school of english - University of St Andrews

[Essay Box 4 module]
EN4343
(2013-2014)
SCHOOL OF ENGLISH
Module EN4343
Literature and Law in Early Modern
England
Copies of this handbook and also
School of English Handbook for Students and
Dissertation and Essay Style Sheet and Guidelines
are available electronically at
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/english/ug/index.html
SCHOOL OF ENGLISH
Honours Module: EN4343
Number of Credits:
30
Semester 2
Module Title:
Literature and Law in Early Modern England
Class Hours:
Thursdays 11am and Fridays 11am
Venues:
Thursdays 11am Garden Seminar Room, Kennedy Hall
Fridays 11am Garden Seminar Room, Kennedy Hall
Module Organiser: Professor L M Hutson (lmh)
Anti-Requisite:
EN4265
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students will learn how closely related are the processes of inference by which we
decide about guilt in law, and those which produce fiction. They will learn about the
rhetorical dimension of the history of probability and will be introduced to key
concepts in the history of literary criticism (through the study of proof and forensic
rhetoric) as well as key concepts in debates about the place of literature in the
history of political thought (‘sovereignty’; ‘absolutism’; constitutionalism’).
CONTENT AND SYLLABUS
Approaching literature by way of the law can transform our thinking about how
stories are told, what constitutes ‘proof’ or ‘probability’, and how, imaginatively
speaking, we gain access to, or reconstruct, the intentions of others (and even our
own). In early modern England the rhetorical treatises used to teach students how
to write compelling narratives and compose poems and plays had originally been
designed for lawyers, so there was a very direct connection between legal and
fictional techniques for telling stories and imagining motives and ‘facts’. More
generally, the law creates fictions of personhood by constructing our relational
identities — as husbands, wives, monarchs, subjects, bastards, legitimate heirs, etc.
This module will explore works of drama and poetry that have strong affinities with
legal forms of argument, and will encourage critical thinking about how we
participate in legal and literary culture, and what this says about us. It will also
introduce students to political theories of the relations of sovereignty and law, and
get them thinking about constructions and expectations of gender, as formulated in
law. Texts studied will include Cicero, Quintilian, Terence (in translation) and works
by Nicholas Udall, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and John Webster.
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
— learning to recognize rhetorical figures and tropes and analyze their effects
— learning that those effects have a real impact in our daily lives, not in some
protected realm of the ‘literary’
— learning aspects of the history of Anglo-American common law that will be
relevant to literary study of all periods, as well as being generally beneficial to
a citizen of the world
— preparation for work in law, politics or the media; preparation for further
(graduate) study in literature by introduction to key debates about relations
between literature, cultural history and the history of political thought in the
West
READING LIST (PRIMARY TEXTS):
Quintilian, Institutia oratoria (‘The orator’s education’) trans. Donald Russell
(Harvard, 2001) book 4, chs 2-5 (on narrative) and book 5 (on proofs). PA6156.Q6 –
vol. 3
Cicero, De inventione (‘On invention’) trans. H. M. Hubbell (Harvard, 1949) II.14-51.
PA6156.C5
Gammer Gurton’s Needle ed. C. Whitworth (New Mermaids, 1997).
Nicholas Udall, Ralph Roister Doister ed. Arber (Dodo Press, 2007).
Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy ed. J. R. Mulryne (New Mermaids, 2003).
William Shakespeare, Othello (Arden, New Camb., or Works).
Ben Jonson, Bartholomew Fair ed. Suzanne Gossett (Revels Plays, 2000).
Shakespeare, Richard II (Arden, New Camb., or Works).
Shakespeare, Measure for Measure (Arden, New Camb., or Works).
John Webster, The Devil’s Law Case in John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi and
Other Plays ed. René Weiss (Oxford World’s Classics, 1996).
Webster, Rowley and Heywood, A Cure for a Cuckold in John Webster, The
Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays ed. René Weiss (Oxford World’s Classics,
1996).
