British & World Poetry: Epic
with Brian Donovan, Spring 2016
BSU Course # ENGL 2358 / MnSCU Course ID # 166047
Schedule & Contact Information
Class meets 12:30–1:45 P.M. Tuesdays and Thursdays in Hagg-Sauer 105. (Instructor will be
away and class not held on two Thursdays, however: 14 January and 25 February.)
Final Exam: Monday 2 December 1:00–3:00 P.M., same room.
Office Phone: (218) 755-2838
E-mail: bdonovan[at-sign]bemidjistate.edu
Web Site: http://faculty.bemidjistate.edu/bdonovan/
Office: Hagg-Sauer 374
Office Hours (check above Web site for occasional deviations from this schedule, occasioned by
classroom observations of teaching by graduate assistants, etc.):
Mondays: 10:00–10:50 A.M., & 1:00–1:50 & 3:00–3:50 P.M.
Tuesdays & Thursdays: 10:00–10:50 & 11:00–11: 50 A.M. & 3:30–4:45 P.M.
Description and Purpose of Course
The catalog description of ENGL 2358 “British and World Poetry” is “Selective survey of poetry
from the British Isles and other countries outside the USA.” For the present offering of this
course, I have selected a particular kind of poetry: epic. Epic is not much in vogue among
practicing poets today or much taught in poetry-writing courses—in fact, it is all but unheard-of
in those contexts—but many of the greatest monuments of British and World literature belong to
this genre of poetry, and so a version of the course thus focused can include an especially high
proportion of the real hard-core must-reads, the staple and obvious choices for anybody’s list of
the truly indispensable Great Books. You may be familiar with the term epic as a slang adjective
roughly synonymous with awesome, only superlative. Used as a term of art in literary study, epic
has far more specific and determinate implications, which you shall learn; but still that slang
sense is entirely applicable. Epic poetry tells stories of magnificent scope and sweep, investing
its subjects and characters with heroic grandeur and consequence.
Through this course, you will become acquainted with the greatest and most famous epic poems
of ancient Greece and Rome and also of England, reading them complete in choice modern
translations and editions. You will also begin an acquaintance with the Divine Comedy of Dante
and the epic tradition of India, and examine a spoof of the form by Alexander Pope.
Success will be a matter of your demonstrated ability to ask, refine, and answer thoughtful
questions regarding the characters, plots, merits, and cultural and moral significance of these
works. In terms of BSU’s official competency objectives for the Liberal Education program, you
should (1) be able to demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of epic poetry, (2) develop
an understanding of epics as expressions of cultural values from the historical contexts that
produced them, (3) respond critically to these works, and (4) articulate an informed personal
reaction to them.
2
Syllabus: ENGL 2358, British and World Poetry: Epic, Spring 2016, with Brian Donovan
Textbooks
Assigned readings are comprised in the following books. Alternate editions/translations that you
may happen to possess already should work O.K. for Beowulf, Dante, Milton, and Pope.
(Alternate translations of the Homer and Virgil would occasion difficulties in referring to specific
passages, while Narayan’s version of the Mahabharata is altogether unique.)
Beowulf. Trans. Seamus Heaney. New York: Norton, 2001. Print. ISBN 0393320979. $14.95.
Dante Alighieri. Inferno. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: Signet, 2009. Print. ISBN
0451531396. $5.95.
Homer. The Iliad of Homer. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: U. of Chicago P., 2011.
Print. ISBN 0226470490. $15.00. (Older printings OK.)
Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Albert Cook. New York: Norton, 1993. Print. ISBN
0393964051. $15.56.
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Ed. Gordon Teskey. New York: Norton, 2004. Print. ISBN
0393924289. $21.89.
Narayan, R. K. The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic.
Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2000. Print. ISBN 0226568229. $14.00.
Pope, Alexander. Essay on Man and Other Poems. New York: Dover, 1994. Print. ISBN
0486280535. $3.00.
Virgil. The Aeneid of Virgil. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. New York: Bantam, 1981. Print.
ISBN 0553210416. $5.95.
Nuts & Bolts
Reading homework: This is a literature class—a reading class. Your main responsibility will be
to read the assigned selections carefully, attentively, imaginatively, and on time. Class times
will mainly be devoted to examining these readings and their backgrounds, so that you may
more fully appreciate and understand them. You should bring to each class your copy of the
book containing that day’s reading assignment.
Exams: Two essay exams will evaluate your understanding of these readings. Each exam will
require you to answer three questions, which will all count the same. You will get to select
each question you will answer, out of a pair; and I promise that none of the questions will
take more than a sentence or two for me to ask. While answering these questions you may
freely consult the assigned texts, and a dictionary if you choose, but not other sources or
class notes. (Occasional brief marginal notes in your textbooks are permissible, but do not
turn blank spaces in your textbooks into cheat sheets for the exams. Use of a textbook in an
exam will constitute consent to inspection of it for this abuse.) The midterm will (of course)
cover readings assigned for the first half of the term. The final, which takes longer and
counts twice as much, will emphasize readings assigned for the second half of the term, but
without altogether neglecting the first half.
