MPEN201
Major British and Irish Authors
Fall 2011
Dr.
Ken Kirby, Div. N. 307; office hours T 6:00-8:00 p.m. and by appt.
726-4033(w),
rkkirby@samford.edu,
<http://faculty.samford.edu/~rkkirby>
Our
Texts:
Jane Austen, Emma, Penguin
John Milton, Paradise Lost,
Norton
William Shakespeare, Othello,
Cambridge
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein,
Dover
W.B. Yeats, Poetry, Drama, and Prose,
Norton
Objectives
and policies:
Literature
courses have an obvious place in a liberal arts university and as
requirements
in the degrees it grants. They expose
students to some of the "great ideas" that have shaped our
culture—ideas
about such universal topics as love and marriage, religion and
morality, the
individual and society, and other topics that have been central to all
human
history—and to some of the imaginative ways people have devised of
expressing
and exploring those ideas. They
encourage subjective thinking as you respond to what the literature
says to you
while at the same time exposing you to received methods of
interpretation and
the most widely held interpretations of literary works.
They also give you practice writing and
speaking. MPEN201 surveys major British
and Irish authors from the Renaissance to the 20th century.
Since it
is impossible to do justice to such a long period in one course, we
will focus
on getting some depth on a few authors and will pass over many
important
writers and literary works.
During
this course, you will have the opportunity to
1. improve your knowledge and understanding of some
of the
central themes in the English literary tradition;
2.
become familiar with literary genres such as epic and lyric poetry,
drama, and
prose fiction;
3. address the ways that the study of literature can
contribute
to your overall educational and life goals;
4. practice critical reading and thinking;
5. practice analytical and persuasive writing;
6. be part of a community of learners by actively
participating
in peer groups, class discussion and activities, electronic
communication, and
all other in-class and out-of-class activities.
Class
time will be a mixture of lecture and discussion, but I will always
assume that
you have read the assigned material before you come to class, so come
to class
prepared to talk and write. Class
participation, including in-class papers, will count for 10% of your
grade. The rest will come from two papers
(10 and 20%), two exams (20% each), and a final exam (20%, partially
comprehensive).
Grade
scale: A = 93-100; A- = 90-92; B+ =
87-89; B = 83-86; B- = 80-82; C+ = 77-79, C = 73-76; C- = 70-72; D+ =
67-69; D
= 63-66; D- = 60-62; F = 59 or below.
Attendance,
late work, and
plagiarism:
Each
class period is designed to give you an opportunity to learn from me
and your
classmates and to show me, via discussion and writing assignments,
that you have learned on your own; therefore, you should try to
attend
all sessions. Students who have more
than three unexcused absences will lose most or all of their class
participation points. Projects that are
turned in after the announced due date will probably be accepted, but
with
penalty of one letter grade for each class period they are late without
excuse. This course
will conform to university policies about academic integrity. Any form of cheating or plagiarism will
result in a grade of zero on the assignment and probably in your
failing the course and being placed on probation. Students
are required to use nonsexist
language.
Schedule
of assignments:
Sep 6 Finsh film; Jane Austen, Emma, Vol. I
Sep 27 John Milton, Paradise
Lost, Books 4 and 8
Oct 4 Paradise Lost,
Book 9; critical papers due on
Paradise Lost (half of class
only--the other half will be writing on Yeats)
Oct 11 FALL BREAK - no class
Oct 18 Paradise Lost,
Books 10, Book 12 lines 285-end; Exam
I
Oct 25 William Shakespeare, King Lear, Acts 1, 2
Nov 1 Finish King Lear
Nov 8 Mary Shelley, Frankenstein,
Ch. I - XVII
Nov 15 Finish Frankenstein;
Exam 2
Nov 22 W. B. Yeats, poems and prose TBA
Nov 29 Yeats, poems and plays TBA; critical paper due on Yeats (those
who did not report on Paradise Lost)
Dec 6 Yeats, poems TBA; (Dec 9, subjective paper due via e-mail)