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January 15, 2007
EN 311: The Renaissance in England
EN 311: The Renaissance in England
Spring 2007
WF 10
Bey Hall 231
Office Hours: WF 11:30-12:30 or by appt.
Course Description:
The period between 1530 and 1660 saw the transformation of the English language into a vehicle for some of the richest, most beautiful poetry and drama ever created in any culture. In addition, the European discovery of new lands and the rise of new science changed previous perceptions of the world, giving rise to a fresh language of description and exploration. In this course, we will examine some major literary genres of Renaissance England (drama, lyric and epic poetry, and argumentative prose). We will make connections between individual works and the historical conditions of their production. Finally, we will seek to appreciate and enjoy the “flowers of rhetoric” so highly prized by Renaissance readers and writers.
Required Texts:
Jordan, Constance and Clare Carroll, eds. The Longman Anthology of British Literature Vol. 1B: The Early Modern Period. 3rd Ed. New York: Longman, 2006.
MacLean, Hugh and Anne Lake Prescott, eds. Edmund Spenser’s Poetry. 3rd Edition. New York: W.W. Norton.
Webster, John. The Duchess of Malfi.
English Department Attendance Policy
Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes and examinations except in cases of illness or emergency. Beyond two weeks’ worth of absences (4 classes), a student will be penalized 1/3 of a letter grade for the first additional missed class and 1/3 of a letter grade for every week of missed classes thereafter. Persistent late arrivals, early departures and interruptions of class time (including bathroom breaks and cell phone use) may also result in a lowered grade. Students who desire a waiver of this policy must ask the L.C.A.C., the Athletic Department, a University Dean, or the Campus Health Center to provide a written excuse directly to me.
Late Work/Makeup Policy
If you must be absent, you are responsible for obtaining notes, handouts, etc. from another student in the class. I will request that the class share names, phone numbers, and/or email addresses for that purpose. Please do not email me to ask "if I missed anything;" find out from another student or visit me during office hours. Makeup quizzes and exams will be given only under extreme circumstances of illness or family emergency and must be completed within one week of the original date at a time convenient to the professor. Incompletes and late withdrawals will not be given except in cases of serious illness or acute family emergency occurring during the final weeks of the semester, and then only if the student has demonstrated responsible performance in the course up to that point. Papers and out-of-class exercises are due at the beginning of class on the stipulated dates in hard copy only. Leave papers in my mailbox at your own risk. Late assignments will have 1/3 of a letter grade deducted for each day late.
Plagiarism
Academic honesty is at the heart of the educational experience. A student is expected to participate fully in that experience by avoiding all dishonest behavior in relation to academic work. Examples of such behavior include: failing to document borrowed words or ideas from research sources; handing in the work of another as one’s own; or unauthorized use of notes during examinations. The consequences of such behavior range, depending on the circumstances, from failure in the particular assignment to dismissal from the university (see the Monmouth University Student Handbook for details).
Library Materials
Library materials must be respected. They must not be stolen, damaged, or defaced in any way. The resources of the library are to be shared by the Monmouth community in a spirit of collegial learning.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
I encourage student with disabilities who needs special accommodations for this class to meet with me as soon as possible. In order to receive accommodations, the student must be registered with the appropriate disability service provider on campus as set forth in the student handbook and must follow the university procedure for self-disclosure (see the Monmouth University Guide to Services and Accommodations for Students With Disabilities). A student will not be afforded accommodations for academic work completed prior to the disclosure of the disability or prior to the completion of the documentation process with the appropriate disability services officer.
Assignments and Grading
15% Reading Journal
20% Essay 1 (4-5 pp.)
25% Essay 2 (6-8 pp.)
