English 100: Introduction to English Literature

English 100: Introduction to English Literature
SYLLABUS FOR 2004-2005
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Aims of the Course
English 100 aims to introduce students to the richness and breadth of literature in English, and to the
skills necessary for appreciating, understanding, and discussing literature in general.
Not a Survey
English 100 is not a survey of English literature as a whole. Literature in English has become too rich
and complex to “cover” in a one-year introductory course (“English Literature from Beowulf to
Virginia Woolf”). This is especially true as a result of the explosive development of non-British
literature in English in recent years, and with the opening up of the canon to a much wider range of
writers and of kinds of writing. Our aim, then, is not to provide an inevitably skimpy and
unsatisfactory survey of literature in English, but to focus on a number of key moments in its
development.
Not Just a Bunch of Great Books
While English 100 tries to introduce students to as wide a range of exciting books as possible, it is
more than just a bunch of great books. Each year the course is organized in a number of distinct,
thematically based units, each of which is tied into a broader unifying theme for the course as whole.
This year the unifying theme which we will be exploring throughout the course is “Making It New”:
responding imaginatively to change. The four units this year approach this theme from very different
perspectives. The course begins in Elizabethan England in the great age of expansion (unit 1) and
then moves geographically outward and chronologically forward, as it examines English responses to
apocalyptic and “monstrous” developments in European culture (unit 2), the struggle of Americans to
voice hitherto unexpressed spiritual and racial realities (unit 3), and the birth of post-colonial
literatures around the globe (unit 4).
COURSE STRUCTURE
Lectures
The general aim of the lectures is to provide a context for the works being studied. To this end, each
of the four units begins with an introductory lecture which sets the stage for the unit as a whole. This
lecture will move from the general to the specific: for example, the first lecture in the course will set
up some of the key issues in the Renaissance and link them to the work of the first author we are
studying in the unit, John Donne. The focus of these introductory lectures will be primarily literary
English 100 – S Y L L A B U S F O R 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5
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historical: that is, although reference will inevitably be made to historical events as outlined in the
timeline at the end of this syllabus (the French Revolution, the abolition of slavery, etc.), the main
function of these introductory lectures will be to relate the works we are reading to each other and to
their broader literary/cultural context. Later lectures in each unit will focus more specifically on the
works themselves and will generally be illustrated by analyses of specific passages.
The contexts provided by the lectures are essential to the course. Students are expected to become
familiar with these contexts, and to show evidence of their familiarity in their seminars, in their
essays and, especially, in the mid-year and final examinations. In other words, the lectures are a
crucial component of the course. Don’t miss them.
Seminars
Seminars are the other crucial component of the course. Instructors will have different ways of
organizing their seminars, but the two basic functions of all seminars is the same: to explore the
works on the course more closely than is possible in the lectures; and to give students the opportunity
to contribute and to test their own views and interpretations of the works. With our small group
seminars we provide an opportunity for student participation unequalled in any other English
Department in the country. Take advantage of it.
Course Material in the Course Pack and on WebCT
In addition to the books on the course, we provide course material in the course pack and on WebCT.
Like the books on the course, the course pack is a required text. Students are expected to familiarize
themselves with all of the material in the course pack and will be responsible for it on the mid-year
examination and the final examination.
The material on WebCT has a different status. It is highly recommended rather than required.
WebCT contains a wide range of supporting material: for example, elaboration of issues raised in
lectures; suggestions for further reading; links to relevant websites. This material will be updated
throughout the year and students are welcome to suggest to their instructors any material – textual,
visual, aural – which they would like to see posted. The material on WebCT, then, provides a rich
and valuable supplement to the other course material.
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English 100 – S Y L L A B U S F O R 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5
INSTRUCTORS
Zailig Pollock, Course Co-ordinator
TC WH105
Suzanne Bailey
TC WH125
Christy Carlson
TC WH122
Riley Cartmill (second term)
TBA
Ross Clarkson
TC WH122
Michael Epp
TC WH122
Geoffrey Eathorne
CC C4
Mac Fenwick
TC WH122
Joanne Findon
TC WH103.2
Hugh Hodges
TC WH124
Peter Lapp
BH129.5
Orm Mitchell
TC WH107
Fred Tromly (first term)
CC E30
Brent Wood
TC WH122
748-1011, ext. 1793
748-1011, ext. 1739
748-1011, ext. 1822
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
TBA
748-1011, ext. 1822
748-1011, ext. 1822
748-1011, ext. 1362
748-1011, ext. 1822
748-1011, ext. 1723
748-1011, ext. 1778
748-1011, ext. 5285
748-1011, ext. 1705
[email protected]
[email protected]
TBA
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
748-1011, ext. 1457
748-1011, ext. 1822
[email protected]
[email protected]
REQUIRED TEXTS
English 100 Course Pack (to be purchased in bookstore)
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Portsmouth NH, USA: Heinemann Educational, 1996.
