Fall 2010Professor John Niles
MWF 1:20–2:10 pmHumanities 2650
English 215: British Literature before 1750
(3-4 credits, #74508)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Study of six major authors or works in the English literary tradition from the beginnings to the mid-eighteenth century. Lectures, with weeklydiscussion sections. The close reading and interpretation of texts will be accompanied, as time permits, by attention to the language in which those texts are written, to changing currents in British cultural and political history, and to critical terms and concepts with which any English major at UW-Madison should be familiar.
Instructor’s Contact Information
Office hours: MF 3-3:50 pm and by appointment, 6131 H.C. White Hall.(608) . Personal website:
SECTIONS AND SECTION LEADERS
#68864301 Th 3:30 pm2115 HumanitiesNathaniel
#68417302 Th 4:35 pm2101 HumanitiesNathaniel Mertes
#68418303 M 3:30 pm2115 HumanitiesBlaire
#68419304 M 4:35 pm2111 HumanitiesBlaire Zeiders
#68421305 F 8:50 am2121 HumanitiesKristiane
#69293306 F 9:55 am2211 HumanitiesKristiane Stapleton
#70372307 Th 8:50 am2131 HumanitiesNancy Simpson-Younger
#70373308 Th 9:55 am2211 HumanitiesNancy Simpson-Younger
#73176309 T 8:50 am7105 WhiteBrian Knight
#73177310 T 9:55 am7105 WhiteBrian Knight
REQUIREMENTS
Three short analytical papers (counting 15%, 15%, and 20% of the final grade, respectively); a midterm exam (15%); and a final exam (20%). The remainder of the grade (15%) will be determined by evidence of regular and committed participation in the course, as shown by such factors as regular attendance in lectures, regular participation in sections, completion of ungraded response sheets, and performance on quizzes.
On each of six Wednesdays, each student is to hand in a single sheet of paper giving thoughtful personal responses—informal, but well written—to the current lectures and readings, while raising real questions about them. As time permits, these ungraded response sheets will be addressed by the instructor at the start of the next lecture period. This is one form of “lecture-hall communication.”
A note on plagiarism. Use of plagiarized materials in take-home papers, like any other form of cheating, will result in failure of that assignment and possible failure of the course, with the likelihood of additional consequences. Please ask your section leader if you are in doubt as to what constitutes plagiarism, as opposed to legitimate quotation.
A note on attendance. While attendance is required in both lectures and sections, you are permitted up to six absences during the term with no consequences. After that, absences (up to a total of ten) will count progressively against your grade. A total of over ten absences is grounds for a grade of “F” in the course. Please note that excuses are not needed for your occasional absences; we will always assume, when you are not present, that you have a good reason for being elsewhere. We will also assume that if you are absent more than ten times you are not actually a participant in the course. The taking of attendance is a regretted but an automatic feature of English 215.
TEXTS
Beowulf: An Illustrated Edition, trans. by Seamus Heaney, ed. by J. Niles (Norton).
Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, ed. by Jill Mann (Penguin).
Spenser, Edmund Spenser’s Poetry, ed. by Hugh MacLean (Norton).
Donne, Selected English Poems, ed. by Ilona Bell (Penguin).
Milton, Paradise Lost, ed. by John Leonard (Penguin).
Fielding, Tom Jones, ed. by John Bender and Simon Stern (Oxford).
Recommended: M.H. Abrams and Geoffrey Harpham, A Glossary of Literary Terms, 8th edition or later (Thomson/Wadsworth).
PROSPECTIVE SCHEDULE (subject to change):
F Sept 3Introduction to the course. The English language as the medium of English literature. Introduction to Beowulf.
M Sept 6LABOR DAY. Recommendation: Why not start reading Tom Jones now (as well as Heaney’s Beowulf), carrying on with that reading throughout the term? Do you realize how long that novel is?
W Sept 8Beowulf.
F Sept 10Beowulf.
M Sept 13Beowulf.
W Sept 15Beowulf. Response sheet #1 due at beginning of class.
F Sept 17From Beowulf to Chaucer. General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.
M Sept 20Chaucer, General Prologue. PAPER #1 DUE THIS WEEK (IN SECTION).
W Sept 22Chaucer, General Prologue.
F Sept 24Chaucer, Miller’s Tale.
M Sept 27Chaucer, Miller’s Tale.
W Sept 29Chaucer, Wife of Bath’s Prologue. Response sheet #2 due at beginning of class.
F Oct 1Chaucer, Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale.
M Oct 4Chaucer, Pardoner’s Prologue.
W Oct 6Chaucer, Pardoner’s Tale.
F Oct 8Chaucer, Nun’s Priest’s Tale.
M Oct 11Chaucer, Nun’s Priest’s Tale; Retraction.
W Oct 13From Chaucer to Spenser and Donne. Spenser’s sonnets. Response sheet #3 due at beginning of class. During the next weeks, a reading of one or more of Donne’s poems will be incorporated into each lecture.
F Oct 15Spenser, Faery Queene, Book I cantos i-ii.
M Oct 18Spenser, Book III cantos i-iii. PAPER #2 DUE THIS WEEK (IN SECTION).
W Oct 20Review.
F Oct 22MIDTERM EXAMINATION
M Oct 25Spenser, Book III cantos iv-vi.
W Oct 27Spenser, Book III cantos vii-ix. Response sheet #4 due at beginning of class.
F Oct 29Spenser, Book III cantos x-xii.
M Nov 1Spenser, “Epithalamion.”
W Nov 3From Spenser and Donne to Milton. Paradise Lost, Book I.
F Nov 5Milton, Book I (cont.).
M Nov 8Milton, Book II.
W Nov 10Milton, Book III. Response sheet #5 due at beginning of class.
F Nov 12Milton, Book IV.
M Nov 15Milton, Book IX.
W Nov 17Milton, Book IX (cont.).
F Nov 19Milton, Book X.
M Nov 22Milton, Book XI and end of Book XII.
W Nov 24From Milton to Fielding.
F Nov 26THANKSGIVING BREAK.
M Nov 29Fielding, Tom Jones. PAPER #3 DUE THIS WEEK (IN SECTION).
W Dec 1Fielding.
F Dec 3Fielding.
M Dec 6Fielding.
W Dec 8Fielding. Response sheet #6 due at beginning of class.
F Dec 10Fielding wrap-up.
M Dec 13Wrap-up to the course; GENERAL REVIEW SESSION. Bring written questions to class. SECTIONS MEET ONLY MTW THIS WEEK.
W Dec 15READING PERIOD; NO LECTURE.
Saturday Dec. 18,7:25–9:25pm. FINAL EXAMINATION, place to be announced.
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