English 258—Survey
of English Literature I
Dr. Michael Bryson
Sierra Tower 832
818-677-5695
michael.bryson@csun.edu |
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Course Description:
This course is
going to cover nearly a millennium's worth of literature in a
relatively short time. As a result, we will be hitting only the highlights
of the period from Beowulf through Jonathan Swift (about
700-1000 years, depending on your historical reckoning), with stops
along the way to sample such luminaries as Chaucer, Sydney, Marlowe,
Shakespeare, Donne, Herbert, Milton, and Congreve, among others. As we
move through the course, you will gain a sense of the sweep of English
literary history and the changes English itself has undergone; you
will also learn a little something about literary genres (epic, drama,
etc.) and literary forms (sonnets), with a side trip into the history
of ideas (the philosophical and theological backgrounds of some of the
literary texts).
Texts:
The Norton Anthology
of English Literature (7th ed) Volume 1
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Assignments:
1) Reading journals (1 page—minimum—per week of reaction/commentary/analysis in
response to that week's reading selections, to be due at the beginning of
each class, beginning with week 2. No makeup or late work accepted for the
journals)—250 points.
2) Midterm
essay exam (5-7 pages in response to questions I will distribute in class.
You will have two weeks to work on the exam out of class)—350 points
3) Final paper (7-8 pages in response to one of a variety of possible
paper topics I will provide in advance)—400 points.
Statement on Academic Dishonesty:
Plagiarism is a serious offense that will be treated seriously. Please
read the CSUN policy
here.
Weekly Preview:
Week 1 (8/31):
Introductions
Week 2 (9/7):
Anonymous—Beowulf
Week 3 (9/14): Chaucer—The
Canterbury Tales (General Prologure, Miller's Tale)
Week 4 (9/21):
Anonymous—Mystery
Plays (The Chester Play of Noah's Flood, The Wakefield Second
Shepherd's Play)
Week 5 (9/28): Various
Authors—Sonnets
and Sonnet forms (Wyatt, Spenser, Sydney, Shakespeare)
Week 6 (10/5): Various
Authors—Philosophical
and Theological backgrounds (Calvin, Hoby, Hobbes)
Week 7 (10/12):
Marlowe—Dr.
Faustus
Week 8 (10/19):
Shakespeare—King
Lear; Midterm essay exam distributed (due 11/2)
Week 9 (10/26):
Various Authors—Metaphysical
Poets and Others (Donne, Herbert, Vaughan, Herrick)
Week 10 (11/2): Milton—Paradise
Lost 1-3
Week 11 (11/9): Milton—Paradise
Lost 4-6
Week 12 (11/16):
Milton—Paradise
Lost 7-8
Week 13 (11/23—Milton—Paradise
Lost 9-12
Week 14 (11/29):
Congreve—The
Way of the World
Week 15 (12/6): Swift—A
Modest Proposal; Pope —The Rape of the Lock (Topics for final papers distributed—paper due 12/16)
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