Armstrong, Mary Ann et al. Notes on the Preparation of Essays in the Arts and Sciences, 5th ed.
Peterborough ON: Academic Skills Centre, Trent University, 2001.
Cather, Willa. My Ántonia, ed. Joseph R. Urgo. Peterborough ON: Broadview Press, 2003.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness, ed. D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke. Peterborough ON: Broadview Press,
1995.
Fugard, Athol. “Master Harold”…and the boys. New York: Penguin, 1984.
Markandaya, Kamala. Nectar in a Sieve. New York: Signet, 1995.
Marlowe, Christopher. Doctor Faustus (1604 version), ed. Michael Keefer. Peterborough ON:
Broadview Press, 1991.
Shakespeare, William. Othello, ed. Alvin Kernan. New York: Signet, 1998.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein (1818 text), ed. L. Macdonald & Kathleen Scherf. Peterborough ON:
Broadview Press, 1999.
Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, ed. Emory Elliott. Oxford: Oxford World’s Classics,
1999.
Yeats, W. B. Selected Poems. John Kelly. New York: Everyman, 1999.
RECOMMENDED TEXTS
In addition to Notes on the Preparation of Essays (required), two texts by the Academic Skills Centre
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are highly recommended:
Taylor, Karen, et al. Clear, Correct, Creative: A Handbook of Academic Prose. Peterborough,
Ontario: Academic Skills Centre, Trent University, 1991.
• provides instruction about common problems of grammar, style, and usage.
Avery, Heather, et al. Thinking It Through: A Practical Guide to Academic Essay Writing
Peterborough, Ontario: Academic Skills Centre, Trent University, 1995.
• covers all stages of planning, organizing, and writing essays.
Also recommended is:
M. H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York: Henle & Henle, 1999.
• consists of essays of various lengths on a wide range of literary terms. It is a required text
for English 205, the core course for all second-year English majors.
EVALUATION
Mid-year Examination (2 hours) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12%
The mid-year examination will consist of passages for analysis and identifications based on
works discussed in seminars and lectures in the first term.
Final Examination (3 hours) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18%
The final examination will consist of passages for analysis and identifications based on works
discussed in seminars and lectures in the second term, plus an essay dealing with material
covered in both terms.
Participation (for the whole year) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25%
Essay 1: 1000 words. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10%
Due in the week of October 18. Exact due date to be set by student’s instructor.
See page 7 below for the topic for Essay 1. Any student who wishes may choose to revise this
essay – all revisions are due in the week of November 15. Exact due date to be set by student’s
instructor.
Essay 2: 1500 words. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15%
Topic and due date to be set by student’s instructor.
Essay 3: 2000 words. Topic and due date to be set by student’s instructor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20%
In the third essay, all students are required to discuss at least two works by different
authors.
Late Essay Policies
Like essay topics and due dates, late essay policies will vary from instructor to instructor. Make sure
you are aware of your instructor’s policy.
Lecture and Workshop Schedule
FIRST TERM
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Unit 1: New Worlds and Old Worlds in the Renaissance
Sept. 13 Introduction – Z. Pollock
Sept. 20 Donne, Selected Poems (read all of the poems by Donne and the excerpt from Pico’s
“Oration on the Dignity of Man” in the course pack) – F. Tromly
Sept. 27 Doctor Faustus – F. Tromly
Oct. 4 Doctor Faustus – Z. Pollock
WORKSHOP this week: University Expectations for English Essays. Exact time and place
TBA.
Oct. 11 Othello – Z. Pollock
Oct. 18 ROUNDTABLE: Othello and Race (read “Material for Othello Roundtable” in the course
pack) – H. Hodges, Z. Pollock, F. Tromly
Oct. 18 Essay 1 due this week. Exact due date to be set by student’s instructor.
Oct. 25 RESIDENTIAL READING WEEK – NO CLASSES
Unit 2: Imagining the Apocalypse
Nov. 1 Introduction (read Frankenstein and the excerpts in the course pack from the Bible and P.