READING LIST (SECONDARY TEXTS):
1. poetics and proof (narrative & dramatic):
Joel B. Altman, The Tudor Play of Mind: Rhetorical Inquiry and the Development
of Elizabethan Drama (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978). PR649.A6
Peter Brooks, ‘The Law as Narrative and Rhetoric’, Law’s Stories: Narrative and
Rhetoric in the Law ed. Peter Brooks and Paul Gewirtz. K213.B87
Terence Cave, Recognitions: A Study in Poetics (Oxford University Press, 1989) 154. PN56.R33C2
Carol Clover, ‘Law and the Order of Popular Culture’, in Law in the Domains of
Culture ed. Austin Sarat and Thomas R. Kearns (Michigan, 2001). K487.C8S2
Kathy Eden, ‘Legal Proof and Tragic Recognition: The Aristotelian Grounds for
Discovery’, Poetic and Legal Fiction in the Aristotelian Tradition (Princeton
University Press, 1986). PN1040.E3
Lorna Hutson, The Invention of Suspicion: Law and Mimesis in Shakespeare and
Renaissance Drama (Oxford University Press, 2007).
Subha Mukherji, Law and Representation in Early Modern Drama (Cambridge,
2006). PR648.L38M8
Adele Scafuro, The Forensic Stage: Settling Disputes in Graeco-Roman New
Comedy (Cambridge University Press, 1997) 25-67; 355-379. PA3028.S3
Barbara J. Shapiro, ‘‘Classical Rhetoric and the English Law of Evidence’ in
Rhetoric and Law in Early Modern Europe ed. Victoria Kahn and Lorna Hutson
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001) 54-72. P301.3E85R5
2.
2. English Legal history (general)
Sir John Hamilton Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History (Butterworths,
2002). KD532.B2.G02.
Amy Louise Erickson, Women and Property in Early Modern England (New York:
Routledge, 1993). HQ1593.E8
Malcolm Gaskill, Crime and Mentalities in Early Modern England (Cambridge, 2000)
HV6949.E6G2
Laura Gowing, Domestic Dangers: Women, Words and Sex in Early Modern London
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996) HQ1593.G7
Cynthia Herrup, The common peace: participation and the criminal law in
seventeenth century England (Cambridge, 1987). KD8276.H4
Jenny Kermode and Gathine Walker, Women, Crime and the Courts in Early
Modern England (London, 1994). HV6046.W7
Martin Ingram, Church Courts, Sex and Marriage in England, 1570-1640
(Cambridge, 1987). HQ615.I6
John H. Langbein, The Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial (Oxford: 2003).
KD8220.L26
John H. Langbein, Prosecuting Crime in the Renaissance: England, Germany,
France (1974). HV6030.L2
A. W. Simpson, A History of the Common Law of Contract: the Rise of the Action of
Assumpsit (Oxford: 1987) KD1602.S5
Tim Stretton, Women Waging Law in ElizabethanElizabethan England (Cambridge,
1998). HQ1559.E5S8
3. Law and Literature
Amanda Bailey, Of Bondage: Debt, Property and Personhood in Early Modern
England (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013) PR3021.B35
Bradin Cormack, A Power to do Justice: Jurisdiction, English Literature, and the
Rise of Common Law (Chicago, 2008) PR428. L37C78
Victoria Kahn and Lorna Hutson, Rhetoric and Law in Early Modern Europe (Yale,
2001). P301.3E85R5.
Constance Jordan and Karen Cunningham, The Law in Shakespeare (Palgrave,
2007) PR3028.J7
Erica Sheen and Lorna Hutson, Literature, Politics and Law in Renaissance England
(Palgrave, 2005). PR428.P7S5
B. J. Sokol and Mary Sokol, Shakespeare’s Legal Language (Continuum, 2000).
PR3028.S7
Luke Wilson, Theatres of Intention: Drama and the Law in Early Modern England
(Stanford, 2000). PR658.L38W5
Wright, Nancy E., et. al., Women, Property and the Letters of the Law in Early
Modern England (Toronto: 2004) PR428.L37W8
Andrew Zurcher, Shakespeare and Law (Arden, 2010) PR3028.288.
WEEK BY WEEK SYLLABUS:
In week 1, the lecture will be on Friday. Thereafter, lectures will be on
Thursday and seminars on Friday. Seminars will normally (from week 3
onward) take the form of a discussion initiated by two students who prepare a
short joint presentation on the text or topic to be discussed (the presentation
can be on a text listed in the secondary reading). The presenters also have the
role of posting a leading question for discussion on Moodle/MMS prior to the
seminar.
