Text: here is one required book for this course. It is in the MSU Bookstore.
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise Edition, Volume A. Second edition, 2011. ISBN 13: 978-1-55481-048-2
You will be responsible for bringing the texts we are studying to class every day.
2. The CourseThis course will introduce you to the literature of England from the Old English or Anglo-Saxon period to the end of the English Republic iln 1660.
This is a survey course -- an introduction to British literature up to 1660.
The literature spans a long period of time -- roughly 800 A.D. to 1660 A.D., more than 800 years -- and a lot of literature.
The literature we will read is "just the tip of the iceberg." There is much, much more than this! We'll be reading the really classic literature -- the works that have been most often read, quoted, referred to. We will have to leave out a lot of wonderful stuff. There's a lot in our text that we will not be reading. And there is a lot of great stuff that's not in our text at all.
Since the purpose of this survey course is to give you a brief introduction to a great deal of classic literature written over a long period of time, we will not pause to study individual works in detail, or to read critical essays on individual literary works. But:
Our aim is to survey. It is as though we will stand on a high mountain and look over a huge vista, many square miles of the most varied countryside, and consider it all from that perspective. Of course we know that, if we had the time, we could hike through every road, field, and forest, swim or fish in all the lakes and rivers, and get to know it all very closely. We also know that to do so would take years of very pleasurable activity.
That is what we will be doing. The "huge vista" is comprised of the works of British literature written during this long period of time. The "great height" which allows us this overview is this course and our textbook.
Our view of British literature will be panoramic, all-encompassing, but superficial. You have the rest of your lives to study this literature, the authors we will read, along with a great deal of literature and authors we will NOT consider.
Because we want to cover a great deal of literature in one semester, we will read aloud a lot of the literature in class.
There will be two kinds of Homework assignments.
A. Historical and background readings in the text.
When we start a new work I will assign you to read, and write assignments about, the introductory and background readings provided in our text.
For example, during the first weeks of class you will write several assignments on the material titled "Introduction to the Medieval Period", pp. 1-34 in our text.
This means it is very important for you to
We will read much of the literature in class. When you have homework assignments on the background material, I will not give you HW assignments on the literature at the same time. That would be too much.
However, I do expect you to read at home the literature assigned for a given class before coming to class.
5. Attendance and Class Participation.We will spend most of each class actually reading the literature assigned.
We will also have some brief discussion of it. I will try to point out aspects of the work that, if we had time, we would more fully investigate.
Every student will be responsible for reading aloud in class. (I don't want to read it all myself.)
In order to do this you must bring your textbook to class every day.
I will note anyone who does not bring their text to class. If you fail to bring your text more than one time you will be penalized.
Because the work of this course takes place mainly in the classroom, attendance is extremely important.
I will take attendance will be taken each day.
If you cannot attend class for whatever reason, I expect you to let me know by email; by phone; or in person before class. If this is impossible, leave a message the same day as the class. If you fail, or forget, to do this, your absence will be "unexcused."
One unexcused absences will lower the final grade by one grade (e.g. "A" becomes "A-"). Two unexcused absences lowers it by one letter (e.g. "A" becomes "B").
"Excused" absences should also be avoided. The work of the course takes place in class, and can't be "made up."
Three "excused" absences will lower your final grade by one grade. Four or more, by one letter.
You should email me (from any Internet Address). I check my email very often. USE THE CORRECT SUBJECT LINE!
My office phone is 973-655-7305. But if I do not answer, please do NOT leave me any Voicemail at this number. Email me instead!
(I do NOT check messages on my Voicemail here. There are too many of them, and the sound quality is not good.)
Because the work of this course takes place mainly in the classroom, it is extremely important that you be on time to class every day.
After the first full week of classes if you are late for class after I have taken attendance I will count your lateness as an "excused" absence. Three of these will lower your final grade by one point.
"Late for class" means: after I take attendance. I'll take attendance at the beginning of class.
There will be a mid-term exam and a final exam.
Both exams will be on three things:
1. Your knowledge and understanding of the historical and background material in the text, on which you will have done HW assignments.
2. Your ability to recognize and identify passages in the literature assigned for the course, and to write something short about any given passage.
3. Your knowledge of the language -- especially vocabulary. You are also expected to be able to understand any sentence in the reading, meaning: to paraphrase it.
NOTE: The MID-TERM EXAM will be on everything we have covered up to the midterm. It will be "identification" and "comment." You must re-read everything in order to prepare for it. DO NOT wait until the last minute to do this!
The FINAL EXAM will be based on EVERYTHING we have covered in the class. Do NOT wait until the last minute to start re-reading everything!
The Final Grade for the class will be based on:
My office is Dickson Hall 325. Office hours for this semester are MR 10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m., or by appointment.
The easiest and recommended way to contact me is by e-mail. Please put your LAST NAME and the initials EL1 first on the "Subj:" line of any e-mail message you send me.
http:/chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/el1/el1syl12.html | furrg at mail.montclair.edu | last modified 2 Sept 12