Fall 2010
Katherine Romack
ENL 2010: English Literature I
T/TH 4:00-5:15 (Bldg. 52, Room 162)
Office: Bldg. 50, Room 243
Hours: T/TH 1:30-2:30 (and
by appointment)
E-mail: kromack@uwf.edu
History of English Literature I
This course is designed to increase your understanding and enjoyment of English literature from the
Middle Ages to the conclusion of the early modern period. We will focus on both the close reading of
texts and on broad cultural patterns of development. We will attend to the social, political, religious,
aesthetic, and economic factors that contributed to the literary imagination in Britain before 1700. The
goals of this course are to make you a more accomplished reader of medieval and early modern English
literature and to introduce you to the ways in which all texts reflect their age and culture in both obvious
and less-than-obvious ways, especially in terms of what literature is assumed to be, who the audience is,
what roles literature plays in society, and how it reflects that society.
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Learning Outcomes
Identify the social, historical, and philosophical contexts of medieval and early modern poetry, prose,
and plays in Britain.
Engage in close and critical reading of medieval and early modern literature, demonstrating
familiarity with the style, rhetoric, and idiom of these works.
Evaluate contemporary theoretical perspectives on medieval and early modern literature through close
and critical reading, again, demonstrating familiarity with the complex style, rhetoric, and idiom of
these critical texts.
Present clear, focused, and critical writing that adheres to the grammatical and syntactical standards
of the English discipline.
Regularly engage in invested, public, and collective discussion and debate about literature before
1700.
Course Requirements
Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. For each class missed you are required to submit a paper that is no
less than one full page single-spaced, times 12 font, summarizing the reading material due the day you
were absent to ensure that you do not fall behind on the material (due no later than two class sessions after
your return to class). These will not be graded but checked off for completion. For each make-up paper
not completed, a third of a letter grade will be deducted from your final grade for the course (for example,
your final grade for the course would be reduced from an “A” to an “A-”).
Please Note: The use of electronic media such as laptops and cell phones is prohibited while this class is
in session. Should you have special circumstances that require a waiver of this class policy, please be
sure to provide me with written documentation the first week of class.
Readings: This course is in many ways planned as a quiz and exam-heavy, reading-intensive “immersion
course.” I do not expect any of you to come to the class with a previous knowledge of the texts or
historical periods we will cover. I will expect you to complete all of the assigned readings in advance of
our class sessions so that we can have lively and informed class discussions. I encourage you to go
beyond the assigned reading to pursue issues generated in class that spark your interest. It is your
responsibility to bring a hard copy of the assigned reading to class on the day we discuss this. Should you
have any problems locating material, it is your responsibility to ask me about this well in advance of the
day the reading is due. Should you come to class without the assigned reading for the day, I will ask you
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to leave the class and write me a make up paper on the material covered. The following textbook is
available at the university bookstore:
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Abrams and Greenblatt et. al. ed., The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume I (WWW
Norton; Middle Ages through Restoration and 18th Century). ISBN: 0-393-92531-5
In addition to the textbook, you will read selected essays on: 1) the library's electronic reserve. As not all
of these texts are listed under this course heading, please search for these under the last name of the
author, then under the title, and if this fails, under my last name (author or title searches are best). 2)
individual library databases listed in the syllabus (ie. Jstor, Project muse). I have provided full citation
information in the course calendar for the articles that you will need to access through the databases.
See also course calendar. You should plan on approximately $25 in reproduction costs for this class.
Quizzes 40%: You can expect to be quizzed regularly on the material. Quizzes will be short answer, fill
in the blank, multiple choice, identifications, and/or short essay and will be given more frequently if I
suspect that people are not reading the assigned material carefully.
Midterm Exam 30%:
2 parts. Part one will consist of a take-home essay on a directed question. Part 2 of the exam will consist
of an in-class exam with “match the dates to the events,” multiple choice and short answer questions as
well as passage identifications.
Final Exam 30%:
2 parts. Part one will consist of a take-home essay on a directed question. Part 2 of the exam will consist
of an in-class exam with match the dates to the events, multiple choice and short answer questions as well
as passage identifications.
Late Work:
I will allow you to make up missed work only under extraordinary and well-documented circumstances
approved by the UWF administration. You can expect a late deduction for any late work.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a criminal offense and will not be tolerated in this class. Any instance of
plagiarism will be reported to the university administration with a recommendation that you receive an F
for the class and that the strongest disciplinary action be taken. If you are enrolled in this class you are
required to be familiar with the information presented in the following website module:
http://uwf.edu/cas/docs/plagiarism.htm. This website provides clear information about what constitutes
plagiarism and has links to the University of West Florida’s Academic Misconduct policy.