Week 1. Thursday 30 January Enrolment. Outline of course and instructions
on reading for Friday.
Friday 31 January. Introductory Lecture: Narrative, law, stories: what are the
connections?
Also: photocopies of Cicero and Quintilian to be distributed for next week.
Primary reading:
Peter Brooks, ‘The Law as Narrative and Rhetoric’, Law’s Stories: Narrative and
Rhetoric in the Law ed. Peter Brooks and Paul Gewirtz. (Moodle)
Carol Clover, Carol Clover, ‘Law and the Order of Popular Culture’, in Law in the
Domains of Culture ed. Austin Sarat and Thomas R. Kearns (Michigan). (Moodle)
Week 2. Thursday 6 February: ‘What happened here? Telling stories and
proving things in Law and Rhetoric’.
Friday 7 February, Seminar discussion: proof in Cicero and Quintilian
Primary reading:
Cicero, De Inventione, trans. H. M. Hubbell (Harvard University Press, 1949), II.1451. (Moodle)
Quintilian, Institutio oratoria, trans. Donald Russell (Harvard University Press, 2001),
book 4, ch.2-ch.5 (on narrative); book 5 (on proofs). (Moodle)
Kathy Eden, ‘Legal Proof and Tragic Recognition: The Aristotelian Grounds for
Discovery’, Poetic and Legal Fiction in the Aristotelian Tradition (Princeton
University Press, 1986). (Moodle)
Week 3. Thursday 13 February: ‘Evidentia and witnesses: believing our eyes,
believing our neighbours in Gammer Gurton’s Needle’.
Friday 14 February: Seminar on Gammer Gurton’s Needle.
Primary reading:
Gammer Gurton’s Needle ed. C. Whitworth (New Mermaids, 1997).
Secondary reading:
Joel Altman, The Tudor Play of Mind, 148-165.
Adele Scafuro, The Forensic Stage: Settling Disputes in Graeco-Roman New
Comedy (Cambridge University Press, 1997) 25-67; 355-379. (Moodle)
Lorna Hutson, The Invention of Suspicion, 165-172, 177-185.
Lorna Hutson, ‘Theatre’, in Cultural Reformations ed. Brian Cummings and James
Simpson (Oxford, 2010) 227-246.
J. W. Robinson, ‘The Art and Meaning of Gammer Gurton’s Needle’, Renaissance
Drama, 14 (1983) 45-77.
Charles Whitworth, ‘Reporting Offstage Events in Early Tudor Drama’ in Andre
Lascombes ed. Tudor Theatre: ‘Let There be Covenants’ (Berne: Peter Lang, 1977)
45-66. (Moodle)
Week 4.
Thursday 20 February, 11:00-12:00
Lecture 4. ‘Proving Intention and faith in Ralph Roister Doister’
Friday 21 February, 11:00-12:00. Seminar discussion on Roister Doister and
on Gowing.
Primary reading:
Nicholas Udall, Ralph Roister Doister ed. Arber (Dodo Press, 2007).
Subha Mukherji, “‘Of rings and things and fine array’: marriage law, evidence and
uncertainty” in Law and Representation in Early Modern Drama (Cambridge, 2006)
17-54.
Laura Gowing, ‘The Economy of Courtship’, in Domestic Dangers: Women, Words
and Sex in Early Modern London, 139-179. (Moodle)
Secondary reading:
Martin Ingram, ‘Matrimonial Causes: Marriage Formation’ in Church Courts, Sex and
Marriage, 189-218.
Week 5.
Thursday 27 February, 11:00-12:00
Lecture 5: Revenge, justice and the afterlife: Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy
Friday 28 February, 11:00-12:00, Seminar discussion
Primary reading:
Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy ed. J. R. Mulryne (New Mermaids, 2003).
Secondary reading:
Malcolm Gaskill, ‘Crimes of blood and their representation’ and ‘Murder, prosecution
and proof’ in Crime and Mentalities in Early Modern England (Cambridge, 2000),
203-241, 242-280. (Moodle)
Cynthia Herrup, ‘From crime to criminal accusation’, The Common Peace:
Participation and the Criminal Law in Seventeenth Century England, 67-92.
Lorna Hutson, The Invention of Suspicion, 259-286. (Moodle)
Cynthia Herrup, ‘Law and Morality in Seventeenth Century England’, Past and
Present, 106 (1985) 102-123.