S. B. Shelley’s Defense of Poetry; and look at the pictures by Wright, Fuseli, and Blake
also in the course pack) – O. Mitchell
Nov. 8 Frankenstein – J. Findon
Nov. 15 Heart of Darkness (read the excerpt from Achebe’s “An Image of Africa” in the course
pack) – C. Carlson
Nov. 15 Revisions to Essay 1 due this week. Exact due date to be set by student’s instructor.
Nov. 22 Heart of Darkness – J. McIntyre
Nov. 29 Yeats, Selected Poems (read “Leda and the Swan,” “Easter 1916,” “Crazy Jane Talks
with the Bishop,” “The Second Coming,” “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” “A Prayer for My
Daughter,” “Sailing to Byzantium” and “Lapis Lazuli” from The Selected Poems and
“The Mother of God,” “Two Songs From a Play,” “The Magi” and excerpts from A
Vision in the course pack) – O. Mitchell
Dec. 6 Yeats, Selected Poems (read “Wild Swans at Coole,” “Lapis Lazuli,” “The Circus
Animals’ Desertion,” “An Acre of Grass,”, “Why Should Not Old Men Be Mad?” from
The Selected Poems and the opening speech from The Death of Cuchulain and “A
Drunken Man’s Praise of Sobriety” from the course pack) – S. Bailey
MID-YEAR EXAMINATION: 2 HOURS during the formal examination period, from Dec. 10
through Dec. 22. (The specific day, time, and place will be determined and announced by the
Registrar’s Office.)
SECOND TERM
Unit 3: Discovering America’s Voices
Jan. 10 Introduction (read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) – M. Epp
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Jan. 17 ROUNDTABLE: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the Language of the Heart (read
“Material for Huckleberry Finn Roundtable” in the course pack) – J. Findon, M. Epp, B.
Wood
Jan. 24 Dickinson, Selected Poems (read the first section of Dickinson poems in the course pack)
– S. Bailey
Jan. 31 Dickinson, Selected Poems (read the second section of Dickinson poems and the excerpt
from Melville’s letter to Hawthorne in the course pack) – O. Mitchell
Feb.7 My Ántonia – M. Epp
Feb. 14 My Ántonia – S. Bailey
Feb. 21 RESIDENTIAL READING WEEK – NO CLASSES
Unit 4: Post-colonialism and Cultural Encounters
Feb. 28 Introduction (read Things Fall Apart) – H. Hodges
Mar. 7 Things Fall Apart – M. Steffler
Mar. 14 Nectar in a Sieve – G. Eathorne
Mar. 21 Walcott, Selected Poems (read the excerpt from Walcott’s Nobel Prize speech and the
poems in the course pack) – H. Hodges
Mar. 28 Walcott Selected Poems (read the poems in the course pack) – M. Fenwick
Apr. 4 Fugard, “Master Harold” … and the boys (read Fugard’s journal entry and the short
stories by Nadine Gordimer in course pack) – G. Eathorne
Apr. 4 EVALUATIONS: During this week, course evaluation will be conducted on WebCT, and
individual instructor evaluations will take place in seminars.
FINAL EXAMINATION: 3 HOURS, during the formal examination period, from April 13 through
April 29. (The specific day, time, and place will be determined and announced by the Registrar’s
Office.)
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First Essay Assignment For English 100
DUE DATE:
This essay is due in week of Oct. 18. Exact due date to be set by student’s instructor.
LENGTH:
It should be no less than 1000 words long, and no more than 1200.
EVALUATION:
This first essay counts for 10% of your final grade.
REVISIONS:
Please note that all students have the opportunity to re-think and re-write this first essay. All revised
essays are due in the week of November 15. Exact due date to be set by student’s instructor.
TOPIC:
Write an essay on either John Donne’s “The Funeral” (in the course pack) or on Faustus’ speech in
Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, 1.1.79-100 (“How am I glutted … your sage conference.”). In both
works, the writers are drawing on some of the most familiar concepts of their day, but are doing so in
ways that are surprising and unexpected. Your essay should show familiarity with these concepts (as
discussed in lectures), but it should also show awareness of the particular ways in which the authors
are questioning and testing them – not just restating them in fancy language. Make sure that you
develop your discussion in a logically coherent way and that you support it with specific references
to the actual words of the poem.
NOTE: The English language has changed in the more than four hundred years since Donne and
Marlowe wrote; it is therefore important to be aware that some of the words they use may have had
rather different meanings than they now have. The essential resource for understanding all periods of
the English language is the Oxford English Dictionary, which traces the meanings of English words
as they develop historically, and illustrates all definitions with quotations, from the earliest periods of
English to the present.
