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Course PoliciesSchedule of Readings and Assignments Course PoliciesAttendance Be here! This course will only be productive for us if each student is a fully involved participant. I know life is uncertain: You may miss one class meeting without penalty. But on-time attendance is required at all other class meetings unless you have obtained my permission in advance or can document a medical or family crisis after the event. Every unexcused absence after the first will bring your final grade down. Missing five or more classes will result in an automatic failure. It should be clear to you that if you miss class or come in late, you are responsible for finding out what you have missed from a classmate. I will only take on this responsibility when I am notified in advance of an excused absence (e.g., a religious holiday), or when I am requested to do so by an academic advisor or a doctor after an excused absence. This is true not only of written assignments but also reading and posting assignments, changes to the course syllabus, etc.
Preparation and Participation You should read all of the assigned text, or view the assigned film, at least once before the corresponding class meeting, and come to class ready not only to listen but to participate in discussion and in group and individual exercises. Always bring the assigned text and writing materials with you. Excellent participation involves listening as well as offering comments, and taking notes. Show respect for your fellow classmates—each of you has a unique perspective to share. A significant percentage of your final grade will be based on the quality of your preparation and participation.
More than Five UMB Writers: On-line Postings and Days of Discussion We learn by asking questions and formulating answers. Our course size is too large for every class member to have a chance to speak in every class, but we will be the *first* UMB Five British Writers class to use the Writing Room of our course website to ensure that every class member does offer insight into our readings each week. For the first text we read together, I will post questions, and each of you will formulate and post short responses. Then it will be up to you to shape the way we look at the texts we read: each of you will post at least three questions on the week’s reading for the whole class to consider each Monday at noon. As we finish our study of each text, we will devote an entire class period to discussing our questions and responses, posted and un-posted, together. In addition to shaping how we spend our course time, these postings will create an on-line community: you can read and respond to all your fellow classmates’ questions on-line. These postings will also offer a record of personal development: when considering how to choose paper topics or reviewing the course at the end of the semester, you will be able to look through all of your postings and see what interests you and how your interests develop. Click "Help" on the menu beside this page for more instructions on how to post. Written Assignments’ Submission Use the Quick Grade-Improver Checklist as a coversheet and guide for written assignments. Assignments are due at the beginning of class: 1:00 p.m. Any paper turned in late will lose 1/3 of a grade (i.e., a drop from B to B-) for each 24-hour period that passes after the deadline. I can not accept assignments on disk or over e-mail. Retain copies of the work you submit for this course, either in the on-line writing room or in a folder or binder until the end of this semester; you will need to look through your work as a whole to complete your final evaluation.
Grading Breakdown (with dates) Your final grade will be based on the below percentages. Any penalty for habitual lateness or missed classes will be deducted from the total.
20% Participation. Half of your participation grade will depend on your on-line question postings and responses. (All semester long, starting today)
20% First Essay, 2-3 pgs. (Th Oct 5)
20% Mid-Term Exam. (Tu Oct 24)
20% Second Essay, 4-6 pgs. (Tu Nov 21)
20% Final Exam. (TBA)
Note on Student Support If you have a disability and you will need accommodations in order to complete our course requirements, please contact the Ross Center immediately. Full contact information for the Center listed on our Resources page. Many other student resources, including individual tutoring, special help for international students, and honors program information, are available from Academic Support Services (see our Resources page). Note on Plagiarism All work is expected to be the student’s own original work, unless relevant sources are appropriately documented. The penalties for plagiarism, including the unacknowledged use of material taken from the Internet, are a grade of F for the course and a recommendation of disciplinary action by the University.
Except for the required film, all texts are available at UMass Bookstore.
Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales: Fifteen Tales and the General Prologue. Eds. V. A. Kolve and Glending Olson. Second Edition. New York: Norton, 2005.
William Shakespeare. Twelfth Night or What You Will. Eds. David Bevington and David Scott Kastan. New York: Bantam, 2005.
Keats, John. Complete Poems and Selected Letters. Intro. Edward Hirsch. New York: Modern Library, 2001.
Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Michael Mason. New York: Penguin, 2003.
Amis, Martin. Time’s Arrow or the Nature of the Offense. New York: Random House, 2002.
You will need to buy or to rent (for multiple viewings) Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Dir. Trevor Nunn. Perf. Helena Bonham Carter, Richard E. Grant, Nigel Hawthorne, Ben Kingsley, Mel Smith, Imelda Staunton, Toby Stevens, Imogen Stubbs. Videocassette. New Line Home Video, Inc., 1997 or DVD. Renaissance Films, 2003. Not available at UMass Bookstore.