John Langbein, ‘The Origins of Public Prosecution at Common Law’, American
Journal of Legal History, 17:4 (1973) 313-335.
Subha Mukherji, ‘Evidence and representation in “the theatre of God’s judgements”’,
Law and Representation in Early Modern Drama (Cambridge, 2007) 55-94.
John Kerrigan, Revenge Tragedy: Aeschylus to Armageddon (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1996)
Linda Woodbridge, Revenge Tragedy: Money, Resistance, Equality (Cambridge,
2010) PR658.R45W7
Week 6.
Thursday 6 March 11:00-12:00, Lecture 6. Evidentia and adultery in Othello.
Friday 7 March 11:00-12:00 Seminar discussion.
Primary reading:
Shakespeare, Othello (Arden, New Camb., or Works).
Secondary reading:
Joel Altman, ‘ “Preposterous Conclusions: Eros, Enargeia and the Composition of
Othello’, Representations, 18 (1987), 129-157.
Katherine Maus, ‘Proof and Consequences: Othello and the Crime of Intention’,
Inwardness and Theater in the English Renaissance (Chicago: 1995), 104-127.
PR658.P48M2 (Also in Representations, 34 (1991) 29-52, Moodle.
Patricia Parker, ‘ Othello and Hamlet: Dilation, Spying and the ‘Secret Place’ of
Woman’, Representations, 44 (1993) 60-95.
Subha Mukherji, ‘Adultery, evidence and judgement’, Law and Representation, 5594.
Lisa Jardine, ‘Why should he call her whore? Defamation and Desdemona’s Case’
in Reading Shakespeare Historically (1996), 19-47. PR3024.J2
Week 7 Thursday 13 March, Lecture 7: ‘Imagining the Crown: Richard II’.
Friday 14 March: Seminar discussion, Kantorowicz and Richard II.
Primary reading:
Shakespeare, Richard II.
Ernst Kantorowicz, The King’s Two Bodies (Princeton,1957 – repr. 1997), ch. 1,
pp.7-23 (Moodle).
Secondary reading:
Ernst Kantorowicz, The King’s Two Bodies, ch. 2.
Donna B. Hamilton, ‘The State of Law in Richard II’, Shakespeare Quarterly, 34:1
(1983) 5-17.
David Norbrook, ‘A Liberal Tongue: Language and Rebellion in Richard II’, in
Shakespeare’s Universe: Renaissance Ideas and Conventions ed. John M Mucciolo
et. al. (Scolar Press) 37-51.
Alan Cromartie, ‘The Constitutionalist Revolution: The Transformation of Political
Culture in Early Stuart England’, Past and Present 163 (1999) 76-120.
Lorna Hutson, ‘Imagining Justice: Shakespeare and Kantorowicz’, Representations,
106 (2009) 118-142.
Week 8: Thursday 3 April, Lecture 8: ‘Justice, Sex and Appetite, I: Measure for
Measure’
Friday 4 April 11:00-12:00 Seminar discussion on Measure for Measure.
Primary reading:
Shakespeare, Measure for Measure.
Secondary reading:
Jacqueline Rose, ‘Sexuality in the Reading of Shakespeare: Hamlet and Measure
for Measure’, Alternative Shakespeares ed. John Drakakis (Routledge: 2002).
Debora Shuger, Political Theologies in Shakespeare’s England: the Sacred and the
State in Measure for Measure (Palgrave, 2001)
Lorna Hutson, ‘Ethopoeia,Source-Study and Legal History: A Post-Theoretical
Approach to the Question of “Character”’ in Shakespearean Drama in Post-Theory:
New Directions in Criciticsm ed. Martin McQuillan et. al. (Edinburgh, 1999) 139-60.
Margaret Scott, ‘Our City’s Institutions: Some Further Reflections on Marriage
Contracts in Measure for Measure’, ELH, 49 (1982) 790-804.
Week 9: Thursday 10 April, Lecture 9: ‘Law as Contract; Persons as Property
in Bartholomew Fair’.
Friday 11 April 11:00-12:00 Seminar discussion of Bartholomew Fair.
Primary reading:
Ben Jonson, Bartholomew Fair (1614) (New Mermaids).
