| 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, 2nd compact ed., Volume 1. New York:
Addison Wesley Longman. (Note: the combined Volume 1 or the Volume 1a-1c
split are also acceptable).
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Penguin. (this should
be bundled with your anthology) (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. In this
course, students will do the
following:
- Read
and analyze poetry, drama, and prose (primary sources) 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, written examinations,
and papers.
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. Consider exchanging contact
information with a classmate.
Attendance.
The university requires that all faculty take attendance. In
my course, attendance may be taken through a daily
sign-in sheet or through in-class writing
or assignments. I find that there is a direct correlation between
how well students do in the course and their attendance. Should you
find it necessary to miss class, please get the notes for the day
from another student and pick up any handouts from the bin outside
my office door.
Cheating & Plagiarism.
All work submitted
must be written by you 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.
Electronic
Devices. Please
either turn off your phone during our brief time together or set
it to one of the more silent ring options. Please do
not surf the net or answer e-mail on a laptop during classes. If
you are not taking notes on your laptop, turn it off. During exams,
all electronic devices and headphones must be put away. Text messaging
during an exam will result in failure of the exam.
Courtesy.
Although this may seem obvious to many of you, here is
a list of behaviors to avoid as they are discourteous to your classmates
and instructor.
- Please
arrive on time and do not ask to leave early unless headed for the
emergency room. If you arrive too late to sign the attendance sheet,
you are absent.
- If you must
miss class, please do not ask if we did anything important. We
do something of monumental importance during every class period.
Assume that we did something and get the notes from a classmates.
- If you must
answer a cell phone call during class, take it outside.
- If you need
to have a conversation with a classmate on a topic other than a
group assignment, take it outside.
- Please do not
talk during films and silent study periods.
Components
Reading
Assignments .
You are expected to have consulted the schedule and completed the
scheduled reading for each day's assignment. I will assess whether
you have read or not through reading quizzes, in-class writing,
and/or in-class discussion. We will adhere to the schedule; if
it looks like we have gotten behind, rest assured we will catch
up the next class period, and you will need to be prepared.
Study
Questions.
For most reading assignments, you should refer to the class schedule
on the web for definitions, notes, study questions, and assignments.
Posted study questions will help you think about the reading assignments,
to prepare for quizzes, and to prepare for exams. At times, I will
ask specifically that these questions be turned in, particularly
if we use them for in-class assignments.
In-class
writing. At some
point
during some 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 or later in the class period, if you are late.
Essays.
Essay assignments are linked
to the course website. Essays are to be 2-3 pages in length, in a
standard 10 or 12 point font, formatted with 1 inch margins all
around, and in MLA format (see handout). Please give your essay a title, but
dispense with cover sheets. Please refer to the grading
criteria for essays, which is linked to the course syllabus.
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. Due dates for these assignments will be announced in class.
When I indicate something is due, turn it in whether or not I
officially ask for it in class. These
assignments are usually linked to the class website; if you must
miss a class, you should make arrangements to print out the assignment
from the website and complete it on your own.
Participation.
You are expected
to participate regularly and thoughtfully in class discussions and
group activities. Before answering, however, please take a moment to think about
your response (the 10-second rule), and do not answer more than two
questions in a row without giving someone else an opportunity.
Exams.
During in-class exams, all notes, headsets, laptops, cell phones,
Blackberrys, and other PDAs must be put away. This
course includes 2 midterms and a final exam. Each exam covers a
specific
literary period (Medieval, Renaissance, or
Restoration/Eighteenth-century). All exams
consist of identifications of terms, significant
characters, and quotations from the materials assigned
during the term, posted on the course schedule, or handed out in class. 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 significance 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 (not the work or the
author) and the ideas the quotation expresses
that are relatively unique to
the specific period under study
Terms
- 2 points--complete definition of the
term
- 2 points--the
author and title of one of the the texts we read that provides
an example of the term
- 2 points--detailed
explanation of exactly 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. Note that components are weighted differently; i.e., a point
in one category may not equal a point in another category. Running totals
of grades are posted in Blackboard.
Component |
Percentage
of Grade |
| In-class writing,
assignments, handouts, quizzes, attendance, and class participation |
20% |
| Essays (10% each) |
20% |
| 2 Midterms (20%
each) |
40% |
| Final Exam |
20% |
| Total |
100% |
Course Schedule
Email your instructor
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