TRENT UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
ENGL-2100Y: Foundations in Medieval and Renaissance Literature
2011-12 (FW) Peterborough
Instructors
Joanne Findon (Coordinator)
Traill College Wallis Hall 116
748-1011 ext. 6023
jfindon@trentu.ca
Office hours: Wed. 3:15-4:15, Fri. 1-2
Sarah Keefer (FALL)
Traill College Wallis Hall 117
748-1011 ext. 6033
skeefer@trentu.ca
Office hours: Fri. 10:00-12:00
Leif Einarson
Traill College Wallis Hall 118
748-1011, ext. TBA
leifeinarson@trentu.ca
Elizabeth Popham (WINTER)
Traill College Wallis Hall 119
748-1011, ext. 6233
epopham@trentu.ca
Office hours: Fri. 10 a.m.-noon, or by
appointment
Office Hours: Wed. 2:30-3:30 (OSH)
Fri.1:00-2:00 (PTBO)
Course description
This course will acquaint you with English literature from the Medieval and Renaissance periods.
Beginning with the first literature written in English, we will trace the development of new
genres, literary responses to historical events, the movement toward modernity, and concepts of
national, social and cultural identities. Special attention will be given to such themes as the
romantic and heroic impulses, sacred and profane love, art and nature, nostalgia for the old, and
enthusiasm for the new.
In the first term, we will be focusing on medieval literature written in Old and Middle English.
Literature in Old English will be read in Modern English translation; literature in Middle English
will be read for the most part in the original language. In the second term, we will focus on the
literature of the English Renaissance, which is written in early forms of Modern English.
Course format and structure –
The weekly 1-hour lecture (Thursdays from 13:00 to 13:50) will introduce backgrounds and
contexts of the literary texts. Each week, the lecture will be followed by a 2-hour interactive,
discussion-based workshop which will provide opportunities to respond to the lecture, ask
questions, and share interpretations and ideas. Resource material will be posted on myLearning
System and complete information on essay topics and deadlines will be provided by workshop
leaders.
Texts
Required
 English-2100 Coursepack (online) – see the “Course Materials” mLS site
 The Broadview Anthology of British Literature (Broadview Press)
o Volume One – The Medieval Period, 2nd edition
o Volume Two – The Renaissance and the Early Seventeenth Century, 2nd edition
 Romeo and Juliet, ed. Jill L. Levenson (Oxford World Classics)
 The Tempest, ed. Stephen Orgel (Oxford World's Classics)
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Recommended
 The Secret to Effective Documentation (Trent University: Academic Skills Centre -http://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/documentation/, 13 July 2011). Note: Citations in
this course must be in the MLA format.
 Resources for Essay Writing (Trent University: Academic Skills Centre -http://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/online_arts.php , 13 July 2011).
Email and myLearning System –
Every student in ENGL-2100 has an active Trent University IT (email and myLearning System)
account and is expected to make use of it. Students must check their Trent email accounts at
least once a week, and are responsible for any information sent by email or posted on the
course myLearning System sites (e.g., class announcements and reading updates). Resource
material common to all sections of the course will be posted on the ENGL-2100Y “Course
Materials” at myLearning System site; materials specific to your workshop group will be posted
on your instructor’s “Section” site on myLearning System site.
Evaluation (i.e. grading/marking scheme)
 workshop attendance and participation will be assessed as 30% of your final mark over
the course of the year; the syllabus for your workshop group will provide details of your
instructor's workshop assignments
 in first term, there will be a diagnostic essay assignment worth 5% (to be submitted at the
last workshop before the Reading Break)
 in each term, you will prepare an essay of 1500 words worth 15% (total 30%)
 in each term, you will write a passage analysis in workshop period worth 7.5% (total
15%)
 in April you will write a final examination worth 20%
Essays
The first-term essay (15%) will deal with material from the Medieval section of the course; the
second term essay (15%) with material from the Renaissance section. Further information will be
provided in each individual workshop syllabus.
Late essays will not be accepted unless prior permission has been given or, in the case of
unforeseen circumstances, there is satisfactory documentation from a doctor, advisor, etc.
Please see your workshop syllabus for your instructor’s guidelines on submission of assignments.
