British Literature I
Course Description:
Fall 1997
Dr. Arn
Bakeless 113 (x4428)
e-mail: marn@bloomu.edu
Required materials:
- Beowulf
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, transl. M. Borroff
- Malory, Le Morte D'Arthur
- Shakespeare, Complete Sonnets
- Donne, Selected Poems
- Milton, Paradise Lost and Other Poems
- Swift, Gulliver's Travels
- Beardsley & Pope, Rape of the Lock
- Color maps (purchase from teacher)
- A pack of 3x5 cards
- Holman & Harmon, A Handbook to Literature, Abrams,
Dictionary of Literary Terms, or equivalent
Course requirements:
Your final grade will be made up of:
-
Papers: 10% 30%
- Participation: 10% (that is the equivalent of
one full letter grade)
N.B.: Participation involves more than
responding in class. I will take into
account all of the ways you participate in
this course: coming to class (on time),
being prepared, turning in work on time,
showing up for appointments, etc.
- Test on medieval literature: 20%
- Final examination: 30%
In addition to a mid-term and a final, you will write two papers.
The first will be 1500 words (about five to six typed pages,
depending on how many words you get on a page); the second, 2000 words
(about seven to eight pages). Papers that do not satisfy these
word-length requirements as well as those that are not handed in by the
due date will automatically receive lower grades. For help in preparing
papers, see the guidelines I have provided in electronic form (on my home
page). In addition, all handouts are accessible through my home page; you
will be expected to print your own material (if you have a problem, I want
to know about it immediately).
There will be unannounced quizzes (on both
background material and the literature itself) if it
becomes evident to me that a significant number of you
are not keeping up with the reading. You can
generally expect your written work to be returned
within ten days of submission.
I will not accept late work.
You are expected to attend class (i.e., all the
classes), read the assignment before class, form an
opinion about what you read before you come to class,
and be ready to participate.
No eating or drinking in class, please.
Office hours:
- Monday and Wednesday: 9:00-9:30
- Friday: 10:00-11:30 and 2:00-2:30 and by appointment
If you cannot come at these times, see me this week to
arrange an alternate time. You are strongly
encouraged and advised to stop by with questions, no
matter how minor they may seem to you. You are also
welcome to stop by and talk about the course, about
individual works, or about anything else, for that
matter. The door is open. Don't wait till you have a
problem.
I expect to hear about impending absences before
you miss a class. Contact me by phone (x4428), by e-mail
(marn@planetx), or in person (113 Bakeless);
written notes involve delay and are therefore not not
a good form of communication. My home phone number is
389-8175 (please no calls after 10:00 P.M.).
In the event that you miss a class, you remain
responsible for the reading, any announcements or
handouts, and the material covered in that class, and
you are expected to be prepared for the following
class. Absence will be no excuse for not knowing
class material, written or oral (note the 10%
participation component above). I will generally post
announcements on my home page, but what is said in
class still has highest priority. The fact that some
piece of information wasn't posted doesn't mean you
are excused from knowing it.
Return to course list
Rev 9/97