Evans, Jonathan
MWF 3 :00 PM
Park Hall 0269
ENGL4210/6210 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE Spring 2024
Class meetings: MWF 3:00 p.m, in Park Hall 269
Instructor: Jonathan Evans │ jdmevans@uga.edu
Office: Park Hall 335 │ (706) 542-2229
Description
This course is a follow-up to the ENGL 4060/6060 class regularly taught in the Fall Semester each year. Every other year, the Spring Semester course alternates between ENGL 4210/6210 Old English Literature and ENGL 4220/6220 Beowulf. 2024-2024 is an “Old English Literature” year; our study of selected prose and poetic works will exclude Beowulf and will focus on translation, comprehension, and appreciation of the literary merits of important texts from the earliest period in the history of English literature.
Classroom activities for this course will be conducted in modern English, though our texts will all be in the original Old English language. The course will emphasize equally (1) translation and discussion of salient texts in Old English literature during class meetings and (2) individual guided research via tutorial meetings outside of regular class meetings. By the end of the 4th week of class, students will be required to choose one of the readings from the course syllabus in order to conduct individual research on a topic of interest to the student and agreed upon in constructive dialogue with the instructor. Occasional interim reports will be required, but the final goal will be a research/term paper and oral examination concerning the text at the end of the semester. Students will be asked to memorize a short passage from the text they select and write about it on the final exam, which will be individualized to each student.
Students who are worried about their proficiency in Old English might be interested to know the ENGL 4290 Topics in Medieval Literature class (MWF 4:10-5:00) will cover the same material but in modern English translations. Dual enrollment might make the ENGL 4210 class easier to navigate.
Assignments
The required reading material, from the textbook indicated below, represents about an even split between Old English literary prose and poetry. It isn’t possible this far in advance to specify exactly when the readings will be due, but roughly the first half of the course -- weeks 1-7 -- will be devoted to prose, and the remaining 8 weeks to poetry.
Requirements
There will be occasional short quizzes and written translation exercises, short interim reports , and a research paper final. At some point late in the semester, I’ll ask each student to recite the passage they’ve memorized – either privately in the instructor’s office or during a general class meeting.
Grading
Half of the grade will be derived equally from the grade on the research paper and that of the final exam; the other graded assignments -- few though they may be -- will be averaged for the other half of the final course grade. The grading scale for this course will be : 93-100 = A; 90-92 = A-; 87-89 = B+; 84-86 = B; 80-83 = B-; etc.
Attendance
Attendance in regular class meetings is strongly encouraged, as excessive absences have their own implicit deleterious effects on performance and consequently on grades. But there will be some flexibility in the schedule owing to our discussion/tutorial/research agenda; reasonable excuses for absences will be considered and, generally, accepted.
Material
The readings will be drawn from the “Advanced Readings” section of the 2023 revised edition of An Introduction to Old English, which is now in print with the Modern Language Association. Students who had the ENGL 4060/6060 Old English course in Fall 2023 will already have the book; those who studied Old English here in prior years may have the 2021 edition of the volume, and although this might be adequate, the 2023 edition has the benefit of further copy-editing with many corrections, and enrollees in the course are strongly encouraged to acquire a copy of the current 2023 edition.
We will translate and discuss selections from the book. Students will be asked to select one of these texts and make it “their own” for the purposes of independent research leading to a final paper and a final exam on the text.
Final Examination
There will be no final examination per se in the traditional sense: a final draft of the research paper representing data accumulated throughout the semester and reported on in interim reports will be required by the end of the semester. The Final Exam will be individualized: each student will be asked to translate a passage from their chosen text, and provide commentary on salient literary, cultural, or historical features of the passage. Those who choose to do so may recite a memorized passage from their text either in class or privately in the instructor’s office.
Class Schedule (tentative -- subject to revision in consultation with the class)
January
8 -12 Introduction: Contexts and Taxonomies -- English Literature from the Old English period
15- 19 Bede, Eccles. Hist.: Descr. of Britain
22 - 26 Bede, Eccles. Hist.:Anglo-Saxon Invasion
29 - F2 Bede, Eccles. Hist.: The Poet Cædmon
February
5 - 9 A.-S. Chronicle: Cynewulf & Cyneheard
12 - 16 King Alfred: Preface to the Cura Pastoralis
19 - 23 A.-S. Chronicle: 1066 The Norman Conquest
26 - M1 “The Battle of Brunnanburh”
March
4 - 8 Spring Break, No class
11 - 15 “The Battle of Maldon”
18 - 22 “The Battle of Maldon,” cont’d.
25 - 29 “The Wanderer”