Passage Analysis
During term, students in all sections of the course will complete two timed in-class writing
assignments (30 minutes each). The first passage analysis assignment (7.5%) will be written in
Week 9 and will focus on passages from texts studied in Weeks 1 to 8. The second passage
analysis assignment (7.5%) will be written in Week 16, and will focus on passages from texts
studied in Weeks 9 to 15. A third passage analysis focusing on texts from Weeks 16 to 24 will
be part of the final examination.
The rubric for each passage analysis will be as follows:
Choose one of the following three passages. Write an analysis based on close reading of
the chosen passage, in which you locate it in the work from which it is taken and
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comment on how its features illuminate major concerns of the text and of the period as a
whole as discussed in lectures.
Final examination
There will be a final examination worth 20% of your grade. The first section will be a passage
analysis based on texts studied in Weeks 16 to 24. The rest of the examination will be in essay
format. Questions will be based on material from both terms, focusing on the lecture material and
the readings discussed in workshop each week.
Workshop Attendance and Participation
Workshop attendance and participation are worth a total of 30% of your grade (15% each term).
In other words attendance and active participation in workshops will be a very important part of
assessment in the course. Methods of assessment of performance and participation will differ
from section to section. Workshop assignments will be outlined in the syllabus for your
workshop group.
Attendance at Lectures
The lectures will provide a context for the study of Medieval and Renaissance literature by
introducing you to the culture of England between the seventh and the seventeenth centuries.
They will focus on key social, political and aesthetic issues of these periods, and it is very
important that you attend them all. There is no grade for lecture attendance but if you miss
lectures you will do poorly on your final examination since it is designed to test your knowledge
of material covered in the lectures.
Submission of Assignments
Submission guidelines and criteria are established by individual instructors and will vary from
section to section. If special arrangements for submission of work have been approved, you are
responsible for obtaining confirmation from the instructor that your assignments have been
received. Please check your workshop syllabus for details.
Academic Integrity
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an extremely serious academic
offence and carries penalties varying from a 0 grade on an assignment to expulsion from the
University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set
out in Trent University's Academic Integrity Policy. You have a responsibility to educate yourself
– unfamiliarity with the policy is not an excuse. You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent's
Academic Integrity website to learn more: www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity.
While scholarly work often involves reference to the ideas, writing and data of other scholars, it is
intellectually dishonest to present the work of others without explicitly and clearly giving them
credit and appropriate reference. Plagiarism means passing off another person's work as one's
own (including other students' essays, internet material and purchased essays). Debts to
secondary sources, regardless of their origins, must always be indicated in footnotes, endnotes or
in parenthetical citations within the text of the essay. There is a debt to another writer if 1) the
writer's exact words are used; 2) the writer's work is paraphrased; 3) the writer's ideas are used.
Access to Instruction:
It is Trent University's intent to create an inclusive learning environment. If a student has a
disability and/or health consideration and feels that he/she may need accommodations to succeed
in this course, the student should contact the Disability Services Office, located in Blackburn
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Hall, Suite 132 (705-748-1281, disabilityservices@trentu.ca) as soon as possible. Complete
text can be found under “Access to Instruction” in the Academic Calendar. See the website for
more information -- http://www.trentu.ca/disabilityservices/overview.php.
English Department Website –
For the most complete and up-to-date information on the English Department – courses, faculty,
schedules, procedures, policies, special events – check the English Department website at
www.trentu.ca/english. For academic advice about the English program, email the Program
Advisor at englishadvice@trentu.ca.
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Schedule of classes and readings
Lectures: All sections – Thursday 1:00-1:50 pm
Workshops:
Section A (Findon) – Friday 9:00-10:50 am
Section B (Keefer/Popham) – Thursday 3:00-4:50 pm
Section C (Einarson) – Friday, 9 :00-10 :50 am
FALL TERM
Week 1 /Sept. 8
A Brief History of the Middle Ages in Britain [S. Keefer]
“The Dream of the Rood”; background reading: from "Introduction to the Medieval Period" –
sections titled “History, Narrative, Culture” and “England Before the Norman Conquest”.
Week 2 /Sept. 15 The Medieval World [S. Keefer]
Sermo Lupi ad Anglos
Week 3 /Sept. 22
How to Read a (Medieval) Epic [L. Einarson]
Beowulf ; background reading: associated “In Context” section.
Week 4 /Sept. 29
Anglo-Saxon Culture [J. Findon]
Beowulf (continued); background reading: “Language and Prosody” as well as resource
material on language on “Course Materials” site under “Resources – Medieval Literature.”
