English 3113W.01 / Spring 2003
The English Renaissance
CLAS 103
T/TH 9:30-10:45
Professor: Dr. Gregory Colón Semenza
Office: 132 CLAS
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays: 2-4; Wed: 12:30-2
Phone: 486-4762
Email: semenza@uconn.edu
Course Description:
In this course, we will study the rich literature of the English Renaissance in its historical, religious, and philosophical contexts. We will also explore the concept of “renaissance” itself: its usefulness, accuracy, and appropriateness as a descriptive term.
Reasons to Love English 221W:
The first reason to love English 221W (and the reason why I love to teach it) is the fascinating literature we will be reading. From the epic power of The Faerie Queene to the sublime nihilism of King Lear to the witty satire of Donne, this literature will stimulate, shock, and change you. All semester long, we will be engaging with poetry, drama, and prose works that have helped to shape—for better or worse—our current ways of thinking and feeling.
Second, English 221W will help you to see how the foundational themes and characteristics of English literature have changed over the centuries. Understanding how a particular literary motif is developed, revised, and even turned upside-down by different writers in different historical contexts will not only enhance the reading you do in other college classes; it will enhance the reading you do long after you graduate from UConn.
Finally, English 221W will help you to cultivate strong rhetorical skills, both in your writing and in conversation. Through a number of short written assignments, you will learn to read a text closely, to formulate a powerful critical claim, and to back that claim up with supporting evidence. These skills will be vital to your success both in college and as an employee, in whatever context, after college.
Texts:
The Norton Anthology: Sixteenth Century and Early Seventeenth Century, ed. Greenblatt (Norton, 2006). Vol.B. Eigth Edition.
Oroonoko and Other Writings, by Aphra Behn (Oxford World Classics)
Requirements:
Class Grade: Spirited participation, preparation,** attendance*
15%
8 or more Unannounced Reading Quizzes (Drop Lowest)
30%
5 two-page Response papers (two revisions allowed / see below)
35%
1 Final Examination with Essay
20%
* The professor does not take kindly to excessive absences. Because your understanding and engagement of the material depends on your presence in our class, I will take absences seriously. More than two, for any reason, is inexcusable. Furthermore, excessive absences will affect your quiz and exam grades since they will test skills we will develop in class.
** Preparation includes completing homework and in-class assignments, and having read the texts to be discussed in class.
Office Hours:
Office Hours will be held in 132 CLAS during the following times: Tuesdays and Thursdays: 2-4; Wednesday: 12:30-2. I urge each of you to take advantage of the opportunity to introduce yourself to me, to ask any questions you may have, to discuss future or current assignments, or to seek private instruction on specific problems with which you might be wrestling. I like students, I love teaching, and I promise that I don’t bite (even though I look rather mean). There is a too often unrecognized but undeniable correlation between students who tend to use office hours and students who tend to be successful in college. I also encourage professional communication through email.
Plagiarism:
It goes without saying that you are responsible for citing any words or ideas
that you borrow. Using material from the so-called Internet Paper Warehouses constitutes a form of plagiarism as serious as using someone else’s paper (and is easy to discover). Plagiarism demonstrates contempt for your instructor, peers, and the purposes of liberal education. If you are caught plagiarizing, you will automatically fail the course and be referred to judicial affairs. If you are uncertain as to what constitutes plagiarism, please consult the English Department’s policies guide or see me outside of class.
Quizzes:
Quizzes are designed to test your reading comprehension skills; they are not designed to trick you. My sense is that you will do absolutely fine as long as you read each day’s assignment carefully. A typical question might look like this: Why doesn’t Romeo receive the Friar’s letter in Mantua? Easy, right? Please note that missed quizzes cannot be made up unless you can show me an official University excuse for your absence (i.e., official athletic event, serious illness, etc.). Everyone may automatically drop one quiz grade. If you take all of the quizzes, you may drop one additional quiz grade. To dissuade lateness, I will give most quizzes in the first five minutes of class; I will not repeat question #1 of a quiz after I’ve moved on to question #2. Please be here on time.
Response Papers: Note: To be no longer than 2 Double-spaced pages in size 12 Font. See Formal Guidelines below.
Goal: Your primary goal is to offer a clear, concise argument (claim and basis) about the
text that you are analyzing, and to back up that argument with evidence, quotations, examples, etc. Noting the often subtle distinction between analysis and summary is key to your success. The goal is not to explain what a book is about or how it is put together
(summary)—rather, the goal should be to contribute something new or original to our understanding of the text. Remember that more is less in such a short assignment. Go deeply into one issue rather than shallowly into multiple issues. Dissect.
Example:
A summary paper might be set up in the following way:
In King Lear, Shakespeare tells the powerful tale of a man who splits up his land among his three daughters. He asks each one to tell him how much she loves him. The first one answers . . . etc.
