Imagine that you are an inhabitant of London in the first part of the seventeenth century, and you are taking an afternoon off work. For a single penny you can stroll to the suburbs, where the latest plays of Shakespeare and his great competitor, Ben Jonson, are competing head to head. For two pence, you can even sit down. Another day, you might see the Webster's Duchess of Malfi. But no -- that performance has been rained out, and Blackfriars theater, which is indoors and lit entirely by candles, cost 8 pence minimum. So instead you settle down with the 1598 Speght edition of Chaucer.
A Londoner such as I have just described would have very little to complain about where literature was concerned: much of the greatest literature of the English language was written before the nineteenth century (remember Yeat's judgment? No? Let me remind you:

Shakespearean fish swam the sea, far away from land:
Romantic fish swam in nets coming to the hand;
What are all those fish that lie gasping on the strand?

Okay, a little outrageous, but only a little…). These are the giants upon whose shoulders, Alexander Pope said, we moderns stand. Actually, he went further: he called us all dwarfs who, standing thus, manage to see further than the giants below us. But my point, unlike Pope's, is not to malign Yeats (whom I dearly love), or Dickens, or ________ (fill in your favorite post 1800 author). We have, it goes without saying, inherited a richer literary tradition than our ancestors could, and much better editions of Chaucer. But we have not, perhaps, written better than they did.

Where does this leave the modern student of literature? We all know perfectly well that most students of the English language, even the most literate of them, read relatively little before the nineteenth century, Shakespeare excepted. There are good reasons for this, of course: the language and the culture have grown less accessible over the centuries, the names less familiar. It should further be admitted that already, only 200 years after Chaucer died, pronunciation had changed so drastically that your alter ego of the early seventeenth century probably did not know how to pronounce or scan the poetry he (alas, not "she") read. Inevitably, we face difficulties that the original authors did not intend.
Think, then, of this class as an introduction to the rest of the early masters, designed for readers with some skill and experience reading modern literature, but relatively little acquaintance with much written before the nineteenth century. I will not assume that you have ever read Middle English before, or that you have extensive historical and cultural knowledge of the periods-even though some of you will almost surely have read some Chaucer already. Here, I will do my part. By the end of this course you should possess 1) a splendid text filled with beautiful voices we never had time to read (we will not cover all 2500 pages), and 2) and the skills to read them knowledgeably, without me.

*I will assume that you 1) usually enjoy reading literature, 2) are open-minded and at least a little patient and 3) have read at least some Shakespeare. Because this is a senior level class I will make one further assumption, and I ask all students to take special note of it. There will not be time to introduce the language of critical discourse in this class; that belongs to a class such as 201 or the new English 300. This does not mean you should be shy of asking questions! I like an inter-active class and I will spend most of the class on questions if you'll ask them. I am also happy to define terms, if asked. Students may also call me, see me, or e-mail me (I read my e-mail twice a day, and will reply by 6:00 PM or the next morning). But because this is an advanced class, the responsibility is on the student to make sure he or she is not lost in the course of a discussion. To properly participate in or even follow discussions, students must either 1) be familiar with the language of critical discourse prior to taking this course, or 2) be willing to do whatever it takes to become familiar with it during the semester.
To find out whether you need work in this area or not, ask yourself if you are comfortable with terms like parody/parodic, irony/ironic, the mock-heroic, alliteration, iambic pentameter, blank verse, etc. If are, you probably do not need to buy the Handbook to Literature I have recommended for the course. Some of the terms in it are also available on the web, but not all. If you are rusty on such terms or never learned them, you should buy a copy promptly (this is the same book teachers use to prepare for the ExCet, so those of you in education can kill two birds with one stone). Each time you hear such a term used in class or read one in the Norton Anthology, look it up. You will also need to have available either a desk dictionary or, better yet, the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) on-line. The OED is available via the library homepage. Anyone who does not have access to this page at home should call the library; they will tell you how to get free hook-up at home. You will need a dictionary regardless of how large your vocabulary is. I myself would not think of reading poetry without access to a dictionary. Bear in mind that words change meaning over the centuries or drop out of common use entirely. Etymologies are also important. Don't put yourself at a disadvantage by going without one…

Participation 5-10%
Spot Quizzes 10-15%
Total participation and quizzes: 20%
Essay #1 15%
Essay #2 20%
Test #1 20%
Final Exam 25%