Individual Needs
All students are strongly encouraged to visit me during office hours to discuss the readings and/or written
assignments. You should (and may be required to) visit the Writing Center while composing any or all of
your formal papers. Any student having special needs due to hearing or vision impairment or learning
disabilities is encouraged to speak with me within the first week of classes so that suitable arrangements
can be made for your success in this course.
Course Calendar
Please note: changes to this schedule will be made verbally; you are responsible for keeping on top of all
such changes.
T 8/24 Introduction
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Print and bring to class syllabus, handouts (“A Work” and “Essay Checklist”).
TH 8/26 Classical Culture and The Early Church
“The Middle Ages” (Norton pp. 1-6; see also table beginning on page 22).
Film, Rome.
T 8/31 Anglo-Saxon England
Beowulf (Norton pp. 29-100).
TH 9/2 Anglo-Saxon England
Tom Prendergast, “Wanton Recollection": The Idolatrous Pleasures of Beowulf” [in New Literary History
30, no. 1 (1999): 129-141; available on Project Muse].
T 9/7 Anglo-Norman England
“Anglo-Norman England” (Norton pp. 7-10; see also table beginning on page 21).
Marie de France, Lanval (Norton 141-155).
Ancrene Riwle (Norton pp. 157-159).
TH 9/9 Anglo-Norman England
Laurie A. Finke and Martin B. Shichtman, “Magical mistress tour: Patronage, intellectual property, and
the dissemination of wealth in the Lais of Marie de France” [in Signs, Chicago: 25, 2 (Winter 2000): pp.
479- 504; available on Proquest Direct],
T 9/14 The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
“The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries” (Norton pp. 10-15).
Geoffrey Chaucer, “Introduction,” “The General Prologue,” The Canterbury Tales (Norton pp. 213-238).
TH 9/16 The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale,” The Canterbury Tales (Norton pp. 284-315).
T 9/21 The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
Carolyn Dinshaw, “Eunuch Hermeneutics,” [in ELH, Vol. 55, No. 1. (Spring, 1988), pp. 27-51; available
on Jstor].
PART ONE OF MIDTERM DISTRIBUTED.
TH 9/23 The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
Julian of Norwich, from A Book of Showings (Norton pp. 371-382).
Margery Kempe,, from The Book of Margery Kempe (Norton pp. 384-397).
T 9/28 The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
Caroline Walker Bynum’s “The Body of Christ in the Later Middle Ages: A Reply to Leo Steinberg,” [in
Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 39, No. 3. (Autumn, 1986), pp. 399-439; available on Jstor].
TH 9/30 The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
Everyman (Norton pp. 463-484).
T 10/5 Midterm Exam Review
Review day midterm exam. Read also:
“The Sixteenth Century” (Norton pp. 485-512).
Queen Elizabeth, Selected Writings (Norton pp. 687-700).
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TH 10/7 Midterm Exam
PART 1 OF MIDTERM DUE. PART 2 OF MIDTERM EXAM IN CLASS (on all material covered
through Everyman).
T 10/12 Renaissance Allegory
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, book 1, cantos 1 and 4; book 2, canto 12 (Norton pp. 708-709;
719+; 857-867).
TH 10/14 Renaissance Allegory
Katherine Eggert’s “Spenser's Ravishment: Rape and Rapture in The Faerie Queene” [Representations 70
(Spring, 2000), pp. 1-26 available on Jstor]
T 10/19 Renaissance Allegory cont.
Spenser and Eggert cont.
TH 10/21 Faustus
Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (Norton intro and pp. 1022-1057).
T 10/26 Faustus
David Hawkes, “Faust on Stage” (electronic reserve).
TH 10/28 Faustus
Faustus cont.
T 11/2 The Sonnet
The Early Seventeenth Century (Norton pp. 1235-1259). William Shakespeare, Sonnets (Norton pp. 10581076).
TH 11/4 Metaphysical and Cavalier Poetry
John Donne, Norton intro and “The Flea,” “The Extasie” Holy Sonnets: 7, 14, 19, “A Hymn to God, My
God on my Sickness,” "A Validiction of My Name in the Window (available on Luminarium:
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/valname.php); George Herbert, Norton intro and “The Altar,”
“Jordan” (1 and 2),” “The Collar,” “Love (III)”
T 11/9 Metaphysical and Cavalier Poetry
Richard Crashaw, Norton intro and “I Am The Door,” “On the Wounds of our Crucified Lord.” Robert
Herrick, Norton intro and “The Vine,” “Delight in Disorder,” “Upon The Nipples of Julia’s Breast,”
“Upon Some Women”(available on Luminarium:
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herrick/uponsome.htm ).
TH 11/11 Veteran’s Day
T 11/16 The English Civil War
“Crisis of Authority” (Norton pp. 1737-1757): read only general intro to section and intros to “News,”
“Political Writing,” “Writing the Self.” Andrew Marvell, Norton intro and “Horatian Ode” (Norton pp.
1695-1697; 1699; 1710).
