| Course Description This course provides a broad
overview of British Literature and its cultural contexts from the
Anglo-Saxon period to the 18th century, with emphasis on illustrative
writers and works. This course is required for the major in English and
counts as a general studies course in literature. You must have
credit in ENG 101 or its equivalent and sophomore standing to enroll in
this class. Please see me at the beginning of the course if you do
not meet these criteria.
Texts and Materials
Damrosch, David, General Editor. The Longman
Anthology of British Literature, Volume I . 2nd ed. New York: Addison Wesley Longman,
2003.
(Books are available at Campus Book and Supply,
46 Martha L. Collins Blvd, Cold Spring--near Kroger, Subway, and
Blockbuster off of Alexandria Pike--see me if you need a map)
Learning Objectives. Students will do
the following:
- Read and analyze rhetorically (primary sources)
poetry, drama, and prose from the Anglo-Saxon period through the
18th century.
- Understand the cultural contexts within which
literature arises
- Synthesize their analyses verbally and in writing
through class discussion, groupwork, presentations, and written
examinations, critical analyses, and papers.
- Practice library and internet research skills,
consulting secondary sources and formulating results into classroom
presentations
- Review ethical use of information through plagiarism
& citation workshops
Course Policies and
Components
Policies
Late work. All work is
due at the beginning of class on the date posted on the course schedule . I will not accept late
work except in extraordinary circumstances. If you cannot attend class
on a due date, send your work along with one of your classmates, or
make arrangements with me to turn it in before the due date. I
will distribute a voluntary student contact sheet to help you contact
one another should it be necessary.
Attendance. Although I do not take
attendance, daily in-class writing and frequent in-class assignments
make attendance mandatory (see In-class Writing
component below).
Cheating & Plagiarism. All work
submitted must be written exclusively for this course. The use of
sources (ideas, quotations, argument structures, and paraphrases)
must be properly documented in MLA format. Any plagiarism,
whether on a regular assignment or on an extra credit assignment, will
result in failure of the entire course. Please see me if you have
any questions about your use of sources.
Components
Study Questions. Before
most reading assignments, I will post definitions, notes, study
questions, and assignments on the class schedule at http://www.nku.edu/~rkdrury/202/s03202sched.html
. These study questions will help you think about the passages you read,
to prepare for quizzes, and to prepare for exams. You need not turn in
formal answers to these questions, but you are encouraged to think
about and respond to them on your own.
In-class writing. At some
point during most class sessions, I will ask you to respond in writing
to a question pertaining to the reading assigned for that day. These
responses help us to focus collectively on the material at hand and
provide me with important insight into your needs as a class. Although
these responses are not graded for content, they must attempt to
address the question posed and demonstrate engagement with the
assigned reading (that is, off-topic or contentless responses will not
count). I will keep all of your responses in my files until the end of
the semester. Your grade on in-class writing will be assigned based
upon the number of appropriate responses you turned in. In-class
writing assignments are collected immediately and cannot be made up,
even the same day.
Critical Analyses. Students
will complete three written critical analyses on assigned passages
during the term. Instructions for completing these assignments will be
provided on a separate handout..
Quizzes. I will give several
short unannounced quizzes on reading during the semester. Quizzes
typically cover factual material in a text; if you read the assignment
for the day and think about the study questions, you should be able to
do well on the quizzes. Quizzes cannot be made up or turned in
late.
Short Assignments. At several
points during the semester, I will ask you to complete a short
assignment inside or outside of class. These assignments will be due
in writing either at the end or that class meeting or at the beginning
of the class meeting following their assignment. These assignments
will usually linked to the class website; if you must miss a class,
you should make arrangements to print out the assignment from the
website.
Participation. You are
expected to participate regularly and thoughtfully in class
discussions and group activities.
Exams.
This course includes 2 midterms and a final exam. Each exam covers a
specific literary period (Medieval, Renaissance, or
Eighteenth-century). All exams consist of identifications of terms,
significant characters , and quotations
from the materials assigned during the term, as posted on the course schedule; in addition, the 2nd
midterm includes a poetry explication component. To do well on the
exams, you will need to take careful notes on any materials we discuss
in class and refer to the materials provided on the course website for
your benefit. Students who read carefully and pay particular attention
to the cultural contexts discussed in class tend to do well. Detailed
information about exact point breakdowns for term, character, and
quotation identifications are as follows:
Quotations
- 1 point--title of the work
- 1 point--author of the work
- 3 points--context of the quotation
within the work (i.e., the speaker(s), if any, and what is happening in
the story where the quotation appears)
- 3 points--significance of the
quotation and the ideas it expresses to the period
Terms
- 2 points--complete definition of the
term
- 2 points--example from the texts we
read (author and title)
- 2 points--explain how the example you
gave illustrates the term (give specific details)
Characters
- 2 points--title of work in which the
character appears
- 2 point--name of the work's author
- 2 points--explain the character's
significance to the work
Please take into account the exam
requirements as you read the materials, attend class, and take notes.
If you wait until just before the exam, you will be unprepared.
Extra Credit. If you find that you need
to make up some points because you miss a quiz, a short assignment, or
points on an exam, you may complete up to 20 points of extra credit . Opportunities for
extra credit are located at http://www.nku.edu/~rkdrury/202/202_extra_credit.html.
Grading
Grades will be calculated as follows
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