An analysis, on the other hand, might be set up like this:
King Lear suggests that human love and compassion is the only life affirming force structuring our universe (claim).
The remainder of your paper would focus on supporting this claim through textual examples, close-reading, and quotations.
Whereas the first paper merely traces or summarizes the content of the play, the second offers a commentary on the play’s argument, message, or significance. One is descriptive. The other is argumentative.
You should expect to begin this class at a certain level of expertise and to leave it at a more advanced one; you should not be surprised, therefore, to receive extensive, critical feedback on your first few papers. The idea is to provide you with the information you will need to make changes and to become a better writer. You may rewrite two of your papers (revisions must be significant, not merely mechanical). I will take the highest grade. See also the handout on Writing Guidelines and take it seriously.
Final Examination:
We will discuss the final in more detail as the semester moves toward its end. Note for now that the final will consist of short identification passages and at least one long essay question.
Thursday
Jan. 23
Introduction to course
Tuesday
Jan. 28
Introduction, pp. 469-96; lecture on Sixteenth-Century England.
Thursday
Jan 30
Beginning at the End: Shakespeare, King Lear, pp. 1106-91 (Read Acts 1-2).
Tuesday
Feb. 4
King Lear, Acts 3-5.
Thursday
Feb. 6
King Lear
Tuesday
Feb. 11
The Wider World: Sir Thomas More, Utopia, Book 1, pp. 518-45.
Thursday
Feb.13
Utopia, Book Two, pp. 545-89.
Tuesday
Feb. 18
Utopia
Thursday
Feb. 20
Neo-Platonism and Pertrarchism: Wyatt, pp. 525-37: “The Long Love that in My Thought Doth Harbor,” “My Galley,” “Whoso List to Hunt,” “Mine own John Poins.” Surrey, pp. 569-76: “The Soote Season,” “Love that Doth Reign and Live Within my Thought,” “Epitaph on Sir Thomas Wyatt,” “O happy dames.”
Tuesday
Feb. 25
Sidney, Astrophil and Stella, pp. 909-931: Sonnets 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 18, 31, 39, 41, 52, 72, 81, 108; Spenser, Amoretti, pp. 863-68: 1, 34, 64, 67, 74, 75, 79.
Thursday
Feb. 27
Shakespeare, Sonnets, pp. 1028-42: 1, 12, 15, 18, 19, 20, 29, 55, 60, 73, 87, 94, 98, 106, 116, 126, 130, 135, 138, 144.
Tuesday
March 4
“Carpe Diem” and its Contexts: Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” (989); Ralegh, “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” (879); Donne, “The Flea” (1236) and “The Bait” (1247).
Thursday
March 6
Herrick, “Corinna’s Going A-Maying” (1648) and “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” (1649); Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress” (1691); Montague, “The Lover” (handout).
Tuesday
March 11
Religious Lyric: Donne, Holy Sonnets 5, 10, and 14 (1268-71) and Meditation 17 (1271); Herrick (1643-1655): “The Argument of His Book,” “To His Book’s End.” Herbert (1595-1614): “The Altar,” “Redemption,” “Easter Wings,” “Discipline,” “Death,” “Love.”
Thursday
March 13
Women in the Renaissance: Virginia Woolf, “Shakespeare’s Sister” (Handout); Elizabeth I, pp. 593-599: “Speech to the Troops,” and “The Golden Speech.”
Tuesday
March 18
No Classes: Spring Break
Thursday
March 20
No Classes: Spring Break
Tuesday
March 25
Nationhood and Counter-Nationhood: Spenser, Faerie Queene, Book 1: cantos 1-4, pp. 626-74..
Thursday
March 27
Faerie Queene, Book 1, Cantos 5-8, pp. 674-721.
Tuesday
April 1
Faerie Queene, Book 1, Cantos 9-12, pp. 721-72.
Thursday
April 3
Marlowe, Dr. Faustus, pp. 991-1025.
Tuesday
April 8
Dr. Faustus
Thursday
April 10
Introduction: pp. 1209-30; Brief Words on Seventeenth-century England; Secularism and Science: John Donne (pp. 1233-53): “The Good-morrow,” “The Sun Rising,” “The Canonization,” “A Valediction of Weeping,” “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning,” “The Relic.”
Tuesday
April 15
Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 1-2, pp. 1815-58.
Thursday
April 17
Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 3-5, pp. 1858-1915.
Tuesday
April 22
Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 6-8, pp. 1915-61.
Thursday
April 24
Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 9-10, pp. 1961-2010.
Tuesday
April 29
Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 11-12, pp. 2010-44.
Thursday
May 1
Behn, Oroonoko. Read first half.
Tuesday
May 6
Behn, Oroonoko. Finish.
Final Exam time TBA