The Autumn 2000 syllabus below will give a general indication of what students may expect in Autumn 2001. Be aware, however, that the assignments are subject to change. Textbook: The Longman Anthology of British Literature, Volume One. ISBN 0-321-0117302. |
English 201: Selected Works of British Literature
Medieval through 1800
Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. . . . Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man. -- Francis Bacon, "Of Studies"
NOTE: Some items have links to other internet sites that may be of help to you as you work with this material. Where page numbers are indicated in parentheses, these refer to The Longman Anthology.
| Thursday | Introduction: Taliesin (139-43); "The Wanderer," (143-6); The Wife's Lament (148-9); Bede (126-31) |
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| Tuesday | "The Middle Ages" (2-26); "Judith" (114-19); "The Dream of the Rood" (120-24, plus alternate translation, see xerox handout. FYI: here's a modern English verse translation); Bede, (126-31); Medieval lyrics (520-35) |
| Thursday | Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, "General Prologue" (272-6; 293-313) |
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| Tuesday | Chaucer, "The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale" (329-56) |
| Thursday | Julian of Norwich, A Book of Showings, (chapters 4 and 5); Margery Kempe, "The Book of Margery Kempe," (500-20); Chaucer, "The Pardoner" (all parts, 357-72) |
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| Tuesday | The Play of Adam (xerox handout); Medieval Drama Links |
| Thursday | The Second Play of the Shepherds (461-80) |
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| Tuesday | Midterm Exam |
| Thursday | Arthurian Literature: Geoffrey of Monmouth and related readings (152-70); Marie de France (170-85); Malory, Morte Darthur (344-63), Courtly Love handout |
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| Tuesday | Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Introductions, "A letter of the Authors," Book One, Invocation to his Muse (4 stanzas); Book One, canto one, stanzas 1-28 (pp. 735-6, 740-51); Amoretti #1, 13, 22, 62, 65, 75 (pp. 898-901) |
| Thursday | Philip Sidney, from Astrophil and Stella #1, 31, 39, 45, 60, 71, 108 (pp. 911-12; 987-93); William Shakespeare, Sonnets #1, 18, 55, 60, 130, 138, (pp. 1166-78); Christopher Marlowe/Sir Walter Raleigh: The Passionate Shepherd and the Nymph (1046, 1098-9); Ben Jonson, "Song: To Celia" (1443, 1535); John Donne, "The Bait," "Song," "A Valediction: Of Weeping," "The Flea," "The Apparition," (1549-59) |
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| Tuesday | Isabella Whitney, "I. W. to Her Unconstant Lover," "The Admonition by the Author" (994-1001); Mary Wroth, Pamphilia to Amphilanthus (1571-7) |
| Thursday | Amelia Lanyer, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1036, 1041-5); John Donne, Holy Sonnets #1, 6; "For whom the bell tolls" (1564-9) |
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| Tuesday | Shakespeare, Othello, Act One, (1179-97) |
| Thursday | Shakespeare, Othello, Acts Two and Three (1197-1232) |
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| Tuesday | Shakespeare, Othello, Acts Four and Five (1232-60) |
| Thursday | Shakespeare, Othello in production on stage and film |
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| Tuesday | John Milton, Paradise Lost. Read
the introduction, plus the "arguments" for each book (1755-57, 1776, 1799-1800,
1813, 1832, 1842, 1844, 1854, 1879, 1897-8) Paper Due at Start of Class |
| Thursday | Thanksgiving |
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| Tuesday | Milton, Paradise Lost, Book Nine (1854-78) |
| Thursday | Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock" (2459-60, 2491-2508) |