Missouri Western State College

Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences

ENG 353:  Literature in English, 1660-1800

Class meets 3:30 – 6:00 Murphy 105

Spring 2008

Instructor Information

            Dr. Karen U. Fulton, Professor

            Tel: 271-4317(work) 271-5995 (Study Away Office) 1-660-582-8830 (home)

            Email: fulton@missouriwestern.edu

            Office:  Eder 222/H and Hearnes 101 (Study Away Office)

            Office Hours: English Office 11-12 and 1:30-3 M, 11-Noon and 1:30-3 T; Study Away Office 10-12 and 1-3 W; other hours by appointment

Required Texts

            Blaisdell, Bob.  Great Speeches by Native Americans.  NY:  Dover, 2000.

            Blake, W.  Songs of Innocence and Experience.  NY:  Dover, 1992.

            Bradstreet, Anne. “To Her Husband” and Other Poems.  NY: Dover, 2004.

            Grafton, John.  The Declaration of Independence etc. NY:  Dover, 2000.

            Sherman, J. African American Poetry. NY: Dover, 1998.

            Sherman, Stuart.  Longman Anth. of Brit. Lit.,1 C.  2nd Edition(2003) OR 3rd Edition (2006).NY: Longman.

            Sterne, L. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.  NY: Modern (Penguin Classics), 1967, 2004.

            Swift, Jonathan.  Gulliver’s Travels.  New York:  Dover, 1996.

            Required Supplies

1.      Access to word processor with spell-checker (all papers must be word-processed).

2.      Access to O/P drive for downloading of materials provided to the class.

3.      A 3-ring binder (spine no greater than 1/2") for submission of end of semester portfolio.

English 353 objectives:

1.      Understand the socio-political and historical backgrounds that underpin the literature created in English during 1660 to 1800.

2.      Acquire factual knowledge about the period, the authors, the historical context, and the dominant modes of literary communication.

3.      Explore the internet as a source of information about historical and cultural contexts of literature.

4.      Appreciate interconnectedness of literary themes and images in British and American texts of minority populations, as well as majority ones.

English 353 means:

1.      Class discussion;

2.      Viewing of video/DVD presentations of material;

3.      Quizzes

4.      Two critical papers; and

5.      End of semester portfolio.

Course Policies

Attendance Policies

            Class attendance is critical; I will record absences at every meeting.  Since each absence represents a full week of work, no more than 1 absence will be acceptable this semester. It should be taken only in the direst circumstances and the instructor informed beforehand (if possible). A student who is not prepared for class is considered absent and will be so recorded.

The final session is required. Missing it carries a heavy penalty--failure for the course. Instead of a traditional "final," you will write to next semester's class and present your portfolio to this semester's class. Final date is Friday, May 2, 2008 at 2pm.

Academic Honesty Policy

Students must submit their own work. Students who are guilty of cheating in any form will automatically receive a zero for the assignment involved and will place themselves in jeopardy of failing the course.

Student Disability Policy

Students who have a disability that might prevent their maximum performance in the class should make this known to the instructor immediately so that provisions may be made for any assistance needed.

Grading Policies

Mid-term grades

            Mid-term grades will be based on class attendance and participation, completion of required work, and quizzes. This grade will then be figured as 10% of the final course grade.

Final grade

            The other 90% of the grade will be determined on the basis of a portfolio submitted on April 14, 2008. This portfolio will consist of at least three finished and revised pieces of writing (in addition to the self-reflective essay). One of these pieces must have begun as a class assignment (and will be designated the class demonstration paper).  All pieces may initially have been class generated, but one must come from class with other papers being creative in nature or even from another class which deals with this time period.

Portfolio

            Early in the class, more detailed portfolio specifications will be posted on the O/P drive and previous portfolios will be brought to class.

You will self-grade the portfolio when you submit it. I will meet with you individually to discuss the grade of the portfolio and we will record that conference. You then have the option of revising and resubmitting the portfolio up until the day of the final session (May 2). You have only one opportunity to resubmit a portfolio.