PART ONE OF FINAL DISTRIBUTED.
TH 11/18 Areopagitica
Milton, Areopagitica (read the full version available on electronic reserve, not the abridged Norton
version).
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T 11/23 Areopagitica
Stanley Fish, “Driving from the Letter” (electronic reserve).
TH 11/25 Thanksgiving
T 11/30 Exam Review Day
Exam review/class evaluations.
T 12/2 Final Exam
PART ONE OF EXAM DUE. PART 2 OF FINAL EXAM IN CLASS (on material from Elizabeth I
and 16th century to end).
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“A” Work
Because understanding grades can be a difficult, complex, and painful process, the following is a
description that explains the characteristics associated with “A” work. It is important to keep in mind that
you are not your grades, and that grades reflect both effort and achievement, not effort alone. Periodically
throughout the semester, compare your performance with this profile and strive to meet its goals. As your
professor, it is my goal to guide you to excel to your highest potential.
Attendance: Students who produce “A” work have perfect (and prompt) attendance. Their commitment to
the class resembles that of the professor.
Reading: Students who produce “A” work are prepared for every class. They always complete the
assigned reading and take careful notes, jotting down points they wish to raise in class discussion in their
notebooks and in the margins of their texts. They show painstaking attention to detail. They recognize
that “difficult reading” really means “unfamiliar reading” and they make every effort to increase their
familiarity with the reading’s tone, vocabulary, concepts, and style.
Writing: Students who produce “A” writing carefully plan their essays and/or do pre-writing exercises.
They re-read the class texts and highlight relevant ideas or quotations. They produce rough drafts of their
papers and always revise and rewrite before turning the paper into the professor. They learn from past
mistakes by carefully going over the problems of previous essays and by getting feedback from the
professor. If they get stuck, they come to the professor, well in advance of the paper deadline, to discuss
their ideas and get started with her help. If a student who is striving to become an “A” student needs help
with grammar or organization, s/he seeks help at the writing center. “A” students know that “A” writing
doesn’t come ready-made, that writing is a labor of love that involves disciplined exercise and a constant
commitment to self-improvement.
Participation: Students who produce “A” work contribute to the class with passion and insight. They
know that excellent participation requires a balance between listening and talking. They ask interesting
questions and make thoughtful comments.
Retention: Students who produce “A” work connect past learning with present. Throughout the semester,
they relate what they learn in the class with the knowledge, insight, wisdom, and passion that they bring
with them into the class.
Curiosity: Students who produce “A” work show an interest in the class and in the subject. They go to
the library of their own volition! Possessed of an intrinsic love of learning, they research and read up on
what they don’t know. They find all academic topics captivating.
Attitude: Students who produce “A” work have a winning attitude. They have both the self-discipline
and determination necessary for success. They show initiative and take responsibility for their education
by claiming—not receiving—knowledge.
Talent: Talent is earned and rehearsed. Students who produce “A” work have developed special skills
and qualities. It may be unusual creativity, confidence, insight, enthusiasm, organizational skills,
commitment or a combination thereof. These talents are evident to the professor and to other students in
the class.
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ESSAY CHECKLIST
CONTENT:
1. Does the essay address the topic or question posed?
2. Does the essay present a clear statement of position?
• Does it make a claim (offer a thesis or argument) at the outset (generally
within the first two paragraphs)?
• Does this claim rehearse the obvious?
• Are the terms of the opening claim concrete or vague?
• Do all claims in the essay make logical sense?
• Do all claims in the essay follow an orderly progression?
• Do all claims in the essay support the opening argument or position taken or are they
unconnected to the opening claim/thesis?
2. Does the essay demonstrate that you have carefully read and
identified the main points of the assigned primary and secondary readings? Does it demonstrate that you
possess a thorough understanding of what has been covered in class?
• Are all points/claims/observations supported with textual evidence?
• Do quotations:
a. Stand alone or require elaboration?
b. Back up the point they are meant to support?
c. Have all quotations been accurately reproduced? Do they make sense as you have
used them?
STYLE:
1. Does essay conform to the formal requirements of the assignment?
• Does the length of the essay meet the minimum requirements of the
assignment?
• Does the essay properly document all citations and conform to MLA
style?
2. Has the essay been carefully proofread?
• For "passive voice," esp. for "causality" and "agency" (i.e. "it is
written that...." "it is speculated that")
• For syntax (does each sentence make logical sense; convey what you want it to?)
• For faulty preposition usage (i.e. "absorbed into," "argues persuasively on")
• For repetition (of words, phrases and ideas; i.e. "These patterns
follow the same pattern as the other writings did.")
• For agreement (esp. subject/verb i.e. "voices of opposition makes")
• For spelling (use spell-check and be sure to spell correctly the
author's name, title of the work you are dealing with, main topics,
places, names, things and so forth)
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