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English 201:

"Selected Works of British Literature"

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"

(The ** symbol indicates days on which we will have a reading quiz -- be prepared!)

NOTE: Some items have links to other internet sites that may be of help to you as you work with this material. You might like to visit the web-site for an E201 course being taught at Mansfield this quarter. The professor, Nancy W. Miller, has posted study questions for some of the texts we are reading, and has given you permission to use the materials linked to her syllabus.


Week One: (Sept. 23-25)
Old English literature handouts: click here.
Old and Middle English Web Links
Wednesday Introduction
**Thursday "The Wanderer," (68-70)
Friday "The Dream of the Rood" (19-21 and verse translation); Bede, "The Story of Cędmon" (16-19)


Week Two: (Sept. 28 - Oct. 2)

Monday Reading Day
**Tuesday Medieval lyrics (286-90 and selections from handout)
Wednesday Julian of Norwich, A Book of Showings, (292-98); Medieval lyrics (290-91 + handout)
**Thursday Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, "General Prologue" (76-100) Study Guide
Friday Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, "General Prologue" (76-100)


Week Three: (Oct. 5-9)
Chaucer resources and helps: click here.
Monday Reading Day
** Tuesday Chaucer, "The Wife of Bath’s Prologue" (117-35)
Wednesday Chaucer, "The Wife of Bath’s Tale" (135-44)
** Thursday Chaucer, "The Pardoner" (all parts, 164-79)
** Friday Margery Kempe, "The Book of Margery Kempe," (298-308)


Week Four: (Oct. 12-16)
** Monday Malory, Morte Darthur (344-63), Courtly Love handout
Tuesday Malory, Morte Darthur (344-63)
**Wednesday Everyman (363-84); Medieval Drama Links
Thursday Everyman (363-84)
Friday No class meeting


Week Five: (Oct. 19-23)
Midterm Study Aids
Monday Midterm Q&A
Tuesday Midterm Exam
Wednesday Philip Sidney, from Astrophil and Stella #1, 15, 31, 45, 71 (pp. 458-69); Edmund Spenser, from Amoretti #1, 54, 64, 75 (pp. 734-37) Sonnet Information; Petrarch handout; Sidney Family Links
** Thursday William Shakespeare, Sonnets #1, 55, 60, 129, 130, 138,147 (pp. 808-822)
Friday No Class Meeting


Week Six: (Oct. 26-30)
Monday Reading Day
Tuesday Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Introductions (501-3; 514-19)
** Wednesday Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 3, Canto 1(661-76)
Thursday Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 3, Cantos 2-6 (677-712)
** Friday Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 3, Cantos 7-12 (712-34)


Week Seven: (Nov. 2-6)
Monday Reading Day
** Tuesday Mary Sidney Herbert, (1046-47 and handout)
** Wednesday Amelia Lanyer, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1059-61)
Thursday Mary Wroth, The Countess of Pembroke’s Urania: "Song"; Pamphilia to Amphilanthus #1, 16, 28, 40, 68, 74 (pp. 1688-92)
Friday John Donne, "Song," "The Sun Rising," "The Indifferent," "Break of Day," (114-17); "A Hymn to God the Father," (1121)


Week Eight: (Nov. 9-13)
Shakespeare links and helps
** Monday Shakespeare, King Lear, Act One, (801-3, 888-910)
Tuesday Shakespeare, King Lear, Act Two (911-25)
Wedneday No class -- Veteran's Day
Thursday Shakespeare, King Lear, Act Three (925-39)
** Friday Shakespeare, King Lear, Acts Four and Five (939-67)


Week Nine: (Nov. 16-20)
** Monday Ben Jonson, "Song: To Celia," (1225); Robert Herrick, "The Argument of His Book," "To the Virgins," "Corrina’s Going A-Maying," "Delight in Disorder," "Upon Julia’s Clothes," (1355-67)
Tuesday Andrew Marvell, "The Nymph Complaining...," "To His Coy Mistress," (1418-21)
** Wednesday Anne Bradstreet (handout); John Milton, "How Soon Hath Time," "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent" (1471-73)
Thursday Reading Day
Friday Reading Day


Week Ten: (Nov. 23-27)
** Monday Milton, Paradise Lost, Book One (1476-95)
** Tuesday Milton, Paradise Lost, Book Nine (1566-93)
Wednesday Milton, Paradise Lost, finish discussion
Thursday Thanksgiving
Friday Thanksgiving


Week Eleven: (Nov. 30- Dec. 4)
Eighteenth-Century Literature Resources
Monday Reading Day
Tuesday Jonathan Swift, "A Description of a City Shower," (2009-11)
** Wednesday Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock" (2233-52)
Thursday Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock" (2233-52)
** Friday Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man (2263-70);
Term Paper Due!!

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