Week 5 /Oct. 6
The Court and the Otherworld (1) [J.Findon]
The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle (coursepack) and Sir Orfeo; background
reading: from "Introduction to the Medieval Period" – section titled “England after the Norman
Conquest.”
Week 6 /Oct. 13
Social Commentary of the Fourteenth Century [S. Keefer]
Geoffrey Chaucer, General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; background reading: “In Context:
The Crises of the Fourteenth Century.” See also the “Course Materials” site for a “Basic Chaucer
Glossary.”
Week 7 /Oct. 20
Anti-Feminism of the Fourteenth Century [J. Findon]
Chaucer: “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale;” background reading: “Love and Marriage in
Medieval Britain.”
** In Workshop (all Sections) – Short essay due
READING BREAK /Oct. 24-30
Week 8 /Nov. 3
The Court and the Otherworld (2) [L. Einarson]
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Fitts 1 and 2; background reading: associated “In Context”
sections.
Week 9 /Nov. 10 Testing Real-World Values [S.Keefer]
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Fitts 3 and 4.
** In Workshop (all Sections) – Passage analysis 1
Week 10 /Nov. 17
Medieval Prosody [J. Findon]
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Selections from Medieval Lyrics; background reading: “Language and Prosody,” as well as
resource material on the “Course Materials” site.
Week 11 /Nov. 24
Medieval Drama: Allegory [S. Keefer]
Everyman (in 1st edition, or online coursepack).
Week 12 /Dec. 1
Medieval Drama: Social Commentary [L. Einarson]
Second Shepherds' Play; background reading: “In Context: Biblical Source Material.”
WINTER TERM
Week 13 /Jan. 13
Renaissance Humanism [E. Popham]
Christopher Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and “Hero and Leander;” Sir
Walter Raleigh, “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd;” background reading: material posted
for this week on the Course Materials site.
Week 14 /Jan. 20
The Lover as Hero [E. Popham]
Sir Thomas Wyatt; Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey; William Shakespeare (Sonnets 19, 20, 80,
106, 116, 129, 130, 138, 144, 147); background reading: “The Renaissance and the Early
Seventeenth Century.”
Week 15 /Jan. 27
Renaissance Drama: Waxing Poetic [J. Findon]
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet; background reading: critical introduction to
the text.
Week 16 /Feb. 2
How to Read a (Renaissance) Epic [L. Einarson]
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 1, cantos 1-4; background reading: “Letter to
Raleigh” (online coursepack); “In Context: ‘The Redcrosse Knight,’ ‘Christian Armor,’
‘Spirituality and The Faerie Queene.’”
*** In Workshop (all Sections) – Passage Analysis 2
Week 17 /Feb. 9
Elizabethan Politics and Propaganda [E. Popham]
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 1, cantos 5-8; poems and speeches of Elizabeth,
Queen of England; poems and letters of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Week 18 /Feb. 16
The Reformation [S. Keefer]
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 1, cantos 9-12; background reading: from
“Introduction to The Renaissance and the Early Seventeenth Century” -- the section on “The
Reformation in England.”
READING BREAK /Feb 20-26
Week 19 /Mar. 1
Renaissance Drama: Death, Hell and the Devil [J. Findon]
Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus; background reading: “In
Context: Dr Faustus.”
Week 20/Mar. 8 Renaissance Drama in real time: structure, action and gendering [L.
Einarson] William Shakespeare, The Tempest; background reading: posted for this week on
the Course Materials site.
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Week 21 /Mar. 15 Alterity and the New World [J. Findon]
Florio's Montaigne (The Tempest, Appendix D) (coursepack); background reading: “Contexts:
Other Lands, Other Cultures.”
Week 22 /Mar. 22 Building Utopia [E. Popham]
Francis Bacon, The New Atlantis and Robert Burton’s “Democritus Junior to the Reader” – an
excerpt from The Anatomy of Melancholy (online coursepack).
Week 23 /Mar. 29 Love and Misogyny [E. Popham]
Poems by John Donne and Aemilia Lanyer); background reading: Ben Jonson, "To Penhurst"
and “In Context: ‘Unconstant Woman, ‘Excellent Woman.’”
Week 24 /Apr. 5
An Elegaic Farewell [Everyone]
John Milton's “L’Allegro” and “Il Penseroso.”
Examination – in scheduled examination period, TBA
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