Course Description:

This course is a survey of British Literature from the Anglo-Saxon period to the twentieth century. As
we read through this literature we will work to understand its many literary genres and forms, its
place in historical context, its social, political, and religious ramifications, and its periodization. We
will further work towards a basic understanding of manuscript and print history in Britain, as well as
some issues of the English language as it moved toward and beyond standardization.

Course Texts (can be purchased at the Campus Bookstore in Charger Union):

The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Major Authors (in two volumes), ed. Lewalski et al.
Other texts will be made available online or through CANVAS

***Subscription to Tophat/Monacle interactive classroom system (we will use this system in class
each day both to take attendance, give quizzes, and foster class discussion). I will send you an
invitation email so that you can purchase the license for Tophat. Purchase license ($24).

Graded Assignments:
Exams will be comprised of some multiple-choice, some short answer (1-3 sentences), and some
long-response (1-2 paragraphs) questions. Papers will be written in or converted to .doc, .docx, or
.rtf files. Specific explanations of each paper assignment and exercise assignment are found on the
course web page under Assignments and also on CANVAS under Assignments

10% Exam 1
15% Exam 2
15% Exam 3
20% Paper 1 (1500 words)
25% Paper 2 (2100 words; 5 sources)

5% OED exercise and Scansion exercise

10% Attendance/Participation/In-class quizzes

Grading System: 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 (0-59). Pluses and minuses are included in grades for
this course to clarify a students achievement. These augmented letter grades become part of the
students permanent record and appear on transcripts, but augmentation of a letter grade does not
affect its value for the purposes of the GPA computation.

Attendance Policy: Your attendance and active participation (not merely your occupying a chair in
the room) are crucial to your success in this course. Excessive absences (5 or more for the
semester) will jeopardize your passing grade for the course, but, more important, will impair your
ability to develop the skills needed to succeed in this class and future ones. My specific expectations
are as follows: 1) arrive on time WITH YOUR BOOKS IN HAND, 2) read actively and thoughtfully the
assigned materials, 3) take extensive notes on your readings, and 4) generate questions or topics of
discussion for each and every class meeting 5) BE OPEN-MINDED TO NEW IDEAS AND
INTERPRETATIONS IN OUR DISCUSSIONS. Reading quizzes will occur if and when I sense that
you have not prepared for class discussion via reading the assignments or generating class
discussion. Athletes: you should have a schedule of games from your coach and you should give
that to me. You are responsible for making arrangements with me to make up missed work. If you
are missing classes other than those for travel reasons, it would be best to contact me to let me
know.

Policy Concerning Classroom Conduct: All students in the class must treat others with
civility and respect and conduct themselves during class sessions in a way that does not
unreasonably interfere with the opportunity of other students to learn. Failure to comply with this
requirement may result in points being deducted from a students final numerical average, up to a
maximum of 15 points. Again, BE OPEN-MINDED TO NEW IDEAS AND INTERPRETATIONS IN
OUR DISCUSSIONS!