TRENT UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
ENGL-2100Y: Foundations in Medieval and Renaissance Literature
2012 (Summer) Peterborough
Instructor:
Dr. Dorothy Haines
dorothyhaines@rogers.com (Trent e-mail TBA)
Office: TCWH 118
Office Hours: By appointment
Administrative Assistant: Patricia Heffernan TCWH 134 ext 7733 (pheffernan@trentu.ca)
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 class will consist of a 1-hour lecture which will introduce backgrounds and contexts of the
literary texts. 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. Additional resource material will be posted on myLearning System.
Peterborough Campus: Symons
Please check http://www.trentu.ca/admin/mytrent/Timetable/TimeTableGen0.htm to confirm
times and locations.
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
 The Oxford Shakespeare: Othello, ed. Michael Neill (Oxford World’s 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
materials will be posted on the ENGL-2100Y “Course Materials” at myLearning System site.
Evaluation (i.e. grading/marking scheme)
Short Essay (750 words)
Passage Analysis 1
Essay 1 (1500 words)
Passage Analysis 2
Essay 2 (1500 words)
Workshop Attendance & Participation
Final Examination
5%
7.5%
15%
7.5 %
15%
30%
20%
Date
June 6
June 13
June 20 (Proposal - June 11)
July 16
August 1 (Proposal – July 23)
During the formal exam
Period of August 7-8
Essays
The short essay (5%) is a diagnostic assignment which will allow you to get some feedback on
your ability to write a comparative essay. He assignment will be based on a response to the
background section titled “Four Crises of the Fourteenth Century.” (For more detailed
information, see Diagnostic Essay Guidelines on the myLearning System site.)
You will also write two longer essays of no more than 1500 words each. 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. For each essay, you will submit a proposal of
no more than 250 words; the proposal with my written comments must be submitted along with
the essay. (For more detailed information, see Essay Guidelines on the myLearning System site.)
Essays must be submitted in hard copy at the beginning of class on the date due. Late essays will
incur a daily 5% penalty (2% if handed in after the beginning of class), unless prior permission
has been given or, in the case of unforeseen circumstances, there is satisfactory documentation
from a doctor, advisor, etc. Late essays must be submitted either to me in person or to the English
Department office; they may not be submitted electronically.
Passage Analysis
During term, students in all sections of the course will complete two timed in-class writing
assignments (45 minutes each). The first passage analysis assignment (7.5%) will be written in
Week 5 and will focus on passages from texts studied in Weeks 1 to 5. The second passage
analysis assignment (7.5%) will be written in Week 10, and will focus on passages from texts
studied in Weeks 6 to 9. A third passage analysis focusing on texts from Weeks 10 to 12 will be
part of the final examination.
The rubric for each passage analysis will be as follows:
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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
comment on how its features illuminate major concerns of the text and of the period as a
whole as discussed in lectures.
We will complete at least one passage analysis as a class in order to practice for this assignment.
More detailed instructions will be given at that time.
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 10 to 12. The rest of the examination will be in short
answer/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. Attendance and participation will assessed as follows: every workshop
will include an in-class assignment such as a reading quiz or a short reflection. These may be
drawn from any of the assigned readings (including the context sections) and cannot be made up
at at later time (10%). Every student will prepare a short (5-10 min.) presentation on a
cultural/historical topic. A one-page handout is required; students should make enough copies
for the entire class (5%). See the Guidelines for the Oral Presentation on the myLearning System
site for more detailed information and possible topics.
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.
