Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2017 - ENGL 416W J100

Early Modern Authors (4)

Class Number: 4078

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 5 – Dec 4, 2017: Mon, Wed, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
    Vancouver

  • Prerequisites:

    ENGL 203, plus one of ENGL 310, 311, 313, or 315.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The intensive study of the selected works of an early modern author, situated in their cultural context. Reserved for English honors, major, joint major and minor students. This course may be repeated for credit if a different author is taught. Students with credit for ENGL 316 or ENGL 416 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course will investigate three pillars of the late English Renaissance—John Milton, Andrew Marvell, and Margaret Cavendish—to better understand what it means to be “a writer” in England during a particularly tumultuous period in the country’s history: 1630 – 1660. Milton, Marvell, and Cavendish composed their work amongst rising cultural and social tensions that eventually led to the English Civil Wars in 1642, the beheading of King Charles I in 1649, and the accession of Charles II in 1660. A recurring theme of the course will be the flux between isolation and community and how these social/solitary concepts define authorial personae, relationships, and careers. We may focus on questions pertaining to Milton’s rising (and confused) republicanism and his engagement with ancient literary forms; Marvell’s movement from poetry of courtship to poetry of upheaval and vegetative isolation; and finally Cavendish’s exile, utopianism, and depiction of the precariousness of female authorship. The three titular authors will be further distinguished according to their political sympathies, though we will also find moments of kinship, overlap, and influence in surprising places.  

Ultimately this course will provide a sustained reading of Milton, Marvell, and Cavendish, with special focus on ideas of authorship and literary relationship, but with one eye always on the various and pronounced social factions—especially Royalists and the Republicans, but also Levellers and Diggers—that motivated much of the period’s artistic output. Students will emerge from the course with a deeper understanding of the three authors and their circles of influence, as well as a historical platform from which to interpret the competing cultural and social spheres in England during one of the most uncertain times in its history.

Grading

  • Seminar participation 10%
  • Discussion posts (5 weekly posts and 1 revised post) 15%
  • Seminar presentation 15%
  • Midterm (4 to 5 pages) 20%
  • Research proposal and annotated bibliography (including peer-workshop and revision) 5%
  • Final Research Paper (7 to 9 pages) 35%

REQUIREMENTS:

This course is designed to provide a capstone for English majors and minors, and thus students will be expected to a) attend and participate in all seminars, b) create and present one seminar presentation, and c) post five discussion entries (plus one revised entry) online over the course of the term, each one between 200 - 400 words. All students are expected to arrive in seminar having read and pondered, besides the assigned course material, all posted discussions from their peers. Students are expected also to participate in a peer-editing workshop during the preliminary steps of their final research papers and to revise their research proposals according to peer and instructor feedback.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Margaret Cavendish, Paper Bodies: A Margaret Cavendish Reader, ed. Sylvia Bowerbank, Broadview Press, 2000. ISBN: 9781551111735 / 155111173X.
ISBN: 9781551111735

N.H. Keeble, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Writing of the English Revolution, Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780521645225 / 0521645220
ISBN: 9780521645225

RECOMMENDED READING:

John Milton, Milton’s Selected Poetry and Prose, ed. Jason Rosenblatt, Norton Critical Editions, 2010. ISBN: 9780393979879
ISBN: 9780393979879

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