20% Annotated Bibliography on assigned topic (staggered due dates)
20% Final Examination
100%
Note on the Reading Journal: The reading journal is a small blank notebook to be filled with your observations about the readings assigned for a particular class. I will give you prompts for the journal that will help you consider carefully the content of the readings and their relation to each other. Bring your journal to each class. It will be collected periodically without warning and checked. PLEASE DATE ALL ENTRIES. There should be two entries a week, one for each class. The journal should not be used for lecture notes taken during class. You may use it as a resource for the final exam ("open-journal").
Schedule of Readings and Assignments (subject to change according to class needs):
Body and Soul: Love Lyric
W 1/17 Introduction; Petrarch and the Elizabethan Sonnet Cycle; Wyatt
F 1/19 Sonnet selections from Wyatt; Sidney, Astrophil and Stella; Queen Elizabeth I, “On Monsieur’s Departure”; Lady Mary Wroth, Pamphilia to Amphilanthus
W 1/24 Sonnets (continued): Sidney, Astrophil and Stella; Spenser , Amoretti
F 1/26 Platonic Love: Shakespeare, Sonnets; Donne. selected Elegies and Valedictions; Cartwright, “No Platonic Love”(handout); Jonson. “Epigram from Petronius”
W 1/31 Platonic Love, continued
F 2/2 Spenser, “A Letter of the Authors” (intro to The Faerie Queene); Vives, Instruction of a Christian Woman; Riche, from “My Lady’s Looking Glasse”; The Faerie Queene Book III
Romance and Epic
W 2/7 FQ III
F 2/9 FQ III
W 2/14 FQ III
F 2/16 Castiglione, The Courtier; Shakespeare, Sonnets 94 and 121; Bacon, “Of Marriage and Single Life”; Erasmus, “In Laude and Praise of Matrimony”
Essay # 1 Due
Tragedy and Heroism
W 2/21 Webster, The Duchess of Malfi
F 2/23 The Duchess of Malfi
W 2/28 The Duchess of Malfi
Politics and Leadership
F 3/2 Queen Elizabeth I, “The Doubt of Future Foes;” Marvell, “An Horatian Ode;” Lovelace, "To Althea, From Prison"
MU Spring Break 3/5-9
God and Man (and Woman)
W 3/14 Milton, Excerpts from Paradise Lost, Books 4 and 9
F 3/16 Lanyer, from Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum
City Comedy and Social Change
W 3/21 Hic Mulier and Haec-Vir; Dekker and Middleton, The Roaring Girl
F 3/23 The Roaring Girl
Last Day to Withdraw 3/26
W 3/28 The Roaring Girl
New Science, New Worlds
F 3/30 Ascham, from “The Schoolmaster”; Bacon, “Of Truth,” “Of Studies”; Hobbes, from Leviathan; Donne, “Elegy 19: To His Mistress Going to Bed”
W 4/4 Hariot, “A Brief and True Report”; Drayton,” To the Virginia Voyage”; Bacon, “Of Plantations”
F 4/6 Donne, "A Sermon Preached…of the Virginia Plantation;" Milton, from Areopagitica
Essay #2 Due
Religious Lyric: Struggles of Conscience and Faith
W 4/11 Donne, Holy Sonnets 1, 6, 10; Milton, “On the New Forcers of Conscience,” “ When I Consider.”
F 4/13 Herbert, “The Pulley,” “The Collar,” “Jordan (I),” “Jordan (II)”,” The Windows; Marvell, “The Coronet”; Southwell, “The Burning Babe”(handout)
The Country vs. the City: Pastoral
W 4/18 Spenser, excerpts from the Shepheardes Calender; Marlowe, “Passionate Shepherd”; Raleigh, “Answer to Marlowe”; Donne, “The Bait”; Marvell, “To his Coy Mistress”
F 4/20 Jonson, “To Penshurst”; Lanyer, “Description of Cookham”
W 4/25 Marvell, “The Mower Against Gardens,” “The Mower’s Song,” The Garden”
F 4/27 Review for Final Exam
Final Exam: Wednesday, May 2, 8:30-10:30 a.m.
Posted by Dr. Sue Starke at January 15, 2007 04:45 PM