's Epithalamion 907-16; Guide Questions from the Interne; reading guide
2. Shakespeare's sonnets pp. 1058-60 & #1, 3, 12, 18, 20, 55, 73, 74; introduction; scholarly lecture;   #97, 98, 116, 127, 130, 135, 138, 144; guide questions

Week 7
1. Marlowe's Faustus 1022-55; reading guide; scholarly lecture; medieval psychology; medieval universe;
2. Practice sheet for Midterm

Week 8
M-Th Midterm on 16th C in Testing Center
1. Introduction to Early 17th C. 1235-1259; Outline of Norton; Supplementary Reading on the Jacobean period; Long paper assignment
2. Cary 1536-42reading guide

Week 9
1. Webster 1461-1535reading guide
2. Jonson 1324-26; 1334-1427  Theatrical theory and Volpone

Week 10
1. Burton: 1573-74; 1578-81; guide questions
2. Mandatory draft workshop for the long paper.
3. Hobbes 1594-1602  Internet lecture notes; Guide questions

Week 11
1. Long paper due.
2. Donne 1260-84; 1295-1302; 1305-06 Reading guide
3. Jonson, 1428-30; 1436-37; 1444-46; Herrick 1653-62; Waller: 1687; Phillips, 1695; Marvell, 1703-04 Reading guide

Week 12
1. Lanyer 1313-19, reading guide; Wroth, 1451-61 Lecture notes
2. Herbert, 1605-222; Crashaw 1639-40; 1651-53; Reading guide; image for Crashaw's poem
3. Bacon 1550-54; 1563-69 ; Reading guide

Week 13
1. Milton 1785-89; 1830-1943 Reading guide Bks 1-4; Study guide for Paradise Lost

Week 14

1. Milton 1943-2021Lecture on Paradise Lost
2. Short Paper assignment; Sample explication

Week 15
1. Milton 2021-55; 1805-11; Reading guide Bks 5-8
2. Short paper due
3. Discussion about the final exam.

FINAL EXAM: Tues. Dec 5; 5:30-7:30 pm