SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY College of Arts & Sciences
ENL 241-S1: British Literary Studies II, 3 credits
COURSE SYLLABUS for Spring Semester 2014
Dr. C. F. Warren, course instructor
Class meeting times: Weekly ongoing and meaningful active ONLINE participation required between 16 Jan thru 3 May 2014.
Faculty ONLINE Office/ Hours: by e-mail or home voicemail most Tuesdays thru Saturdays from 1-10pm and also by appt. All messages and scores typically retuned within 24 hrs.
Faculty contact data: cwarren@salemstate.edu [e-mail]; 542-2424, x. 1245 [campus voicemail] and 978-712-0007 [home/voice-mail]. My Website: www.drwarren.info
Course Description: A study of major British literary figures who are representative of the Neo-Classic, Romantic and Victorian periods. Emphasis upon the major characteristics of
each literary period and the relationships among them. Three lecture hours per week. Not open to students who have received credit for ENG 226. Prerequisite: ENG 102, ENL 102, ENG102E,
ENL 102ESL, ENG 103, ENL 103, ENG 106H, or ENL 106H. ►This online section of ENL 241 weekly requires timely researching, reading/ analyzing, online posting, and writing about a mix of representative
literary works from different peoples/cultures from various epochs and eras. The chosen literary works will be from several literary genres (i.e., poems, short stories, plays, folk tales, and collected
teachings/sayings) and ach chosen literary work will be studied in depth. NOTE: ENL 240 and ENL 241 may be taken in either order. 3 credits ; D1 distribution (Humanities).
Required Materials:
Damrosch, Baswell, Carroll, et al. (Eds.) Masters of British Literature, Volume B. [Designated as MBL for your assigned readings] Pearson/Longman, 2009. ISBN: 0321334000.
Quick Study. British Literature. Bar Charts, Inc. 2002. ISBN: 978-157222615-9. [Easy-to-use Quick Study outline of major British writers/authors/playwrights from Middle Ages thru the 20th century].
Straus, Jane. Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation 10th ed. ISBN: 0470222689. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2009. [Easy-to-use brush-up and guide for all writing]
Suggested Titles:
Allosso, D. Short Handbook for Writing Essays in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Create Space/Amazon, 2011.ISBN: 1466229101 [Gnarly brush-up!];
Drabble, Margaret (ed.). The Oxford Companion to English Literature 7th ed. Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN: 0192806874. Incomparable reference work and handbook!
Head, Dominic (ed.) The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN: 0521831792. [Super reference tool].
Hollander, John. Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse. 3rd ed. Yale University Press, 2001. ISBN: 0300088329. Also now available in Kindle format. [An explication of poetic form].
Kennedy, X. J. Handbook of Literary Terms. 3rd ed. ISBN: 0321-845560. Pearson, 2013. [Excellent for analyzing works read in ENL 240/241, ENL 260/261, or ENL 481/482];
Stevenson, Jay. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to English Literature. Alpha Books, 2007. ISBN: 1592576567. [Terrific supplementary reading!].
.Turco, Lewis. The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics. 3rd ed. UPNE, 2000. ISBN: 1584650222. [Classic tool for those interested in poetry
►Selected Reference Aids containing useful information or pointing toward further sources:
▪See Instructor’s Website [at www.drwarren.info] and its ENL241 course page containing URLs and background materials/reference aids on works read for this course.
www.prenhall.com/wilkie [Prentice-Hall’s world literature. website] or http://www.malaspina.org/home.htm [Malaspina University’s GREAT BOOKS website]•
www.bartleby.com [best access to analyses of plays, plots, characters, poet/writer bios, literary terms, etc.--from many references]•
►Sites above will have background information on any era, most works in this course--and their plots, characters, poets, or authors.
▪See www.mfa.org [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston] • http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html [find art/architecture thru the ages]
▪For help and FAQs on using MLA style, including parenthetical citations and Works Cited entries, see: www.mla.org or www.easybib.com or www.zotero.org
▪Check out meta-search engines such as: www.ixquick.com • www.dogpile.com  www.surfwax.com • www.yippy.com.
▪Learn what’s at nearby colleges/public libraries at the NOBLE Website: www.noblenet.org or see holdings at SSU: http://www.salemstate.edu/library/
Course Goals:
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5)
To
To
To
To
To
provide approaches to interpreting and appreciating selected enduring masterpieces of British literature;
understand the general progress of British literary history;
encourage students to become familiar with eras, issues/environments, cultures, and peoples other than the present;
furnish some understanding of--and tools for—critical reading, critical thinking, and communicating about great literature;
help students to know themselves better as they explore the writings, values, ideas, and customs of earlier eras or epochs.