Amanda Bailey, ‘Introduction’ in Of Bondage: Debt, Property, and Personhood in
Early Modern England (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013) 1-25. (Moodle)
Secondary reading:
Luke Wilson, ‘Ben Jonson and the Law of Contract’, Cardozo Studies in Law and
Literature (1993) 281-306 (Moodle link)
Jane Pettegree, ‘Contamination, Judgment and Friendship in Bartholomew Fair’,
Ben Jonson Journal, 19.2 (2012) 217- 239.
Don Wayne, "'Drama and Society in the Age of Jonson:' An Alternative View,"
Renaissance Drama, n.s. 13 (1982): 102-129. Rpt. in Renaissance Drama as
Cultural History, ed. Mary Beth Rose. Evanston: Northwestern University Press,
1990: 3-29.
Jonathan Haynes, ‘Festivity and the Dramatic Economy of Bartholomew Fair’, ELH,
51 (1984) 645-668.
Paul Cantor, ‘The Law versus the Marketplace in Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair’, in
Dennis Kezar ed. Solon and Thespis: Law and Theater in the English Renaissance
(Notre Dame, 2007).
J. H. Baker, ‘New Light on Slade’s Case’, The Legal Profession and the Common
Law: Historical Essays ch. 21, pp.393-432. (Moodle)
Week 10. Thursday 17 April, Lecture 10: Women and the Law.
Friday 18 April 11:00-12:00 Seminar discussion on The Devil’s Law Case.
Primary reading:
John Webster, The Devil’s Law Case (1619) in John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi
and Other Plays ed. René Weiss (Oxford World’s Classics, 1996).
J. H. Baker, Introduction to Legal History (1979) 395, ‘femme coverte’ and
‘coverture’.
Secondary reading:
Subha Mukherji, ‘Women, Law and Dramatic Realism’, Law and Representation,
206-32.
Ina Haberman, ‘ “She has that in her belly that will dry up your ink”’, Femininity as a
Legal Challenge in the ‘Equitable’ Drama of John Webster’, Literature, Politics and
Law in Renaissance England ed. Sheen and Hutson, 100-120.
Week 11. Thursday 24 April, Lecture 11: ‘Paternity and Proof’.
Friday 25 April Seminar discussion on ‘A Cure for a Cuckold’
Primary reading:
John Webster and William Rowley, a Cure for a Cuckold (1624-5) in John Webster,
The Duchess of Malfi and Other Plays ed. René Weiss (Oxford World’s Classics,
1996).
Secondary Reading:
Bradin Cormack, ‘ “To Law for our Children”: Norm and Jurisdiction in Webster,
Rowley and Heywood’s Cure for a Cuckold’ in A Power to do Justice: Jurisdiction,
English Literature and the Rise of the Common Law, 1509-1625 (Chicago: 2008)
291-329.
ASSESSMENT
In order to receive/retain credit for this module, students must complete 100% of the
assessed coursework and the module examination.
The first essay will be due by 12 noon on Monday 24 February (week 5). The
second essay will be due by 12 noon on Monday 14 April (week 10). Essays
submitted after 12 noon on Friday 28 February for essay 1 and 12 noon on
Friday 18 April for essay 2 will be awarded a mark of one. Essays submitted
after 2.30 pm on Friday 25th April will be treated as missing work and may lead to
the forfeit of credit in the module.
On this module, the word count relates to all parts of the essay, including quotations,
footnotes and bibliography. Over-length essays may be penalised.
ESSAYS AND SUBMISSIONS
All essays and submissions are due on the date specified and must be delivered to
Essay Box 4 in the foyer of Kennedy Hall as well as submitted electronically via
Turnitin (on which see below). Essays will be anonymized before being marked.
Students should fill out the anonymization cover-sheets provided by module coordinators before delivery to the module Essay Box. Do NOT fold back and seal the
anonymization strip: this will be done by the School Office before the essays are
passed on to co-ordinators/tutors for marking. Markers may add individualized
comments once essays have been de-anonymized. Essays must be word
processed or typed and should conform to the School of English Essay Style Sheet
and
Guidelines
(available
on
the
web
at
http://www.standrews.ac.uk/english/undergraduates/). Late essays must be delivered to the
Office. Students must not submit essays via staff pigeonholes, the postal service,
the internal mail, or under office doors, by fax or via email. Please take note of the
statements in the School of English Handbook for Students of the School’s policies
on plagiarism, late submission and appeals.