In addition to these texts, additional information sheets and texts extracts will be handed out in class and posted on our course website. Schedule of Readings and Assignments
Week 1 Tu September 5: Introduction to our course Review syllabi and complete survey (in class). Th September 7: Introduction to the Canterbury Tales Read the Introduction and General Prologue. Look at Geoffrey Chaucer Website for pronunciation, language, and General Prologue review (see our Resources page).
Week 2 Mon September 11—post question responses by noon. ***Correction: We do not yet have student profiles allowing you to post, due to a delay in WISER (alas). For this week, write down your responses to the three questions found on our Assignments page and bring your response to class with you on Tues September 12. I hope by next week you will be able to post responses to Canterbury Tales questions, and then post questions for our last three texts.*** Tu September 12: Historical and Fictional Chaucer Read the Parson’s Prologue (also look through the Tale), the Retraction, and articles by Boulay and Donaldson. Th September 14: Heroic and Comic Love Triangles Read the Knight’s Tale and the Miller’s Tale. Also read the article by Nolan (in your Canterbury Tales edition) if you have time. Extracts from Augustine and Saussure will be posted in our Media Room--these are recommended but not required reading.
Week 3 Mon September 18—post question responses by noon. Tu September 19: Body and Text Read the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale. Read extract by Butler. Th September 21: Exchange Values **Alteration** Read the Franklin’s Tale and read the extract by Rubin posted in our Media Room. The Merchant’s Tale is now optional reading.
Week 4 Mon September 25—post question responses by noon. Tu September 26: The Deadly Danger of Authorship Read the Manciple’s Tale, Sir Topas and read Melibee extract. Read extract from Barthes posted in our Media Room. Th September 28 Day of Discussion
**Post Your Own Discussion Questions by Noon Each Monday**
Week 5 Tu October 3: Introduction to Twelfth Night Read Acts 1-3 and “Date & Text” and “Textual notes.” Th October 5: Playing Misrule Read Twelfth Night, Acts 4-5. **First Essay due**
Week 6 Tu October 10: Are Plays Literature? Read “Shakespeare’s Sources,” “Twelfth Night on Stage,” and “The Playhouse.” Read Orgel’s article posted in our Media Room. Th October 12: Page, Stage, and Screen Read “Twelfth Night on Screen.” Watch Nunn’s film.
Week 7 Tu October 17: Writing on Stage Watch Nunn twice more. Scene study exercise due. Th October 19: Day of Discussion
Week 8 Tu October 24: **MID-SEMESTER EXAM** Th October 26: Introduction to Keats’ Poetry Read introduction and the Eve of St. Agnes, the Belle Dame Sans Merci, and Written on a Blank Space at the End of Chaucer’s ‘The Floure and the Leafe’. Read synopsis of the Floure and the Leafe and Belle Dame debate posted in our Media Room.
Week 9 Tu October 31 (Halloween): A Creepy Capability Read Isabella; or, the Pot of Basil. **Note: No extra sypnosis, we will discuss its relation to the Decameron in class.** Read ‘Bright Star, would I were stedfast as thou art’, ‘This Living Hand, now warm and capable,’ and Selected Letters section. Th November 2: The Prosody of Sensation? Read On a Grecian Urn, To a Nightingale, To Autumn, and Commentary section.
Week 10 Tu November 7: Day of Discussion Th November 9: Introduction to Jane Eyre Read Jane Eyre, chapters 1-9.
Week 11 Tu November 14: Chapters and Scenes Read Jane Eyre, chapters 10-21. Th November 16: ‘No Medium’ Read Jane Eyre, chapters 22-34. **CHANGE: you are only expected to read through chapter 31**
Week 12 Tu November 21: Seeing and Sightless ‘I’s Read Jane Eyre, chapters 35-38. **CHANGE: the reading is now chapters 32-38** **Second Essay due** Th November 23 (Thanksgiving): NO CLASS
Week 13 Tu November 28: ‘A Vulgar-Minded Woman’ Read Kilby review and Gilbert and Gubar article posted in our Media Room. Th November 30: Day of Discussion
Week 14 Tu December 5: Introduction to Time’s Arrow Read Time’s Arrow. Th December 7: Tod, Odilo, Martin Read Time’s Arrow reviews on Martin Amis Web.
Last Class Tu December 12: Last Day of Discussion
**FINAL EXAM** Monday December 18 3-6 p.m.
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