Objectives (and Enabling Activities) to Meet Course Goals:
A. One-page Insight Essay [200 pts ]. See TIPS/Guidelines posted on CANVAS. As we undertake the study of each work by its playwright, poet, or writer, the student will
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B.
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compose in his/her own words a typed single-spaced, thoroughly-proofread,500-word Insight Essay as a vehicle for conveying the student’s own reactions, analysis,
and conclusions about one aspect of any assigned literary work. An individual Insight essay cannot be: based on any Discussion Board topic, a re-working of your
online response to any DBoard; a plot description or storyline summary, “lifted” from background articles; nor an Internet article re-hashing. Writing this essay will allow
the student to integrate his/her grasp of the author, tone, characters, plot, themes, symbols/ imagery, language, and/or setting for the examined literary work. TIP: Pick
one aspect of an assigned work, state a thesis, support your argument[s] with evidence (quotes, examples, and/or sources). Use MLA documentation [see pdf sample MLA
paper located at www.drwarren.info website] if using outside sources. Creativity is encouraged: any approach that helps you to explore the formal elements, timelessness, and
themes of these works is OK. Submit a complete 1-page Insight Essay thru CANVAS anytime by the 9pm posted deadline date for which your chosen literary work
is featured. Insight Essays must contain: [1] date of submission; [2] name of the literary work being written about; [3] a descriptive + inviting essay title created by
student; [4] contain a thesis statement in its 1st paragraph; and [5] student’s name/course no./section number/date submitted.
Reading assignments, preceded by the student’s own online or library research and by the student’s ongoing consultation of the ENL 241 coursepage at
www.drwarren.info with its useful URLs] will foster appreciation of these great literary works and will facilitate student’s critical thinking, research, and writing skills.
Active and meaningful online involvement on the course Discussion Board [DB]. Up to 50 pts. are awarded for student’s own thoughtful, supported, and literate
250+-word response to any 10—and only 10 (the first 10 if more are submitted!)--qualifying* PROMPTS during this term. 10@ 50 pts. = 500 pts.]. *A qualifying PROMPT is
posted on most Mondays at 9:01pm [often near the deadline for previous assigned work]. Whenever posting to a Discussion Board, the student also must post to the DB at least
one original, supported, and thoughtful 150+ word reaction to a posting by a classmate[s]. These peer exchanges will boost grasp of the literary works.
Independent Research [online and at library, before/during each work studied] will promote hands-on retrieval of varied data, critical thinking, and academic writing.
COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM [300 pts.] is based on all assignments, readings, research, ENL 241 URLs, and CANVAS discussions/postings. Cumulative Final Exam
permits the student to analyze assigned work from multiple perspectives and to show the student’s grasp of concepts relating to our study of literature; this cumulative final
exam includes 2 parts: (a) T-F items and (b) Multiple Choice items based on assigned readings and literary works (including the Origins of Quotes or Excerpts taken
from assigned works). Your completed final exam is due by its deadline. As this course unfolds in realtime, exceptions cannot be accommodated.
Grading Provisions [also see other side for Course Groundrules and for related conditions/regulations/policies]:
Course grade will be based on 1000 possible points [nb: Total points earned by student are not scaled when course grade is assigned:
A 940-1000; A- 900-939; B+ 880-899; B 830-879; B-800-829; C+ 780-799; C 730-779; C- 700-729, D+ 680-699 and so on; F <600]
accumulated via these three performance components and their respective weights: [1] Submit a one-page, singled-spaced, proofread Insight Essay [200 pts.]; [2] Active and
meaningful course involvement online—submit 10 paired postings/reactions over term [10 @ 50 pts. = 500 possible pts.]; and [3] one completed Final Exam quiz [300pts];
Cumulative Final Exam will be posted about 3 days before term’s end; it has 2 sections (see Objective/Activity E. above.) Completed Final Exam Quiz is DUE by date listed.
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*Friday, 11 April 2014 is Last Day to Withdraw from a full-semester undergrad Course [with “W” designation].
s
ENL241 Course Syllabus is continued on other side…
WEEKLY PREPARATION CHECKLIST: BEFORE READING ASSIGNMENTS, WRITING, or PARTICIPATING ONLINE
a) Consult ENL 241 coursepage for Rubric and Scoring Scale URL for your essays; Know Course Goals, Policies; Grading; Groundrules; Absence limit; Instructor’s expectations.
b) See: www.drwarren.info + its ENL 241 coursepage for background data on literary works and author/poet bios; Read: MBL (Masters of British Literature) for backstories + analysis, etc.
c) Consult: (1) www.drwarren.info for reading/interpreting poems; writing about literature; writing tips/ MLA style; (2) Often Read/Use: Short Handbook for Writing Essays in the Humanities
(3) Reading and Writing About Literature URL; (4) Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation; (5) X.J. Kennedy’s Handbook for basic literary terms. What is a literary genre?
SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS for ENL 241: British Literary Studies II
PART I: THE ROMANTICS and THEIR CONTEMPORARIES [MBL: Preface: xxvii-xxx; pp. 4-10]: NOTE:All readings DUE by 9pm on dates below:
27 Jan—Wm. Blake [1757-1827]. MBL: 48-50; 52-53. Assigned Works: from Songs of Innocence Introduction; The Lamb; Chimney Sweeper; Holy Thursday. From
Songs of Experience: Introduction; Holy Thursday; Chimney Sweeper; The Tyger; London. By 9pm, Post to DB; Proofread all submissions!
03 Feb—Robert Burns [1759-96]. MBL: p172. Assigned Works: To a Mouse; Flow Gently, Sweet Afton; A Reed, Red Rose; Auld Lang Syne. And also.….
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Wm. Wordsworth [1770-1850]. MBL: 183-86; 198-202. Works: Sonnets 1802-07, read pp. 198-202: Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey;
Westminster Bridge; World is Too Much With Us; London, 1802; My Heart Leaps Up. By 9pm on 3 Feb, Post to DB.
10 Feb—Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772-1834]. MBL: 291-92. Works: Rime of The Ancient Mariner; Kubla Kahn. By 9pm. on 10 Feb., Post to DB; Prepare for each Module!
17 Feb—George Gordon, Lord Byron [1788-1824]. MBL: 347-49. Assigned Works: She Walks in Beauty; When a Man Hath No Freedom to Fight for at Home;
On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year. By 9pm. 17 Feb: Post to DB;
24 Feb—Percy Bysshe Shelley [1792-1822].MBL: 467-69. Works: To Wordsworth; Ozymandias; England in 1819; Ode to West Wind; Skylark; The Cloud. Post toDB.
03 Mar—John Keats [1795-1821]. MBL: 531-34. Assigned Works: On Sitting Down to Read King Lear; LaBelle Dame sans Mercy; Ode to a Nightingale; Ode on a
Grecian Urn; To Autumn. By 9pm: Post to DB;
PART II: THE VICTORIAN AGE [MBL: pp. 567-70]:
17 Mar—Elizabeth Barrett Browning [1806-1861]. MBL: 613-15. Assigned Works: To George Sand; A Year’s Spinning; Sonnets from the Portuguese: If Thou
Must Love Me; When Our Two Souls Stand Up Erect; How Do I Love Thee? And...
Alfred, Lord Tennyson [1809-1892]. MBL: 635-37. Works: Break, Break, Break; Charge of the Light Brigade; Crossing the Bar. By 9 pm, Post to DB;
24 Mar—Robert Browning [1812-1889]. MBL: 742-45.Works: My Last Duchess; The Bishop Orders His Tomb; A Parting at Morning; Love Among Ruins. And also
Matthew Arnold [1822-1888]. MBL: 858-61. Assigned Works: Isolation: To Marguerite; To Marguerite—Continued; Dover Beach. By 9pm: Post to DB.
31 Mar—Rudyard Kipling [1865-1936]. MBL: 930-31. Assigned Works: How the Leopard Got His Spots; Gunga Din; Widow at Windsor; If. And also….
Oscar Wilde [1854-1900]. MBL: 955-57. Assigned Works: Harlot’s House; Symphony in Yellow; Preface to Picture of Dorian Gray. Post to DB.
PART III: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY [MBL: pp. 1019-21 and 1027-30]:
07 Apr—William Butler Yeats [1865-1939]. Read: 1182-85. Assigned Works: September 1913; Easter 1916; The Second Coming; A Prayer for My Daughter;
Sailing to Byzantium .By 9pm: Post to DB. *11 April 2014 is last date for W grade
14 Apr—T. S. Eliot [1888-1965]. MBL: 1245-48. Assigned Works: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock; The Waste Land. By 9pm, Post to DB.
21 Apr—Virginia Woolf [1892-1941]. MBL: 1285-88. Assigned Work: excerpts from The Lady in Looking Glass: A Reflection from a Room of One’s Own. And also
Dylan Thomas 1914-1953]. MBL: 1353-54. Assigned Works: Fern Hill; A Poem in October; Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. Post to DB.