Paper: One modest formal paper will also be required, roughly 1800 words. With double spacing
throughout, one-inch margins, and twelve-point Times Roman font, all of which are pretty
standard for academic writing, this comes to roughly six pages, not counting the separate
bibliography page, which I require, nor yet any title page, with which I suggest you not
bother. Use and document at least two secondary sources over and above your primary
Syllabus: ENGL 2358, British & World Poetry: Epic, Spring 2016, with Brian Donovan
3
source material. Use MLA or APA style for documenting all sources, and be sure to see the
“Note on Academic Integrity” below, and “Term Paper Tips” on my Web site. Your task
here will probably begin with picking out one or possibly two epics to write about. If you
wish to compare two, one of them may be from outside the course reading list. Options here
include the Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh; the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius; the
Irish Táin Bó Cuailnge, though it is largely prose, even in the original; Renaissance Italian
epics Orlando Furioso, by Ludovico Ariosto, and Gerusalemme Liberata, by Torquato
Tasso; Paradise Regained by John Milton; the West African epics of Son-Jara and Askia
Mohammad; and the Indian Ramayana, presumably in some kind of abridged form such as
Narayan’s. Consult with me for other options. Options here do not include anything by
Tolkien (though a Beowulf paper may well cite his landmark scholarly article on that poem),
or any film even if it is characterized as “epic” for publicity purposes. Any paper tackling
two epics at all should be tightly focused around a specific point of comparison or contrast.
The epic poetry you choose, even in translation, is primary source material. You should rely
on the library for the required secondary sources, which are books, articles, and essays
offering analysis, criticism, and/or interpretation of the epic(s) you are writing about—or of
the author’s body of work or the relevant oral or mythic tradition in general. Do not rely on
the open (Google-able) Web for these secondary sources, as the Web lacks the quality
control associated with print. Electronic versions of scholarly articles from print
publications, accessible in subscription databases via our library’s “Online Resources” Web
page, are an altogether different matter and entirely acceptable. Your aim in the paper will
be to help others, such as your classmates, more fully understand and appreciate the selected
poem(s). This is a very open-ended kind of assignment, allowing for interpretive explication
and/or argument, and also relevant background information. (Mere plot summary and/or
biography of the poet will be frowned upon.) You should write for readers who have already
read the relevant assigned reading for this class. I encourage you to get a timely start on this
project. That does not mean, though, that you should rule out writing on works that are
assigned for late in the semester—you can look and read ahead to find your subject, and do
at least some of your research and writing before that selection comes up in class. You
would be wise to consult with me privately about the topic before you get too far into it, and
about the work in progress later on, in my office hours or by e-mail. The paper will be due
12 April.
“Praises”: One last requirement is for you to write and submit a series of five informal
exercises, called “Praises,” at irregular intervals throughout the semester (see attached
calendar for due dates). These may be handwritten (if legible), and will normally be a single
page or less. In each of them you are to specify and describe or explain something you
personally and especially like about reading assigned since the previous “Praise” came due.
(For example, Praise #1 should be about some particular aspect, character, or episode of the
Iliad, while Praise #4 can be about either Beowulf or Dante’s Inferno—but select only one of
these two works to write about.) These “Praises” will be graded not for polish but for insight
and engagement. They are generally easy A’s (which the exams and term paper are not at
all), provided only that they make it clear you have indeed read the material, and not merely
read introductions or SparkNotes and/or harkened to what gets said in class, that they indeed
find and focus on something in the literature that you like, and that there is some stamp of
your own individuality upon them.
4
Syllabus: ENGL 2358, British and World Poetry: Epic, Spring 2016, with Brian Donovan
Grading system: Each piece of your work will be graded with a letter grade. For purposes of
averaging, A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0, M[issing]= –2. In exams, the averaging of grades for
each of three questions will commonly produce one-third and two-third fractions, and thus
pluses and minuses on the overall exam grades. Pluses and minuses will also be used in
grading term papers, with the same numeric value of one-third. Weights of the various grade
components are as follows: Praises 15% (3% each); Midterm 15%; Paper 30%; Final 30%;
Attendance and Participation 10%. Grades on written work that comes in late will not
themselves be docked or reduced, though such lateness will affect the last-named
component. Also be warned that I will not much exert myself to grade or return late work
promptly. (Praises submitted on time should normally come back to you in one week,
midterms in two, while timely term papers will be returned when you hand in your final
exam paper.)