ACADEMIC FRAUD
The printed essay cover-sheet carries a statement, as follows: ‘In submitting this
work you confirm that you have read and understood the University’s regulations
regarding assessment and academic fraud.’ Students should NOT sign this
statement, but SHOULD write the DATE OF SUBMISSION of the essay beneath it.
TURNITIN
All essays must also be submitted to MMS for checking by the Turnitin plagiarism
prevention service. Failure to submit will be subject to the same penalties outlined
above. Failure to submit your essay to MMS will result in a mark of 1 (one) for your
essay.
To access MMS, go to the university homepage, then click on “Current Students”
and then “MMS”. For instructions on submitting work to MMS, please see the MMS
guides (linked from the MMS front page, under the “Login” button). Please note that
once you have submitted your coursework to MMS, you should be emailed an MMS
receipt within around 15 minutes (KEEP THIS to prove you uploaded the file); you
will then receive a separate Turnitin receipt once MMS has submitted your
coursework to Turnitin (this typically will take around 30 minutes to an hour).
It is recommended that you upload your work to Turnitin in a common file
format (e.g. Word, PDF), since the system may find exotic and unconventional
formats unreadable. It is your responsibility to make sure that you are able to
successfully submit your essay in its printed and electronic form by the essay
deadline.
HOW WE MARK
The University's policy on Classification, Grades, and Marks can be found at:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/policy/tlac/examinations/
Note, however, this is a general statement covering a variety of different practices
across different Schools and Departments. What follows is intended to clarify
practice in the School of English.
The School of English uses both a marking scale (on which essays, examination
answers and projects which form part of the work of a module are marked) and a
reporting scale (on which module results are reported as grades). Thus, marks are
awarded to individual pieces of work; grades are awarded to modules.
The marking scale runs from 0-20 and only integers are used. The reporting scale is
the twenty-point scale taken to one decimal place. Despite the obvious relationship
between these scales they operate independently of each other, in the sense that
there is no absolutely fixed translation between them.
Accordingly students must recognize that, in conformity with general university
regulations, marks and grades and the translations between marks and grades are
provisional until confirmed by the Examination Board that meets at the end of each
semester. Marks released prior to that board meeting are for guidance only.
Students may find that a mark for an individual piece of work has been adjusted
after it has been released but before it has been reported to the Board and may also
find that the translation of marks into grades has been adjusted across an entire
module. In all such cases, which will not be frequent, an explanation of what has
been done will be given.
3000-level and 4000-level modules in English are rated at 30 credits. Credit is
awarded in its entirety when a student passes a module and withheld in its entirety
when a student fails a module.
MARK DESCRIPTORS
What does a mark mean which has been awarded to a particular piece of work?
What criteria did the marker use to decide on the mark?
20, 19, 18, 17 Outstanding
• shows intelligent awareness of possible implications of the question;
thorough, detailed knowledge of the primary text(s) and/or subject material
• clear, logical structure; forceful argument focused on the question at all times;
key points of argument always backed up by reference to specific
texts/evidence or supported by apt quotation; lucid style
• original and imaginative approach to the question; sophisticated critical
response to primary text(s) and/or analysis of evidence; may offer informed
challenge to received critical opinion, traditional or otherwise
• excellent command of English
16, 15, 14 Very Good
• good understanding of the question; thorough, detailed knowledge of the
primary text(s) and/or other subject material
• coherent structure; discussion clearly focused on the question; key points of
argument always backed up by reference to specific texts/evidence or
supported by apt quotation; lucid style
• intelligent approach to the question; independent critical response to primary
text(s) and/or analysis of evidence; may offer informed challenge to received
critical opinion, traditional or otherwise
• very good command of English
13, 12, 11 Satisfactory
• understands the question; sound knowledge of primary text(s) and/or other
subject material
• direction of argument mostly clear, but discussion not always sharply focused
on the question; key points supported by reference to specific texts/evidence;
writing lacks cogency
• capable but unimaginative approach to the question; heavily dependent on
secondary sources; makes intelligent use of lecture notes, but reluctant to
challenge received critical opinion
• reasonably good command of English
10, 9, 8, 7 Pass
• does not see all the implications of the question; limited knowledge of primary
text(s) and/or other subject material
• direction of argument not always clear; discussion not focused on the