28 Apr—Derek Walcott [born 1930]. MBL: 1446-47. Assigned Works: A Far Cry from Africa; Wales. And also read….
Seamus Heaney [1939-2013]. MBL: 1454-55. Assigned Works: Punishment; The Skunk; The Toome Road; Postscript; A Call; The Errand.; Post to DB.;
Saturday, 3 May—ONLINE FINAL EXAM Quiz (see description elsewhere on syllabus) Submit completed Final Exam via CANVAS by 9pm on this date.
*Last date to Withdraw from this course with a grade of “W” is Friday, 11 April 2014.
►To ensure a rewarding and fun course for all, here are the Course Groundrules/Instructor’s Expectations of those enrolled in ENL 241:
1.
2.
Self-management, a minimum of 3 hours prep, and online participation are expected of each student for every week of the term ending 3 May 2014.
WARNING: Course credit cannot be awarded if student fails—by specified deadline dates--to submit a meaningful paired posting to any 10 (and only 10) of the 13
listed Module’s Discussion Boards; submit an Insight Essay( on any assigned work from any of the 13 Modules, + complete a Final Exam [for ANY reason, including illness].
3. NOTES: There are NO “excused” absences, “do-overs,” or “extra” credit opportunities! To permit idea exchanges among all, try to post to DBoard 24 hrs. before deadline!
4. Although NOT recommended, if the “10 meaningful online paired postings to 10 individual DBs” requirement is met, a student could miss up to 2 Non-consecutive DB
sessions/deadlines during the term before losing course credit. However, absences impact mastery of the material and will affect the required active involvement points.
5. The student incurs point loss for being under-prepared for any online participation; Late submittals (for any reason) CANNOT be accepted. Deadlines in an online course RULE!
6. Early, “slid under the instructor’s office door,” and “left in faculty mailbox” submittals of assignments (or of any student work) are not allowed.
7. Make-up exams or extensions are NOT GIVEN for any reason, including illness [O points are awarded for any missed assignment, posting, or exam].
8. SSU-declared class cancellations [storms, power loss, etc.] do NOT alter your responsibility to submit assignments or to participate—Plan ahead!
9. Submitted assignments/exams/postings will be kept by Instructor; so, please make copies! All exams/exam results/papers/assignments are retained by Instructor.
10. Plagiarism, whether deliberate or unintentional in nature, will result in course failure and/or removal from SSU. Do NOT use or copy any text without crediting source[s].
11. The student is liable for all that goes on for each literary work and for obtaining / doing assignments—whether s/he is online or posts within any given timeframe/deadline.
12. Your absence from--or lack of--meaningful online participation affects those points earned by you for active class Involvement, meaningful contributions, and demonstrated preparation.
13. Literary works under study [and any relevant study or independent research results] must be consulted by you before you submit assignments or participate online; don’t risk losing points!
14. ASAP, please notify instructor at cwarren@salemstate.edu or by voicemail [978-712-0007] of any planned (recent) absence, concern, or to schedule a personal phone chat.
POLICY STATEMENTS:
■ All students are expected to be familiar with the academic regulations, including those regarding Academic Integrity, for Salem State University as published in the University
catalog. In addition, each student is responsible for completing all course requirements and for keeping up with all that goes on in the course (whether or not the student is present).
■ Salem State University is committed to providing equal access to the educational experience for all students in compliance with Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act and
The Americans with Disabilities Act and to providing all reasonable academic accommodations, aids and adjustments. Any student who has a documented disability requiring an
accommodation, aid or adjustment should speak with the instructor immediately. Students with Disabilities who have not previously done so should provide documentation to and
schedule an appointment with the Office for Students with Disabilities and obtain appropriate services.
■ In the event of a University-declared critical emergency, Salem State University reserves the right to alter this course plan. Students should refer to www.salemstate.edu for
further information and updates. The course attendance policy stays in effect until there is a university declared critical emergency. In the event of an emergency, please refer to the
alternative educational plans for this course located at/ www.drwarren.info. Students should review the plans and gather all required materials before an emergency is declared.
■ Profound literacy is the hallmark of a liberal education. To that end, English Department courses involve instruction and study in literature and writing, the emphasis varying
according to course content. Through intensive reading and analysis, students develop a critical appreciation of literature written in disparate times and places. Through expository
writing, students learn techniques for conducting research and for drafting and revising analytic and persuasive essays based on critical reading. In creative writing, students develop
an aesthetic through practicing the craft of various genres. The English Department prepares students for professional and academic leadership including
careers in teaching and writing.