Summer 2007

E s316K • Masterworks of Literature: British

Course Description

Due to the time constraints the summer session imposes on us, this course will be more an introduction to British literature, history, and culture rather than an in-depth survey of the same. The list of writers in this course is by no means inclusive of all major works and writers of all periods; it is, however, representative. Hopefully, the summer course will inspire you to continue your study of British culture. We will be analyzing genre, form, and tradition; we will be additionally considering the works' political, social, and historical significance in their original context as well as in the present social and cultural contexts.

Grading Policy

Regular attendance is absolutely mandatory for we will be doing close analysis and will be having substantial discussion on a daily basis. Quizzes will be unannounced; make up quizzes will not be permitted. In addition to brief and frequent quizzes, there will be a mid-term and a final examination. An incomplete grade will be given only in the case of a documented and substantiated medical emergency. Active, substantial, and significant participation comprises a substantial portion of your final grade (20%), therefore neither silence nor apathy will serve you well in this class. Three absences will seriously harm your final grade by lowering it a full grade: an A will become a B, a C will become a D, etc. Four or more absences will guarantee your failure of this class.

Reading quizzes 20%
Active, substantial, and significant participation 20%
Mid-term essay 25%
Final exam, essay & objective 35%

Texts

Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales
William Shakespeare, Hamlet and selected sonnets
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Selected poems by William Blake, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and William Wordsworth
Short stories by Virginia Woolf and James Kelman

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