English 496A: Studies in Authors, Periods, Genres and Themes
Landscape, Gender, and Power in Early Modern England
Summer I, 2003
M-F / 11:00=12:45 / Modern Languages 413

Professor: Kari Boyd McBride
Email: kari@email.arizona.edu
Phone: 621-7340
Office Hours: M-Th after class as needed and/or by appointment


This course explores attitudes and anxieties about legitimacy, power, and authority and their relationship to land and landscape in the literature and other cultural artifacts of early modern England. Specifically, we will look at emerging and changing ideas about the relationship between class and land and about England's status as a European nation and colonial power.

Because this is an upper division course, I expect that, coming into this course, you will already have studied some literature (and perhaps history) of the period. At this level of study, we will be looking not simply at literature and other texts of the period but also at the scholarly work on the period, paying particular attention to theoretical approaches of the last twenty years.

As part of this senior seminar, you will reflect on your experience as an English major here at the University (or, if you are not a major, on your experience studying English literature)--what you brought to your studies, what you have learned, where you are as you move towards the end of your academic career. For English majors, that written reflection will become part of your official department portfolio.

Course Requirements and Policies
Readings will be available on the Web through this online syllabus, some through e-reserve. Many of the works we will read are also available in standard anthologies, such as the Norton Anthology of English Literature and others.

Assignments

Participation: 10%
Reading Response Journal: 25%
Midterm: 15%
Term Paper, including Prospectus: 35%
Portfolio, including Critical Reflection: 15%

Policies

Attendance and participation are required and will count towards the final grade. I expect you to be an active, not a passive learner. At minimum, that means using a dictionary, seeking out resources that will help you to understand course materials, and struggling with difficult readings and concepts. At its fullest, it means being receptive to new ideas and willing to share what you know. Come to class ready to teach and open to learning.

Assignments are due on the date listed in the syllabus; any turned in late will be subject to a substantial penalty. Some assignments may require you to work in a small group with other class members.

Grades will be calculated on the following scale: 90-100%=A, 80-90%=B, etc. I do not curve. You may be required to revise some assignments; revised work will be graded by the same standard as first versions.

This course requires you to access the Internet. However, no previous computer or Net skills are required. If you need help with any required task, make an appointment with me. You are expected to check your email at least once a week and more often as assigned. The syllabus may change during the term. Expect to review and/or update your printed version as changes are announced.

Plagiarism and other cheating will result in a grade of E for this course and possible expulsion from the University.

Daily Syllabus

To access reserve readings in the daily syllabus, you will need to enter a user name:              and password:

 "The Cobbler's Hornpipe," traditional English country dance, courtesy of

Many thanks also to Anniina Jokinen, author of , for the literary resources she has made available and which contribute so generously to this and many syllabi.

All other unattributed materials on this site and its subsidiary pages by Kari Boyd McBride of the University of Arizona.