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Spring 2006 TR 10:30-11:45 Enterprise 175 |
Robert
Matz Office Hours: TR 1:30-2:30 and by appointment Office: Robinson A 422 Home page: mason.gmu.edu/~rmatz Contact: office phone: 703-993-1169 / email: rmatz@gmu.edu |
Required Texts:
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Elizabeth a prisoner, Elizabeth in procession. Radical shifts of fortune are a frequent concern of the works that we'll be reading. So too was suspicion and doubt ("much suspected . . .nothing proved") matched by the yearning for certainty and stability--for something as bright and long-lasting as the diamond with which Elizabeth writes. The literature of the sixteenth century participates in this tension between suspicion and certainty. To write, even with a diamond, is to create a world of supposition and suspicion. And though the works we'll read have lasted like diamonds, they were composed, like Elizabeth's prison poem, not outside the tumult of sixteenth-century life, but as part of it. Course requirements: reading responses, a presentation, two five-page papers, one three-page paper, one sonnet project, a final, a trip to the Folger Shakespeare Library |
Dates | Readings | Events |
Jan. 24 | Course Introduction |
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Jan. 26 | Curtis Perry, "Court and Coterie Culture" (on Electronic Course Reserve); George Gascoigne, "A Sonet in prayse of the browne beauty"; Ralegh, "On the Life of Man" (in LABL, 1194); Puttenham, from Arte of English Poesie (3.1) | |
HENRICIAN BEGINNINGS: THREE SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MODES: WARRIORS, COURTIERS AND HUMANISTS | ||
Jan. 31 | from Malory, Morte D'Arthur, book
20 and book
21 You may also find the work's glossary useful |
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Feb. 2 | John Skelton, "Bowge of Court"; Skelton's poetry in LABL (663-668) | |
Feb. 7 | More, Utopia, prefatory letter and book 1 (LABL, 688-713) | |
Feb. 9 | More, Utopia, book 2, pp. 713-741 in LABL | |
Feb. 14 | More, Utopia, book 2, pp. 741-755 in LABL | |
Feb. 16 | William Roper, from Life
of More Wyatt, "Mine Own John Poins" (LABL, 676-79) Theories of Authority and Resistance (all in LABL): Tyndale (757-758); Elyot (760-61); Ponet (762-64); Fox (765-767); Hooker (767-69) Man for All Seasons (video in class) |
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Feb. 21 | Wyatt (and Petrarch) in LABL, 670-76; Surrey (and Petrarch) in LABL, 679-86 | Paper 1 assigned |
SONNETMANIA! | ||
Feb. 23 | Castiglione (LABL, 772), Ascham (LABL, 773-75); Sidney's Astrophel and Stella (LABL, 1043-1050) andsupplementary sonnets (OL) from Sidney | |
Feb. 28 | Spenser, Amoretti (LABL, 954-57) | Paper 1 exchange |
March 2 | Shakespeare's Sonnets (selections from 1-126 in LABL, 1225-1235); Barnfield's Sonnets 9, 11, 19 (LABL 1121-1122); Davies sonnet 1 (OL) and sonnet 6 (OL), and Barnes's sonnets (OL). | |
March 7 | Shakespeare Sonnets (selections from 127-154 in LABL, 1235-1237 and 127, 131, 135, 137, 140, 147, 148, 151 in Shakespeare supplementary sonnets); Swetnan (LABL, 1502-1505); Sowerman (LABL, 1511-1514) | Paper 1 due Sonnet Project assigned |
ELIZABETHAN POLITICS AND PROTESTANT POETICS | ||
March 9 | Ralegh poems in LABL, 1192-1200; Elizabeth I's poetry ("Written
on a Wall," "The Doubt of Future Foes" and "On Monsieur's Departure" in
LABL, 1081-1082) and speeches ("On Marriage," "On Mary's Execution," "To
the English Troops," "The Golden Speech" in LABL, 1084-1085 and 1088-1093)
Elizabeth (video in class) |
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Spring Break | ||
March 21 | Gosson from "School of Abuse" (LABL, 1002-1003), Sidney, from "Defense of Poetry" (LABL, 971-974 only) Spenser, Faerie Queene, "A Letter of the Authors" (LABL, 790-793) and Faerie Queene, proem to book 1 and book 1, canto 1 (LABL, 793-807) | |
March 23 | Faerie Queene, 1.2-3 (LABL, 807-827) | |
March 28 | Faerie Queene,1.4 and 1.7 (LABL, 827-838; 861-873);
Vives (LABL, 758-759); Knox,