question; makes dogmatic statements unsupported by reference to specific
texts/evidence; rambling style
•
•
mechanical approach to the question; relies heavily on uncritical reproduction
of lecture notes
the candidate’s command of the English language is on the limit between
satisfactory and unsatisfactory
6, 5, 4 Fail
• misses some important implications of the question; limited knowledge of
primary text(s) and/or other subject material
• essay largely descriptive; clumsy style and poor presentation; unsupported
dogmatic statements
• argument and presentation unduly derivative
• naïve approach to the question
• unsatisfactory command of English
3, 2 Fail (without right of resit)
• near complete failure to address the question or near total failure to
understand it; poor knowledge of primary text(s) and/or other subject material
• essays lacks an argument; incoherent expression and poor presentation;
unsupported dogmatic statements
• argument and presentation substantially derivative
• highly unsatisfactory command of English
1 Fail (without right of resit)
• reserved for substantially late essays, for essays not submitted via Turnitin or
for seriously incomplete examination scripts
0 [X]
• indicates unsubmitted work or a penalty linked to Academic Misconduct
Marking is not an exact science. However, most educators tend to rely on similar
criteria. Usually these criteria include language skills and fluency, understanding of
both question and material, argument and originality. Marks will be awarded
according to these criteria, as described above. Their importance and weighting in
the final mark depends on the type of exercise and on the individual tutor.
GRADE DESCRIPTORS
What does a grade mean which has been awarded to a particular module? What
implications does the module grade have for a student’s progression or degree
classification? Strictly speaking, only degrees are classified. However, sustained
achievement of grades at a certain level across several modules will produce certain
degree outcomes, and it is therefore permissible to think of module grades in terms
of the degree to which they might lead; other grades have immediate consequences
in terms of failing the module.
EN3000 and EN4000 modules:
•
•
16.5-20 First Class Equivalent
13.5-16.4 Upper Second Class Equivalent
•
•
•
•
•
10.5-13.4 Lower Second Class Equivalent
7.5-10.4 Third Class Equivalent
7.0 + Pass
4.0-6.9 Fail (with right of resit)
0-3.9 Fail (without right of resit)
Further notes on assessment can be found in the School of English Handbook for
Undergraduate Students, available at:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/english/undergraduate/
FEEDBACK
Feedback takes the form of detailed annotation and commentary written on
students’ continually assessed work and on the essay coversheet (this is why we do
not mark electronically). At least one piece of your continually assessed work will
also feature feedback from the module moderator, a second member of staff who
reviews the marking of the module coordinator. Students who would then like
clarification of any of this commentary, who wish to discuss it face to face, or who
would like further to explore the issues it raises, have the opportunity to do so during
their tutor’s consultation hours.
Students will also be invited to complete a questionnaire to be returned to the office
at the end of the semester. There will also be an opportunity for class discussion.
ADVICE AND SUPPORT
For advice and support on any issue, including academic, financial, international,
personal or health matters, or if you are unsure of who to go to for help, please
contact the Advice and Support Centre, North Street, 01334 462020, [email protected].
ACADEMIC ALERT
Academic Alerts are a way of helping students who are having trouble coping with
their studies; such as missing deadlines for handing in work, or missing compulsory
tutorials. The aim of the Alert system is to help students by flagging up problems
before they seriously affect students’ grades. Academic Alerts will be issued by
email from the Director of Teaching, Director of Postgraduate Studies, Module
Coordinator or School administrator and will tell students what is wrong and what
they are required to do (e.g. attend classes in future). The Alerts will also tell
students what support the University can offer. If students do not take the action
required they will get another Alert, and eventually will automatically get a grade of
zero and will fail that module. The system is designed to help and support students
in order to remedy any problems or issues before these lead to failing a module.
Alerts will never appear on a student’s permanent transcript. For more information
on Academic Alerts and details on how the categories work, see:
www.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/policy/tlac/attendance/academicalerts/
Students enrolled on this module must attend 100% of the timetabled lectures,
seminars and tutorials, unless absence is unavoidable for medical or for serious
personal reasons, such as bereavement. They must also complete and submit
100% of the required work by the set deadlines. Students who breach these
regulations may be sent Academic Alerts. It is vital that students experiencing
difficulties that compromise attendance requirements keep module co-ordinators
and/or tutors informed.