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
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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
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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EARLY TERM
Week 1
May 14 : A Brief History of the Middle Ages in Britain
Alfred, “’Preface’ to the Old English Version of Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care;
Bede, section titled “Abbess Hild of Whitby; the Miraculous Poet Caedmon”, “The
Wanderer”; background reading: from "Introduction to the Medieval Period" – sections
titled “History, Narrative, Culture” and “England Before the Norman Conquest”
May 16: Medieval Ideals
“The Battle of Maldon,” “The Dream of the Rood”; background reading: “Language
and Prosody” (final section of “Introduction to the Medieval Period”)
Week 2
May 21: Victoria Day
May 23: Medieval Epic: Monsters and Heroes
Beowulf ; background reading: associated “In Context” section
Week 3
May 28: Medieval Epic (continued)
Beowulf (continued)
May 30: The Court and the Otherworld (1)
Sir Orfeo; background reading: from "Introduction to the Medieval Period" – section
titled “England after the Norman Conquest” and “In Context: The Crises of the
Fourteenth Century”
Week 4
June 4: Social Commentary of the Fourteenth Century
Geoffrey Chaucer, General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; background reading: See
links in myLearning System under “Course Materials”
June 6: Anti-Feminism of the Fourteenth Century
Chaucer: “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale;” background reading: In “Love and
Marriage in Medieval Britain,” read Andreas Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love
** Short essay due
Week 5
June 11: The Court and the Otherworld (2)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Fitts 1 and 2; background reading: associated “In
Context” sections.
** Essay 1 proposal due
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June 13: Testing Real-World Values
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Fitts 3 and 4.
** Passage analysis 1
Week 6
June 18: Medieval Spirituality
Julian of Norwich, A Revelation of Love (chapters 1-3, 5, 58); Margery Kempe, The Book
of Margery Kempe (proem, preface, chapters 1-3, 52); Medieval Lyrics: “Stond Well,
moder under Rode,” “Adam lay ibounden,” “Farewell this world, I take my leve forever”;
background reading: “Contexts: Religious and Spiritual Life” sections titled “from The
Rule of St. Benedict” and “from Ancrene Wisse”
June 20: Medieval Drama: Allegory
Everyman (in 1st edition, or online coursepack)
**Essay 1 due
Week 7
June 25: Medieval Drama: Social Commentary
Second Shepherds' Play; background reading: “In Context: Biblical Source Material.”
LATE TERM
June 27: Renaissance Humanism
Christopher Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”; Sir Walter Raleigh, “The
Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,”; John Donne, “The Flea,” “A Valediction: Forbidding
Mourning”; Robert Herrick, “His Farewell to Sack,” “To the Virgins to Make Much of
Time”; background reading: “The Renaissance and the Early Seventeenth Century”
Week 8
July 1 Canada Day
July 4: Renaissance Humanism: Sonnets
Sidney, Amoretti (64,75); Spenser, Astrophil and Stella (1,49), Shakespeare (60, 73, 116,
130), Lady Mary Wroth, Pamphilia to Amphilanthus (6, 14), and Donne, Holy Sonnets
(5, 10, 14, 18), background reading: “The Elizabethan Sonnet and Lyric”
Week 9
July 9: The Renaissance Epic
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 1, cantos 1-2; background reading: “Letter
to Raleigh”; “In Context: ‘The Redcrosse Knight,’ ‘Christian Armor,’ ‘Spirituality and
The Faerie Queene.’”
July 11: The Renaissance Epic (continued)
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 1, cantos 4-5; poems and speeches of
Elizabeth, Queen of England; poems and letters of Mary, Queen of Scots.
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Week 10
July 16: Renaissance Drama: Death, Hell and the Devil
Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus; background reading:
“In Context: Dr Faustus.”
**Passage Analysis 2
July 18: Renaissance Drama
William Shakespeare, Othello; background reading: Introduction to the text, pp.
1-33; Contexts: “The Shakespeare Theater,” “The Swan Theatre,” “The Plot of an
Elizabethan Play,” “Early Editions of Shakespeare’s Plays”
Week 11
July 23: Renaissance Drama
William Shakespeare, Othello; background reading: Giraldi Cinthio’s “Gli
Hecotommithi” (Appendix C)
**Essay 2 Proposal Due
July 25: Renaissance Drama
William Shakespeare, The Tempest; background reading: Introduction to the text, pp. 128
Week 12
July 30: Renaissance Drama
William Shakespeare, The Tempest (continued) ; Florio's Montaigne (The Tempest,
Appendix D); background reading: “Contexts: Other Lands, Other Cultures.”
August 1: An Elegaic Farewell
John Milton's “L’Allegro” and “Il Penseroso.”
**Essay 2 Due
Examination – in scheduled examination period, August 7-8
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