English 10A-4 - Fall, 2013

Literatures in English I: to 1700

Class Information

Instructor: Reddy, Karolyn
CRN: 54010
Time: MWF 4:10-5:00
Location: 7 Wellman

Description

10A, the first course in the required Literatures in English sequence, encompasses English-language works written before 1700. In order to prepare you for advanced literary study, English 10A involves intensive reading and writing as well as active in-class and online participation. The course will guide you as you begin to position your own interpretations and ideas within the field of literary studies and as you balance close analysis of literary sources with broader awareness of literary, historical, and critical contexts. Together, we will discover and discuss the linguistic, political, religious, and social changes that shaped and were shaped by "English" literature through the Restoration period, with a focus on England proper that nonetheless incorporates texts adapted from other languages and texts written in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, North America, and the Caribbean. This course aims to solidify your familiarity with key literary genres, movements, and terms while also encouraging you to think beyond traditional rules, histories, and categories of study -- hence the quotation marks around the very concept of "English" literature.

Themes and ideas we will consider range from the impact of the printing press to the development of national identities to the public perception of women writers. Overall, this course seeks to explore the overarching question: What is the story that early English literature tells about itself, and what are the stories that writers, critics, and other figures have told about it since?

Grading

Classroom and Online Participation: 10%
Close Reading Blog and Essay: 25%
Research Blog and Essay: 30%
Adaptation Project: 10%
Exams: 25%

These percentages may change at the discretion of the instructor or the class community as a whole. Final grades will reflect a combination of required but ungraded work and traditionally-graded assignments.

Texts

Some texts will include:
Chaucer, The General Prologue from the Canterbury Tales
Shakespeare, Macbeth and Scotland, PA (adapted by Billy Morrissette)
Elizabeth I, The Golden Speech
Milton, Paradise Lost
We will also read poetry and ballads written throughout the period covered by the course, excerpts from several Restoration comedies, and excerpts from two early English-language accounts of North America and the Caribbean.
Required:
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Concise Volume A, Second Edition, ed. Joseph Black et al.
* available in print or online; printouts of course materials required for those who opt for the online edition.