Dr. Yoder
English 3331.02     Major British Writers I
Fall 2009     TTh 10:50am-12:05pm     Ross Hall 103

Office: Stabler Hall 501V     Office Hrs.: TTh 9:00-10:00am; W 4:00-5:00pm; also by appt.
Office Phone: 569-8321        email: rpyoder@ualr.edu       webpage: www.ualr.edu/rpyoder

Texts:
Greenblatt, et al. (eds.) Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 1, 8th ed.

Goals:

1. Students will be introduced to the work of a variety of important British writers of the 14th-18th centuries, in poetry, drama and prose.
2. Students will increase their skills in close reading and literary interpretation.
3. Students well increase their understanding of the relationship between the supposedly opposed aspects of form and content.
4. Students will learn to analyze the relationship between a text and its historical or social context.
5. In class discussions students will come to see the flexibility of interpretation and subjective response to literature, while still basing interpretation in the text and its historical/social context.
6. Students will develop a sense of literary history and the way that writers read and respond to the work of earlier writers.

Objectives:

1. Students will write formally about literature as a way of recognizing that at some point the interpretive process must stop (however briefly), so that one's understanding can be assessed by others.
2. Students will write informally about literature as a way of learning that writing itself helps in the reading process.
3. Students will participate in class discussions in order to share their insights and questions, and to compare their readings with other people.
4. Students will write several papers on topics chosen from a list of options, designed to enhance their understanding of particular literary themes and forms.

Course Assessment:
My course will also include an ongoing assessment of my teaching in the form of weekly
journals. These journals consist of a 250 word (minimum requirement) written response to the
class readings or discussion. These journals allow me to assess how well students are
understanding what I think I am teaching them, and I make adjustments to my class
presentations and assignments accordingly. Taken as a whole, the journals count for 15% of
the student's final grade, thus insuring that the students take this assessment seriously.
The journals also serve other classroom purposes outlined on the "House Rules" page.

Secondary Education Assessement:
See "For Secondary Education Majors" page.

Reading Schedule
House Rules
For Secondary Education Minors
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