A required part of the First Essay Assignment is for students to discuss at least two words from either
the Donne poem or the Faustus passage, as they are defined in the Oxford English Dictionary. You
are expected to incorporate the definitions that you think are most relevant into the argument of your
essay, so it makes sense to choose words that (in your view) are especially important to the
poem/passage as a whole.
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The best way to use the OED is in the updated, online version, which is accessible through TOPCAT
(search for Oxford English Dictionary and click on “connect” for the online version) and we suggest
you make use of it. However, for your convenience, we provide some examples from the Oxford
English Dictionary of several words, with carefully selected pairs of definitions and quotations for
each. It is acceptable for you to confine your use of the OED to the examples we have provided, but
of course it is a good idea to do some exploring of your own in the online OED.
THE FUNERAL
Subtle
Of small thickness or breadth; thin, slender, fine. Obs.
1606 SHAKES. Tr. & Cr. V. ii. 151 No Orifex for a point as subtle, As Ariachnes broken woofe to enter.
Of persons or animals: Crafty, cunning; treacherously or wickedly cunning, insidiously sly, wily.
Obs.
1631 MILTON Sonn. vii. 1 How soon hath Time the suttle theef of youth, Stoln on his wing my three and
twentith yeer!
Mystery
An ordinance, rite, or sacrament of the Christian Church
1549 Bk. Common Prayer Matrimony, O God, which hast consecrated the state of matrimonie, to such an
excellent misterie, that in it is signified and represented the spiritual mariage & vnitie betwixte Christ and
his church.
The quality or condition of being obscure or enigmatic; mysteriousness. Also: mysteries
collectively. shrouded (also involved, wrapped) in mystery: made obscure or recondite; hard to
fathom or interpret.
1616 SHAKESPEARE All’s Well (1623) V. iii. 104 Platus himselfe,..Hath not in natures mysterie more
science, Then I haue in this Ring.
Art
Human skill as an agent, human workmanship. Opposed to nature.
1592 SHAKES. Rom. & Jul. II. iv. 94 Romeo: now art thou what thou art, by Art as well as by Nature.
An artifice, contrivance, stratagem, wile, trick, cunning device.
1625 BACON Simul., Ess. (Arb.) 506 Attributing Arts or Policy to Augustus, and Dissimulation to
Tiberius.
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Martyr
Christian Church. A person who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce faith in Christ or
obedience to his teachings. In the Roman Catholic liturgy martyrs rank before all other saints.
1611 Bible (A.V.): Acts xxii. 20 When ye blood of thy martyr Steuen was shed.
Hyperbolically or humorously. A person who suffers, or behaves as if suffering, acute or
extended pain, unhappiness, emotional torment, etc.
1652 E. BENLOWES Theophila IV. xlvi. 58 How in Loves torrid Zone thy sweltring Martyr stews.
Bravery
The action of braving or acting the bravo; daring, defiance; boasting, swaggering; bravado.
a1631 DONNE Ess. Div. (1651) 63 No Man is an Atheist, however he pretend it and serve the Company
with his Braveries.
Daring, courage, valour, fortitude (as a good quality).
1613 J. H. Lives Norman Kings Eng. 150 Full of inward braverie and fiercenesse.
DOCTOR FAUSTUS
Conceit
The faculty of conceiving; conception, apprehension, understanding. Obs.
1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. I know you are a Gentleman of good conceit.
An overweening opinion of oneself; overestimation of one’s own qualities, personal vanity or
pride.
1605 Bp. Hall, Medit. & Vows, The proude man, though hee be empty of good substance, yet he is full of
conceite.
Ambiguities/Ambiguity
Wavering of opinion; hesitation, doubt, uncertainty, as to one’s course. Obs.
1534 Polyd. Verg., Eng Hist., Hee beganne to stande in great ambiguitee of his saftie.
Capability of being understood in two or more ways; double or dubious signification,
ambiguousness;
1549 Compl. Scotl, Appollo gaue … ane doutsum aunsuere of ambiguite.
Desperate
Expressing or indicating despair, despairing. Obs.
1656 Hales, Tracts. If St. Paul, in this place, meant the sin against the Holy Ghost, then this were the only
desperate text in the whole Bible.
Involving serious risk; very dangerous to undertake or enter upon. Obs.
1600 Shakes, AYL, This Boy … hath bin tutor’d in the rudiments Of many desperate studies, by his vnckle.
Blest (Blessed)
Consecrated, hallowed, holy; consecrated by a religious rite or ceremony.