Sexual Content Warning
Literature very commonly deals with sex, and often in a very uninhibited way. This is not at all
an exclusively modern phenomenon, as is sometimes assumed. Two centuries ago, Thomas
Bowdler had an idea for correcting this kind of “problem”; he published censored or expurgated
versions of Shakespeare’s plays, so that inhibited and proper nineteenth-century young ladies
could read them without scandal or embarrassment. Thus his name became a verb: “to
Bowdlerize.” This course will not be Bowdlerized. If you are uncomfortable with talk or
discussion pertaining to sex, I respectfully urge that you find some other course to fulfill your
requirements.
Accessibility Notice
Students with physical, sensory, psychiatric, learning, or other disabilities are heartily welcome
in this class. Reasonable and necessary accommodations for documented disabilities can and will
be arranged. You are responsible for notifying the Disability Services Office (phone 755-3883, email disabilityservices[at-sign]bemidjistate.edu) regarding special needs and accommodations.
Upon request this syllabus itself can be made available in alternate formats.
A Note on Academic Integrity
Although originality was not much valued among the oral-traditional singers of tales from whom
the epic tradition derives, within the cultural context of contemporary American Academe it is.
When you submit intellectual work product (such as term papers or exam papers) for academic
credit, you are implicitly declaring that the work is your own new and original stuff, the result of
your own individual thinking. Make sure that is indeed the case. When this implicit declaration is
a lie, then academic integrity is violated. Your thinking will be much enriched by others’ input,
we all hope; but you are expected to digest this input thoroughly and assimilate it into your own
thinking, much as your body might digest the tissue of a food plant or animal and convert it into
your own body tissue. In the term paper, facts and ideas, as well as quotations, for which you are
indebted to others (your sources) must be precisely noted and carefully acknowledged—even
what you have more or less thoroughly digested and assimilated—according to a standard
documentation system, either 0MLA or APA. In exams, while I expect your essays to reflect
Syllabus: ENGL 2358, British & World Poetry: Epic, Spring 2016, with Brian Donovan
5
points that have been made in class (and documentation is not required in that case), I also expect
them to be freshly formulated during the exam period, in your own words. Demonstrable
violation of these expectations will result in a reduced or failing grade for the course, and will
also be reported to the relevant university officials, which may result in more severe sanctions if
it turns out not to be a first offense. For official university policy on this matter, see
https://www.bemidjistate.edu/offices/president/policies/wpcontent/uploads/sites/79/2015/06/Academic-Integrity-Policy2.pdf.
Course Calendar
In the following table, reading assignments are given with the dates they are due: that is, you
should read the assigned pages in advance of the class meeting on the specified date.
#
Date
1 Tu 1/12
2 Tu 1/19
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Th 1/21
Tu 1/26
Th 1/28
Tu 2/2
Th 2/4
Tu 2/9
Th 2/11
Tu 2/16
Th 2/18
Tu 2/23
Tu 3/1
Th 3/3
Tu 3/8
Th 3/10
Tu 3/22
Th 3/24
Tu 3/29
Th 3/31
Tu 4/5
Th 4/7
Tu 4/12
Th 4/14
Tu 4/19
Th 4/21
Readings due
Handouts: “Introduction to Epic Poetry &
Homer,” “Discussion Questions . . .,” &
this syllabus; Homer’s Iliad, Books 1–4
Homer’s Iliad, Books 5–9
Homer’s Iliad, Books 10–14
Homer’s Iliad, Books 15–19
Homer’s Iliad, Books 20-24
Homer’s Odyssey, Books 1–6
Homer’s Odyssey, Books 7–12
Homer’s Odyssey, Books 13–18
Homer’s Odyssey, Books 19–24
Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 1–4
Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 5–8
Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 9–12
Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock”
Beowulf, lines 1–1382
Beowulf, lines 1383–3182
Dante’s Inferno, Cantos 1–17
Dante’s Inferno, Cantos 18–34
Milton’s Paradise Lost, Books 1–3
Milton’s Paradise Lost, Books 4– 6
Milton’s Paradise Lost, Books 7–9
Milton’s Paradise Lost, Books 10–12
Vyasa/Narayan’s Mahabharata
Writings due and other agenda
Introductory session
Praise #3 due.
Praise #2 due.
Praise #3 due.
Review for Midterm
Midterm examination
Praise #4 due.
Term paper due.
Praise #5 due.
Review for Final
Final Examination: Monday 2 May 1:00–3:00 P.M.
6
Syllabus: ENGL 2358, British and World Poetry: Epic, Spring 2016, with Brian Donovan
Copyright Notice (Attention Administrators)
This syllabus remains the intellectual property of its author, Prof. Brian R. Donovan. It is not the
sample syllabus that passed through the university curriculum approval process, and therefore is
not the Course Outline for this course as defined in MnSCU Board Policy 3.22 Part 2 Subpart A.
Permission is not granted for Bemidji State University or Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities to appropriate its contents in revising the Course Outline for this course.