Summer 2017 - ENGL 410W J100
Topics in Early Modern English Non-Dramatic Literature (4)
Class Number: 5806
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Jun 27 – Aug 4, 2017: Tue, Thu, 5:30–9:20 p.m.
Vancouver
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Instructor:
Tiffany Werth
twerth@sfu.ca
1 778 782-3137
Office: AQ 6099
Office Hours: W 10:00 - 11:00 in Burnaby AQ6099 T/TH HC 4:15 - 5:15
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Prerequisites:
One of ENGL 304, 306, 310, 311, 313 or 315.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
The study of selected works of Early Modern poetry and prose written in English, and situated in their cultural context. May be organized by author, genre, or critical approach. Reserved for English honors, major, joint major and minor students. Students with credit for ENGL 410 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.
COURSE DETAILS:
Renaissance Oecologies from More to Milton
This course holds two interrelated aims: first, to consider how seemingly recent concerns about environmental sustainability and resilience within ecological thought may have roots reaching back to the world of Renaissance literature; and second, to ask how we as located moderns living on the west coast engage with premodern thought. How might our assumptions about early modern attitudes toward animals, birds, vegetation, and the physical landscape inflect our own perception of the natural world? We will bear in mind environmental humanist Ursula Heise’s call for an “eco-cosmopolitanism,” that imagines the global, as time as well as geography, through a local and present frame. In our reading, we will explore some of the seminal texts of Renaissance literature—including Sir Thomas More’s utopian experiment, Spenser’s political ecology in The Faerie Queene, the lyric vegetal ruminations of Marvell, and Milton’s attempt to justify the ways of God to men—alongside contemporary approaches such as posthumanism, new materialism, and ecocriticism.
Grading
- Attendance and seminar participation (5%), and reading quizzes (10%) administered via Top Hat (5) 15%
- Seminar presentation on critical, secondary reading (including 1-page review posted for class) 10%
- Midterm in-class critical reading exercise 15%
- Contact Zone blog, weekly 10%
- Research proposal and preliminary annotated bibliography 5%
- Research essay (8-10 pp. including revision and mandatory peer editing workshop participation at 5%) 45%
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Oxford World Classics. Ed., Stephen Orgel and Jonathan Goldberg. Oxford University Press, 2008.
ISBN: 978-0199535743
More, Thomas. Utopia. A Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Ed., Joseph Black. Broadview Press, 2010.
ISBN: 978-1551119663
Spenser, Edmund. The Faerie Queene Book V. Ed., Abraham Stoll. New York: Hackett Publishing, 2006.
ISBN: 087220801X.
RECOMMENDED READING:
They Say I Say. Edited by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. 3rd Ed. New York: Norton, 2009. $25.00 CDN.
ISBN: 978-0-393-93584-4
Department Undergraduate Notes:
IMPORTANT NOTE Re 300 and 400 level courses: 75% of spaces in 300 level English courses, and 100% of spaces in 400 level English courses, are reserved for declared English Major, Minor, Extended Minor, Joint Major, and Honours students only, until open enrollment begins.
For all On-Campus Courses, please note the following:
- To receive credit for the course, students must complete all requirements.
- Tutorials/Seminars WILL be held the first week of classes.
- When choosing your schedule, remember to check "Show lab/tutorial sections" to see all Lecture/Seminar/Tutorial times required.
Registrar Notes:
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS