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Engl 112:E1
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Berthe Morisot, Little Girl Reading
(1888) | |
Schedule: Autumn / Winter | Assignments | Other information
Course description
[From Department outline] This course will introduce students to materials from a range of national, cultural, and, especially, historical contexts, and to methods of reading historically. It will encourage the exploration of developments in language and literature over time, including the concepts of "the literary" and of "genre" themselves. It will be concerned with the conditions and pressures under which texts were originally produced, and with the regeneration, reframing, and continuing reception of historical texts to the present day. Students can expect to encounter texts from the earliest writings in English to contemporary works that invoke literary history even as they reshape, transform, or reject it.
Specifically, in this section we will interrogate the notion of the literary at the outset; the literature of the course will then be organized largely in terms of genre (poetry, drama, fiction, including both prose and verse narrative). While most of the literature will be drawn from the English tradition, we will also read texts from the Caribbean (Walcott), Ireland (Swift, Heaney), and Canada (Atwood). During three short "interludes" we will study a range of essays from Intersections, focusing on three topics: reading, evolution, and social constructivism. In addition we will study sections from The Canadian Writer's Handbook in class when appropriate. Resources for the course will include the Norton literature site: you should register yourself on this using the registration code provided in your edition of the Norton Anthology. See: wwnorton.com/literature. You are also advised to purchase a good English dictionary, such as the The Canadian Oxford Dictionary.
Reading
Norton Anthology of English Literature, Major Authors, 8th ed. Ed.
Greenblatt, et al. 2 vols. (Norton).
Intersections: Readings in the
Sciences and Humanities. 2nd ed. Ed. Scott, Perkins, & Rothwell
(Pearson).
The Canadian Writers Handbook. 4th ed. Ed. Messenger, et
al. (Oxford).
Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (Random House /
Seal).
Schedule
| Week | Reading | Notes |
| Sept 6-8 | Introductions. Reading. | |
| Sept 11 | What is literature? A Romantic view: Wordsworth, from Lyrical Ballads: "We are Seven" (1487), "Lines Written in Early Spring" (1489), "Resolution and Independence" (1533) | Literariness |
| Sept 18 | Coleridge, "Frost at Midnight" (1650), "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1615); from Biographia Literaria, Chapters 4 (1660), 14 (1664). | "Frost" study website |
| Sept 25 | What is literature? A Modernist view: D. H. Lawrence, "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" (2590); "Why the Novel Matters" (2601); Woolf, "Modern Fiction" (2429). | Lawrence intro; Woolf and Modernism |
| Oct 2 | Narrative. Conrad, Heart of Darkness (2326). | Essay I due / errors Conrad: Modernism; Approaches; History |
| Oct 9 |
Monday: Thanksgiving, no classes. |
|
| Oct 16 | Interlude: Reading. Intersections: Karp (95), Winn (307), Romano (182), Ozick (147) | Karp comments / Two Cultures (Wikipedia) |
| Oct 23 | Beowulf (26) | |
| Oct 30 | Swift, Gulliver's Travels (974) | Swift, additional materials; students' notes 1 |
| Nov 6 | -- Swift, Gulliver's Travels cont. | students' notes 2; Swift critics / source |
| Nov 13 | Monday: Remembrance Day holiday Drama. Shakespeare, Twelth Night (510) |
Essay II due (15th) |
| Nov 20 | -- Shakespeare, Twelth Night cont. | Film notes; students' notes |
| Nov 27 | Interlude: Evolution. Intersections:
Belsie (10), Darwin (20), Hardison (57) Beckett, Endgame (2662) |
Evolution, notes |
| Dec 4 | Wed. last class. -- Beckett, Endgame cont. | Endgame, notes; students' notes |
| Dec 18 | Monday, 2:00. Mid-session Examination (one hour) | |
| Jan 8 | Poetry: Lyric. Shakespeare Sonnets (various: 497) | Sonnets,
notes Essay III due (10th) Sonnets: sentences |
| Jan 15 | Donne, various (600) | Carey on Donne [John Carey, John Donne: Life, Mind, & Art (1981)] |
| Jan 22 | Interlude: Constructivism.