Academic alerts will be issued in the case of absence from compulsory classes. If
you receive academic alerts for three or more insufficiently justified or explained
absences from class, absence from class in three consecutive weeks, absence from
more than five classes for any reason, or failure to submit all coursework by the final
deadline, you may not receive credit for the module.
It is students’ responsibility to read the University policy on attendance and
submission of work, and to familiarise themselves with the Academic Alert system
and its implications for module credits and academic progress.
CAREERS
Your English degree will provide a sound basis for your career but there are other
skills and experiences you will need in order to make the most of the opportunities
on offer when you graduate. The Careers Centre offers one-to-one advice on career
planning, finding work experience and making CVs and applications. There are
workshops to help you develop the skills employers want and seminars to learn
more about particular careers. The website, www.st-andrews.ac.uk/careers, has a
database of St Andrews alumni so you can build useful contacts with graduates who
are already in the workplace. There is also a vacancy search facility, advertising the
latest jobs and internships and you can choose to have relevant vacancies emailed
directly to you. The School of English also has its own careers wiki at: http://www.standrews.ac.uk/careers/wiki/School_of_English
DISABLED STUDENTS
The School’s Disabilities Officer is Ms Lesley Glaister, Room 12, Castle House, ext
2418, email [email protected]
The Disabilities Officer is contactable via email and will be available should you wish
to discuss any arrangements that you need to be put in place, or to request English
lecture materials in a special format. There are accessible rooms within the School
in which you can meet the Disabilities Officer, so please specify if you require this.
In English your overall grade for individual modules is typically made up of marks for
two pieces of written coursework and marks for an examination, usually comprising
two answers to questions from a selection available on the exam paper The
weighting is usually 50% for coursework and 50% for examination work, although
this can vary. We do not permit candidates who choose to write their exams on a
computer to use Spellcheck.
We recognize that under exam conditions, any candidate may make superficial
mistakes in spelling, expression etc. When marking exams, however, we are
primarily looking for, and seeking to reward, good ideas, effective organization,
ability to think quickly and ability to remember and to adapt prepared material to the
demands of the set questions.
RETURN OF EXAMINATION SCRIPTS
All information relating to University examinations may be found at: http://www.standrews.ac.uk/students/academic
All students will be offered an opportunity to review their exam scripts in an
advertised lunchtime session scheduled early in the semester following exams.
Students who wish to discuss an examination script should inform the Director of
Teaching, who will advise them of the conditions and conventions that govern such
discussions.
A copy of your examination script can be obtained on payment of a £10 charge.
LMH
Dec 2013
TIMETABLE
Semester 2 2013-14
EN4343: Literature and Law in Early Modern England
WEEK
1
27 Jan
2
3 Feb
3
10 Feb
4
17 Feb
5
24 Feb
6
3 March
7
10 March
8
31 March
9
7 April
10
14 April
11
21 April
12
28 April
Thursdays
Garden Seminar Room,
Kennedy Hall
Enrolment, outline, reading
Fridays
Garden Seminar Room,
Kennedy Hall
Narrative, law and stories
(lecture)
What happened here?
What happened here?
Telling stories and proving
Telling stories and proving things
things in law and rhetoric
in law and rhetoric
Evidentia and the ‘unscene’: Seminar on Gammer Gurton’s
looking for needles, believing Needle.
our eyes.
How do we prove faith?
How do we prove intention?
Intention to marry in Ralph
Intention to marry in Ralph
Roister Doister
Roister Doister
God’s part in detecting
murder?: The Spanish
Tragedy
Evidentia and adultery:
Othello’s ocular proof
Imagining the Crown:
Richard II
Revenge, Justice and the
afterlife: The Spanish Tragedy
Seminar on Othello
Seminar on Richard II
SPRING VACATION
17 March
24 March
Slander, Sex and
Seminar on Measure for
Government:
Measure
Measure for Measure
Law as Contract, Persons as Seminar on Bartholomew Fair
Property:
Bartholomew Fair
Women and Law:
Seminar on The Devil’s Law
The Devil’s Law Case
Case
Paternity and Proof:
Seminar on A Cure for a
A Cure for a Cuckold
Cuckold
REVISION WEEK