English 440 : 16th and 17th Century Literature
Professor Melissa D. Aaron Room 24 106 MWF 1-2:05
Office: 24 229
Office hours: M 2-4, W 2-3, Th 12-3, and by appointment
Phone:869-3839

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Required texts
The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Volume 1B: The Early Modern Period. Ed. David Damrosch et. al. Longman, 2003.

Course description

This course is designed to familiarize students with the literature and culture of Renaissance/Early Modern/Tudor and Stuart England. As you can see from the variety of terms I've used to characterize this period, the texts of this era have stirred up a considerable amount of controversy in literary and historical scholarship. We'll be discussing some of these areas of conflict in the course of the quarter.

Since there's so much literature to cover, and since we only have ten weeks, I've chosen to organize the course thematically, rather than chronologically. That is, we will be looking at several major elements of 16th and 17th century culture-Government, Religion, Magic and the Supernatural, Love, and Gender. We will be reading several major texts by familiar authors-Utopia, Fairie Queene, Dr. Faustus-and lesser-known texts and historical material. By working this way, you should have a chance to get a feeling for the culture and an overall impression of the literature, as well as careful study of the texts.

Course requirements
You will need access to a computer and the Internet for this course-if this will present a problem, please contact me.

Participation-includes short, ungraded assignments-25%
Midterm-25%
1 8-10 page paper, 25%
One final exam---25%

All work handed in to me must be typed and double-spaced in ten or preferably twelve point font. The font I'm using for this, Times New Roman, is nice and easy to read. Please type your name, the class and section number, my name and the date in the upper-right hand corner, and the title centered at the top of the first page. Do not have a title page, and please, please staple your papers together.

The short, ungraded assignments will be done electronically on Blackboard on a threaded discussion board. They are discussion-related and will count towards your participation grade. Since they are time-sensitive, they cannot be made up.

New Assignment Policy
Unfortunately, because of problems in the past, it is now necessary for me to institute an assignment policy I am calling At Your Own Risk. Most of you will find that it is not much different from what you have already been doing.

• It is your responsibility to read the assignment and follow the instructions. If it asks for a first person process narrative, turn in a first person process narrative. If it asks you to attend a performance or watch a film of a play on the syllabus, you may not turn in a paper on a play not on the syllabus.
• It is your responsibility to turn in your papers on time, in the correct place, in the correct format and in the correct manner. I will not accept papers shoved under my door. I will not accept papers that are emailed to me as attachments. If you are asked to submit a paper online, submit it online. If you are asked to submit it in person, submit it in person.
• Any exceptions—an extension, submission by alternative method—must be cleared with me in advance and must be for a good reason, such as illness, family emergency. Those of you who know me may be reassured that I have not changed in essential character; those of you who do not know me yet may be assured that I will listen patiently.
• Papers that do not meet these guidelines are turned in At Your Own Risk. Emailed attachments may be deleted; papers shoved under the door may be recycled; late papers may not be accepted; any and all of the above may simply not be graded and the paper writer may receive no credit.

I regret having to institute such a policy and I equally regret the circumstances that have required me to institute it.

Attendance policy
You can't participate if you're not here, obviously. Here are some reasons you don't want to be absent:
More than three absences and your grade will be lowered. Six or more and you will fail the course. Extreme tardiness (more than ten minutes late) counts as an absence.

I don't distinguish between excused and unexcused absences, and here's why. If you miss class, you'll miss discussion, my commentary on the texts, homework assignments, etc. In a remarkably short period of time, you'll find yourself terribly behind, and it will be next to impossible for you to catch up. The attendance policy is to help you succeed, not to punish you. If you are faced with illness or emergency, please let me know right away, and the same applies if you want questions answered or additional help. I check my email very regularly and you can also always come to my office hours.

Plagiarism
Did you know that "plagiarism" comes from the Latin word for "kidnapper?" That's because it's theft, and the University and I will treat it that way. I don't want to go into all the dire consequences that will ensue; so don't do it. Enough said.

I count the Cliff's Notes as plagiarism in all cases. Don't use them, period; they will only confuse you and irritate me.

If you use someone else's ideas or words, you have to credit them. Here are two rules to help you with this: are you giving credit where credit is due? If someone wanted to find out more about the information you cited, or look up the quote, do they have enough information to do it? I would like you to use MLA documentation, and I'll show you how to do that.

Course syllabus

Week 1: September 19th

F Introduction to the course. Historical background.

Week 2: September 26th

M Government. Section on Government and Self-Government, pp 756-76; speeches of Elizabeth I, 1084-92.

W Sir Thomas More, Utopia. 686-754.

FUtopia cont'd; Voyage literature, "England in the New World," 1354-1406.

Week 3: October 3rd

M Political theory and the English Civil War: Hobbes, Leviathan, 1762-64; Perspectives on the Civil War, 1779-1809; Milton, Areopagitica, 1827-35.

W Religion. Bible translations; Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke 1010-18; Elizabeth I, Psalm 13, 1025; Aemilia Lanyer, Salve Deus Rex Judeorum, 1041-44; King James Bible, 1663-65. Discussion

F: Professor at conference. Use this time to read Faerie Queene.

Week 4: October 10th

M: Professor at conference.

W Edmund Spenser. The Fairie Queene; Book I. 789-933.

F The Faerie Queene continued.

Week 5: October 17th

M January 30th The Fairie Queene, Donne, Holy Sonnets and religious prose.

W Herbert, pp. 1685-1697.

F Midterm review.

Week 6: October 24th

M Midterm.

W & F Professor at conference.

Week 7: October 31st

M: Professor at conference.

W Magic, Science, and the Supernatural. Dr. Faustus.

F: Dr. Faustus, cont'd.

Week 8: November 7th

M: Dr. Faustus.

W Sir Thomas Browne, 1766-69; Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, 1770-1778.

F: Veteran's Day. Campus is closed.

Week 9: November 14th

M Love. Sir Thomas Wyatt; Marlowe, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and Sir Walter Raleigh's "Reply," 1124; Sir Philip Sidney, Astrophel and Stella.

W Spenser, Amoretti and Epithalamion, 954-966.

F Wroth, 1668-1673, Shakespeare, 1122-1237.

Week 10: November 21st

M Donne, 1647-1661 ("The Good Morrow, The Sun Rising, The Canonization, Love's Alchemy, The Bait, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, The Funeral, The Relic, Elegy 19); Herrick 1674-1684; Marvell, 1724-1735.

W: Finish section on love. Paper due.

F: Campus closed for Thanksgiving.

Week 11 November 28th

M Gender. Tracts on Women and Gender, 1496-1517; Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker, The Roaring Girl. 1406-1476.

W & F.The Roaring Girl cont'd.

Exam on Monday, December 5th at 11:30-1:30 pm.

Dr. Aaron's Course Page.

Dr. Aaron's Home Page.