Intersections: Kuhn (106), Pringle (172), Pinker (162), Gould (49) Marvell (675), "To His Coy Mistress" |
Marvell: historical |
| Jan 29 | Christina Rossetti, sonnets (2140-41): "After Death"; "In an Artist's Studio"; "Goblin Market" (2143) | Rossetti |
| Feb 5 | Thomas Hardy poems (2317): "Hap"; "The Darkling Thrush"; "The Ruined Maid"; "Channel Firing" | Hardy website; notes |
| Feb 12 | Poetry: Epic, and other forms. Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1 (725). | Essay IV due Milton, notes Milton, illustrations |
| Feb 19 | Reading Week | |
| Feb 26 | -- Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 2 (743), 4 (778) | |
| Mar 5 | [Monday, no class: student union
elections] -- Milton, Book 4 (778) Chaucer, from Canterbury Tales: "General Prologue" (170) |
Milton: Satan, notes |
| Mar 12 | -- Chaucer, "The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale" (207) Essay V proposal or abstract required (Mar 14) | Chaucer, Prologue notes; Wife of Bath's tale |
| Mar 19 | Spencer, from Faerie Queene: Book 1, Cantos 1, 2 (370) | Summaries, etc. (Utah) |
| Mar 26 | Walcott (2770); Heaney (2788) | Walcott, Heaney |
| Apr 2 |
Friday: Good Friday. |
Essay V due Atwood notes |
| Apr 9 | Monday: Easter Monday; Friday: last class. -- Atwood, The Blind Assassin cont. |
Atwood students' notes |
| Apr 18 | Wednesday, 2:00. Final Examination (two hours) |
Assignments and Examinations
Ther weighting of course work shown below is out of 100%; for the final
grade, however, the overall weight of course work is set at 70% while the
final exam is worth 30%. You will receive letter grades for your
assignments.
| Essay I | Due Oct 2 | 10% | 750 words |
| Essay II | Due Nov 15 | 10% | 750 words |
| Mid-session exam | Dec 18 | 15% | (1 hour) |
| Essay III | Jan 10 | 15% | 1000 words |
| Essay IV | Feb 12 | 20% | 1500 words |
| Essay V | Apr 2 | 30% | 2000 words |
| Final exam | Apr 18 | (2 hours) |
NB. The Mid-session exam will cover work from the first term except for drama. The final examination will cover work from the whole course.
Essay topics (first term).
1. (due Oct 2). From the Norton anthology, choose either a short, complete poem from the Romantic period or a modernist short story by Joyce, Woolf, Lawrence, or Mansfield (not previously studied in class). Offer an interpretation, focusing on those aspects of the text that in your view demonstrate its literary character.
2. (due Nov 15). Choosing one of the three texts studied in class, Heart of Darkness, Beowulf, or Gulliver's Travels, explain how your understanding of the text depends on two or more specific narrative features.
3. (due Jan 10). On drama. See list of topics.
4. (due Feb 12). Choose a poem (in the Norton) not previously discussed in class by one of the poets studied during the first five weeks of term (Jan 8 to Feb 9, Shakespeare to Hardy). Offer an interpretation of the poem that takes some account of the historical context of the poet; show in particular how historical aspects inflect the language or content of the poem. Some library research will be essential for this essay.
Other essential information
Note that all course work must be completed prior to sitting the Final exam, unless urgent medical or personal reasons are provided prior to the date on which the exam is held.
Late submission of essays will not be accepted without compelling medical or personal reason. Essays must be handed to the instructor at the beginning of the class session at which they are due. They must not a) be given to another student to submit, b) put under the instructor's office door, or c) faxed or otherwise attempted to be submitted through the English Department office. An essay submitted in this or any other unauthorized way will be considered as having not been submitted and will receive no grade.
Class attendance and participation are expected and encouraged. Classes will begin promptly at the scheduled time. If you have to miss a class, please contact a class mate (not the instructor) before the next class to find out what you missed. If the instructor is not present within ten minutes of the beginning of class you are expected to carry out the scheduled work to the best of your ability within the allotted class time.
Note that essay writing must be your own work. A student in whose work plagiarism is detected will face serious penalties, as outlined in the code of student conduct (see further below).
You will not be able to make up a missed exam unless you provide a medical certificate or some other compelling personal reason for absence.
Final Examination Appeals. Any request for reappraisal of the Final Examination must be made in writing to the Office of the Registrar, not to the Department of English and Film Studies.
"Policy about course outlines can be found in Section 23.4(2) of the University Calendar." (GFC 29 SEP 2003)
"The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University." (GFC 29 SEP 2003)
Students should consult the attached Regulations Pertaining to First-year Courses for information about appeals, reassessments, plagiarism, and external help with assignments.
Should you have any grievances concerning term work grades, you must discuss your concerns with the instructor. No official, in either the Department of English and Film Studies or the Faculty of Arts, will talk to a student about a grading disagreement unless the student first talks to the instructor. If the problem is not resolved after a meeting with the instructor, students are encouraged to talk with the Department's First Year Chair, Professor R. E. Jones (HC 4-55; 492-0584; raymond.jones@ualberta.ca). If a resolution is not reached with the First Year Chair, students may make an appointment with the Department Chair (if their instructor is on permanent staff) or with the Department's Associate Chair, Instruction (if their instructor is a GTA or a sessional lecturer). Please note, however, that the Department of English and Film Studies does not allow reconsideration of term work after a student writes the Final Examination.