1556 Chron. Gr.Friars, A proclamacion for the blyssyd sacrament.
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Enjoying supreme felicity; happy, fortunate.
1592, Shake, Venus and Adonis, Blessed bankrupt, that by love so thriveth.
SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR APPROACHING ENGLISH ESSAYS
Preliminary Preparation:
As a preparation for thinking more carefully about the work which you have chosen to discuss, and
for creating a thesis or constructing your argument, you may want to paraphrase the work for
yourself. But your final essay must not be a mere paraphrase. You may assume that the reader of your
essay has read the work, and understands its substance. Instead of paraphrasing, you should consider
the ways in which the work differs from any possible paraphrase of it, and how it does more than any
paraphrase could. Why does it use these particular words and images in this order? What kind of
voice does it imply or require? What shape does it have?
As you work through this stage, think about what seems to you to be centrally important or
interesting in the work. This may shift somewhat as you pay more attention to details, and as you
begin to develop your argument.
Detailed Preparation:
(The questions are intended only as guides and prompts to your thinking. Your essay should NOT
consist merely of answers to these questions.)
Words: Look up in the Oxford English Dictionary any words you find interesting or surprising or
difficult. You should be aware of what meanings and connotations the words had at the
time the work was written. What kinds of words are used? (For example, are they from
spoken language? Casual and conversational? Specialized? Contrived? Erudite?) Do the
words form a consistent language field, or do some of them stick out? How and why?
What words are repeated, and why?
Images: What images does it use? What use does it make of them? (For example: Do they carry the
weight of the argument? Do they convey meaning? Are they entertaining? Diversionary?)
Voice:
Does the work have a particular tone of voice? (Try out several different tones, reading the
work aloud, to see which are the most appropriate or convincing. For example, is the tone
earnest? Shy? Cynical? Forthright? Devious? Clever? Ostentatious?) Does the tone of
voice change in the work? If so, where and why?
Shape:
Does the thought progress in an even and regular way, or is it disrupted? Does it circle
back and repeat things? Does it break at some point, and take a different direction? Does
the ending resolve the issues and feelings in the work, or are they left open-ended?
Rhythm: How regular is the rhythm? What is the significance of any disruptions in the rhythm?
Situation: What are the circumstances of the poem? That is, what situation do you understand to
provoke or precede the poem? Does it have a listener. Is it addressed to someone? What is
the poem’s intended or announced purpose? What is its effect or consequence?
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WRITING THE ESSAY
Decide how your ideas connect to each other, and which ones you want to use. Write the first draft of
your essay. You probably won’t be able to include all the insights you have had into the work; not all
of them will be relevant to your thesis. Construct a coherent argument about your thesis which refers
to some interesting or important aspect of the work, drawing on and referring to the relevant features
you have noticed.
Put the essay away for at least a day. Come back to it, to make sure that it says what you mean to say,
and that it holds together. Also make sure the grammar, sentence and paragraph structure and spelling
are correct. By this stage, your thesis should be clear enough to you that you can give the essay its
own title. That is, your title should not be the same as the poem’s, and should not be Essay Number
One, but should indicate explicitly the subject of your argument.
For this essay we ask you not to use any secondary sources (e.g. critical commentaries), including
material from the web. The key thing is your careful, engaged response to the work.
Your instructor will tell you about any particular expectation that she or he has for the essay. For
questions of format and much else, consult Notes on the Preparation of Essays, which is the Trent
University style guide.
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Plagiarism
Plagiarism is an extremely serious academic offence and carries penalties varying from failure in an
assignment to suspension from the University. Definitions, penalties and procedures for dealing with
plagiarism are set out in Trent University’s “Academic Dishonesty Policy” which is printed in the
2004-2005 Calendar, p. 17. In the Calendar, plagiarism is defined as follows:
Plagiarism is the presentation of the words, ideas, images, data, or any other form of
scholarly work of another person (including essays, theses, lab reports, projects,
assignments, presentations, and posters) in a way that represents or could be
reasonably seen to represent the work as one’s own. Plagiarism covers a wide range
of academic offences, from failure to acknowledge sources correctly to submitting
materials downloaded from the world wide web.
If you have any questions about plagiarism or the proper documentation of source material, please
speak to your instructor, preferably before an error in judgment is made.
English Department Website
For information on the English Department – courses, faculty, schedules, procedures, policies,
special events, etc. – check the English Department website at www.trentu.ca/english.
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