Minimal Passing Standards

            In order to pass (grade of "D") the class the student must

      1. complete all written assignments and quizzes;
      2. submit a self-graded portfolio on the due date;
      3. not have more than 2 absences for the semester;
      4. attend the scheduled portfolio conference, and
      5. participate in the final session.

Failure to complete any one of these requirements results in failure for the course.

Learning Activities and Projects

 Definition of a page

            One page in this class will be word processed in double spaced 12-point Arial (or equivalent font) with 1” margins around the sides and bottom. The first page will have a double-spaced heading on the left side of the page containing your name, the course designation, and the due date of the paper. The first page will have a centered title which will be informative or entertaining or both; neither “Paper 1” or “Tristram Shandy” qualifies as either.

Deadlines for written work

Papers are scheduled so I can return a response to you in a timely fashion. If your work does not come in at the time assigned, it may not be returned to you until the end of the semester. Credit will not be given until the instructor has commented on the work.

Feedback Mode

            Letter grades are not given on the writing assignments. Instead feedback on your first paper will take place in a recorded conference. The same protocol will be in place for the portfolio. Other papers will receive written comments but no grade. These indicators are not convertible to letter grades. I welcome conferences with anyone who has questions about the paper, the tape, or how the paper might fit into the final portfolio.

Calendar

Week 1 1/14 Fill out information sheets, coverage of syllabus, background and history of the period. Dryden’s  “MacFlecknoe”  will be distributed and discussed

Week 2 1/21 Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. No school

Week 3 1/28 Behn, Oroonoko (Longman-2 2235-2276; Longman-3 2278-2321); Sterne, Tristram Shandy, Vol. I From this point in the semester, you will be reading one volume of Tristram Shandy per week. The first 50 minutes of our time together will be on your reading of Sterne. I will feel free to give quizzes over the material and/or assign reading logs which I will then pick up.

Week 4 2/4 Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, Voyages 1 and 2 (Dover); “Gulliver’s Travels and Its Time” (Longman-3 2587-2591, hand-outs to those with Longman 2). Sterne, Tristram Shandy, Vol II.

Week 5 2/11 Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, Voyages 3 and 4 (Dover); Sterne, Tristram Shandy, Vol. III.

Week 6 2/18 Presidents’ Day. No school.

Week 7 2/25 Pope, “The Rape of the Lock” (Longman-2 2504-2523; Longman-3 2631-2652); Sterne, Tristram Shandy, Vol. IV

Week 8 3/3 Wycherly The Country Wife (Longman-2 2288-2356; Longman-3 2356-2427) 2289), Sterne, Tristram Shandy, Vol V

Paper #1 due over Swift, Pope, and or Behn

Week 9 3/10 Spring Break. No school.

Week 10 3/17 Gay, The Beggar’s Opera, “The Beggar’s Opera and Its Time Influences and Impact” (Longman-2 2585-2655 + hand-out on Brecht; Longman-3 2717-2793) Stern, Tristram Shandy Vol. VI

Week 11 3/24 Women: Cavendish, Behn, Bradstreet, Chudleith, Finch, Leapor, Astel, Montagu (specific readings will be distributed on 3/17) and Sterne, Tristram Shandy Vol VII

Paper # 2 due over drama/theatre

Week 12 3/31 The Americans.  Selections from Blaisdell, Bradstreet, Grafton, and J. Sherman (specifics to be given out later) and Tristram Shandy Vol VIII

Week 13 4/7 Sterne, Tristram Shandy Vol. IX; Selections from “Perspectives: Novel Guises” (Longman-3 3066-3137; Longman-2 selected texts hand-out)

Week 14 4/14 Portfolio DUE

Week 15 4/21 Johnson. Biography of Johnson (Longman-2 2719-2721; Longman-3 2858-2861), Selections from the OED Longman-2 2760-2774; Longman-3 2896-2910) and to get some feel for his fictional prose style Chapter 8 of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (Longman-2 2774-2776; Longman-3 2911-2912).

Week 16 4/28  Blake, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience

Final Friday, May 2 in Murphy 105.  Last day to resubmit a portfolio