First Blast (OL) Click here for synopsis of what you missed in cantos 5 and 6. |
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March 30 | Faerie Queene, 1.8-9 (LABL, 873-885); Becon, "Displaying of the Popish Mass" (on Electronic Course Reserve) |
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April 4 | Faerie Queene, 1.9-10 (LABL, 885-912) | Sonnet Project due |
April 6 | Faerie Queene, 1.11-12 (LABL, 912-934); also reread Fox, Book of Martyrs (LABL, 765-67) | Paper 2 assigned (3 pp) |
TRAVELS FARTHER AFIELD | ||
April 11 | Marlowe, Hero and Leander, lines 1-484 (LABL, 1125-1135) | |
April 13 | Marlowe, Hero and Leander, lines 485-818 (LABL, 1135-1142) | Paper 2 exchanged |
April 18 | No Class: Credit for attendance at Folger Shakespeare Library presentation or lecture (dates TBA) | |
April 20 | Nashe, Unfortunate Traveler (EP, 207-268) | Paper 2 due |
April 25 | Nashe, Unfortunate Traveler (EP, 268-309) | Paper 3 assigned (5pp) |
April 27 | Deloney, Jack of Newberry (EP, pages TBA) | |
May 2 | Reports from the Americas (all in LABL): Ralegh (1201-1206; stop at "The Orinoco"; 1209-1211); Barlow (1212-1217); Hariot (1217-1220) | Paper 3 exchange |
May 4 | Wrap-up | |
May 9 | No class | Paper 3 due |
Course Policies:
Readings:
On-line course readings:
A tip on printing this material out. The text lines on some sites
expand to your window width, which may be uncomfortably wide for reading.
Shrink your window to an appropriate width before you print. Participation and Attendance: Reading Responses:
Presentation: Paper Deadlines: Late papers: You need to have your first paper done on time so that
you can work on it in the paper workshop. I also expect that the final
versions will be handed in on time. Late final versions will be graded
down a half grade for each day late. On late first versions, see below
under "paper standards."
Paper Standards (final and first versions): I'll grade the paper on basis of the revised version only, but I will
expect the original version to be your best initial attempt at the topic.
Original versions not done, not typed or obviously incomplete will result
in a half letter grade reduction in the evaluation of the final paper.
It would not be fair for other students to have to read work that is not
your best; additionally, it is in your interest to write as good an original
version as possible, so that your second version is even better. Remember
that because everyone has two tries at the paper, I will accordingly have
higher expectations for the final version.
Paper Helps: Plagiarism:
Also note that uncited sources will constitute plagiarism even if they
ended up in your work without your conscious knowledge (e.g. you forgot
you read the material; you confused your own notes with notes on a source),
since part of the scholarly responsibility that comes with using secondary
sources is keeping track of which words or ideas were yours and which came
from a source. If you do not wish to take on this responsibility then you
should not consult secondary sources.
Final:
Grading:
Please come see me if you have any questions about grading, the syllabus
or the class. I look forward to having the chance to meet you. Best wishes
for a good semester!
GRADE CRITERIA FOR ESSAYS A Specific, complex and/or striking thesis, thesis developed without digression through the course of the paper, consistently precise, sensitive and/or striking interpretations of the text, crafted prose, no major mechanical problems B Specific thesis, thesis generally developed through the course of the paper, consistently good interpretation of text, competent prose, minor mechanical problems C Has a thesis, but one that needs greater specificity or complexity, thesis developed with some digression or repetition, some good interpretation, some mechanical problems D Very general thesis, thesis development digressive or repetitive, plot summary or thoughts/speculations not based on textual evidence, major mechanical problems F No thesis or thesis development
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