Junior Seminar: Calls of the Wild
(Spring 2016)
MWF 2:10-3:00
Vollum 302
This course offers a study of the methods and a sample of the materials of English literary history by studying the ways in which texts from the early Middle Ages to the seventeenth century and beyond posit the relationship between the realms of the human and the nonhuman (variously construed as dichotomies of culture/nature, domestic/wild, civilized/barbaric, urban/rural, human/animal, etc.). Texts under consideration will include Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Lais of Marie de France, and John Milton’s Paradise Lost, as well as lyric poetry by Christopher Marlowe, Walter Raleigh, and Andrew Marvell, William Wordsworth, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson. There will also be substantial reading in literary scholarship. The capstone of the course will involve students' development of their own critical history and annotated bibliography of a work or works of a major author of their choice (in consultation with the professor).
And please note: we will, sadly perhaps, not be studying Jack London's Call of the Wild in this class!
Vollum 302
This course offers a study of the methods and a sample of the materials of English literary history by studying the ways in which texts from the early Middle Ages to the seventeenth century and beyond posit the relationship between the realms of the human and the nonhuman (variously construed as dichotomies of culture/nature, domestic/wild, civilized/barbaric, urban/rural, human/animal, etc.). Texts under consideration will include Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Lais of Marie de France, and John Milton’s Paradise Lost, as well as lyric poetry by Christopher Marlowe, Walter Raleigh, and Andrew Marvell, William Wordsworth, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson. There will also be substantial reading in literary scholarship. The capstone of the course will involve students' development of their own critical history and annotated bibliography of a work or works of a major author of their choice (in consultation with the professor).
And please note: we will, sadly perhaps, not be studying Jack London's Call of the Wild in this class!
Required Texts
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Schedule of Readings and Assigments
M Jan. 25: Introductions. W Jan. 27: Read Genesis, chapters 1-8; in The Wanderer, read “Cædmon’s Hymn”; and read “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis” (handout) F Jan. 29: In The Wanderer, read pp. ix-7 and pp. 40-55 (Intro, “The Ruin," “Bede’s Death-Song,” “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer”). M Feb. 1: W Feb. 3: Read Beowulf; and in the Norton edition, read “Contexts” (80-97). FOR A GUIDE TO THE BACKGROUND LORE OF BEOWULF, CLICK HERE. FOR SOME QUICK THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BEOWULF POET, CLICK HERE. F Feb. 5: Beowulf; in the Norton edition, read the essays by J. R. R. Tolkien (pp. 103-130) and Jane Chance (pp. 152-167). M Feb. 8: Library Session; Annotated Bibliography Topics Due. W Feb. 10: Beowulf; in the Norton, read the essays by Roberta Frank (pp. 167-181) and John Leyerle (pp. 130-152). F Feb. 12: In The Wanderer, 83-91 (“The Dream of the Rood”). S Feb. 13: Beowulf paper due (4-5 pages). M Feb. 15: In The Wanderer, read pp. 56-82 (“The Wife’s Complaint,” “The Husband’s Message,” “Wulf and Eadwacer,” “Gnomic Verses,” and “Riddles”). W Feb. 17: Gerald of Wales, History and Topography of Ireland (entire book); and read “Nature and Silence” by Christopher Manes (handout). F Feb. 19: Marie de France, Prologue and Bisclavret; and read Carolyn Walker Bynum, “Metamorphosis, or Gerald and the Werewolf”(available on JSTOR). AND FOR SOME QUICK THOUGHTS ABOUT MARIE DE FRANCE, CLICK HERE. M Feb. 22: Library Session #2. W Feb. 24: Marie de France, Guigemar. F Feb. 26: Marie de France, Chevrefoil and Laüstic. M Feb. 29: Marie de France, Yonec and Milun. And please note that five annotations are also due today. W Mar. 2: Marie de France, Lanval. F Mar. 4: Marie de France, Eliduc; and read Peggy McCracken, “Translation and Animals in Marie de France’s Lais”. M Mar. 7: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Fitts One and Two. W Mar. 9: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Fitt Three. F Mar. 11: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Fitt Four. M Mar. 14: Read poetry by Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Andrew Marvell (handout). And read a chapter from The Country and the City (handout). W Mar. 16: Paradise Lost, Book 1; and read “General Criticism” in the Norton edition, pp. 534-548 (short excerpts by Tillyard, Waldock, Fish, and Teskey). F Mar. 18: Paradise Lost, Book 2-3; and read excerpt in the Norton edition by Archie Burnett (pp. 484-491) 19-27 MARCH: SPRING BREAK M Mar. 28: Paradise Lost, Books 4-5; and read excerpt in the Norton edition by Julia M. Walker (pp. 516-520). W Mar. 30: Paradise Lost, Books 6-7; and read excerpts in the Norton edition by Lewis, Rajan, Waldock, and Empson (pp. 401-420). And please note that ten more source annotations are due in class today. F Apr. 1: Paradise Lost, Book 8. M Apr. 4: Paradise Lost, Book 9; and read excerpts in the Norton editon by Lewis, Waldock, and Frye (pp. 453-465). W Apr. 6: Paradise Lost, Book 10. F Apr. 8: Paradise Lost, Books 11-12. M Apr. 11: Paradise Lost; and read excerpt in the Norton edition by Barbara K. Lewalski (pp. 466-476). W Apr. 13: William Wordsworth, "Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey" and "The World Is Too Much with Us" (handout). F Apr. 15: Walt Whitman, details TBA M Apr. 18: Walt Whitman, details TBA W Apr. 20: Walt Whitman, details TBA F Apr. 22: Walt Whitman, details TBA M Apr. 25: Emily Dickinson, details TBA W Apr. 27: Emily Dickinson, details TBA F Apr. 29: Emily Dickinson, details TBA Attendance Your presence, both physical and mental, at each and every class meeting is a serious and significant component of this course. The only excuses I will allow for absences are illness and family emergency. If you cannot make it to class discussion you are required to e-mail me or call my office, 503-517-7729 to explain where you are; even one unexcused absence could affect your grade in the course; more than three will be regarded as grounds for failure. Class Participation This is a small section and it designed to be run as a conference, not as a lecture. Student input on regular basis – that is, each and every class meeting – is an important component of this course. I sincerely want to hear your ideas, and I believe that it is only by working – and working hard – at these texts together that we will arrive at the most fruitful sorts of understanding. Grading Your final grade for the course will consist of the following: Class participation , 10% Library Assignment #1: 5% Essay on Beowulf: 20% Library Assignment #2: 5% Timed Writing, 10% Annotated Bibliography, 25% Critical History, 25% |