Evaluations, Elaborated

Class participation is required. I am aware, of course, that some people enjoy talking more than others do, but students who never talk in class should expect to be called upon (even if it means, for a while, that I have to call on "the woman in the blue shirt"). And the reverse is also true: students who threaten to dominate class discussion should not be hurt if I ignore their frantically waving hands. I seek wide participation. Some allowance will of course be made for hotly raging debates: people who have heard their ideas rebutted must, in fairness, have a chance to respond. The 10% for class participation will be added into your grade, but there are also penalties for absences (see below). Please note: I have almost never seen a frequently absent student who did well on my exams, as they are heavily based on class discussions.
Quizzes: Quizzes will not be announced in advance. They are NOT designed to make subtle distinctions between degrees of understanding. They are designed to 1) to make sure students keep up with the reading and 2) to make sure students have a good comprehension of detail. If you read the texts regularly and still have problems with a quiz, read more slowly. Please feel free, too, to consult me, either in my office or me via e-mail (my e-mail address is on the first page of the syllabus and course description). This is especially true if you are having any trouble reading late medieval or Renaissance English, or need more background, or have any other problem. Remember that you are paying for this course -- you have a right to ask questions or ask for help!
Papers: There will be two papers in this class: one 3-5 pages, one 5-8. The first paper will be due October 23rd, and must focus on Chaucer or the Beowulf. The second, which will be due at the semester's end, must focus on a work from the Renaissance. All students will be asked to turn in a thesis proposal about 3 weeks before the paper is due, detailing 1) the work you plan to discuss, 2) the thesis you plan to defend, 3) your method. I urge you to turn in your thesis proposal BEFORE doing research, since otherwise you may tend to agree with whatever you read on the subject. Given the length, papers need not be extensively researched; I do, however, expect a modest amount of research: 3-4 sources for the first paper. This does NOT include the textbook itself, or the handbook, or the bible (yes, you MAY use the bible as a source, but I wish 3-4 additional sources). We will talk about how to use sources and how to find them on the MLA (Modern Language Association database) later on in class. Papers should not be amalgams of what you read, however; you must present your own argument. The second paper requires 5 or more sources.

Late Students
If you arrive late to class, you have already been marked ABSENT on my lists at roll, and you probably stay that way unless come after class and correct the record. This is YOUR responsibility! Once I a class is in progress I may or may not notice your late entrance. Check with me during break or after class - or at the very latest, before the next class. I cannot change marks because somebody tells me at the end of a semester that they were really only absent 1, not 4 times….

Plagiarism
To use someone else's ideas without crediting them is to plagiarize, even if you alter the author's language, and even if the author is a personal acquaintance instead of a book from the library. This is intellectual fraud, and I will fail all papers that engage in it. Similarly, I must ask you to keep your eyes on your own desk during exams. I will not hesitate to move anyone whose eyes stray…

NOTE: Everyone who plans to teach English MUST pass the EXCET exam in English. This is true regardless of whether English is your "major," your area of "specialization" or your "minor": all perspective teachers take the same exam. If you think you may teach English,
Please pick up the information on the English EXCET as soon as possible: it is available free in the form of brochures just outside the English Dept office.
Begin preparing early! Note that classes often do NOT cover all subjects on the exam. Therefore, begin preparing yourself early with A) anthologies in your weakest areas, B) classes in the areas you need most, C) EXCET preparation classes, etc.

There are three Domains in the English EXCET. English 471 should help prepare you for all Domain II and the following other competencies: in Domain I, Competence OO1 and OO2; in Domain III 014, 015, 018.

Criteria
1. ONLY the Department of Literature and Languages can generate the bar code approval form to allow students to take ANY ExCET exam in our content areas.

NOTE: The "bar code" is just that: a bar code sticker that is effectively the university's way of saying that a student has been screened, evaluated, and met the criteria for taking an ExCET exam. ExCET Advisors in our department generate a form for a student AFTER transcript evaluation and a meeting. That form goes to the ExCET office: they are the ones responsible for putting the bar code on the students' registration forms and mailing them to Austin.

CONTENT AREAS: We currently bar code students for Secondary English ExCET, ESL ExCET, Secondary Spanish ExCET, and Spanish TOPT (Test of Oral Proficiency).

No matter what students may tell you: people have to pass the appropriate ExCETs (a Professional Development ExCET and a content ExCET in their field(s) of certification) BEFORE becoming a certified teacher.

The ONLY "exception" is that teachers who are already certified in, say, English, can take, say the History ExCET to become certified by "examination." We don't bar code those students. ALL students, whether teacher certification or emergency permits, have to take their ExCETS.

2. Furthermore, students MUST pass their Professional Development (PD) ExCET before the DLL will grant approval to take any of our content area ExCETS.

3. Students MUST meet with the appropriate advisors to begin the process of gaining bar code approval. This process includes an evaluation (whether or not students are at risk for failing the specific ExCET) and workshops or tutorials. Our Department Advisors are:

ENGLISH Dr. Robin Reid, HL 125, 886-5268/ Robin_Reid@tamu-commerce.edu
ESL Dr. Robert Baumgardner, HL 229, 886-5254/ Robert_Baumgardner@tamu-commerce.edu
SPANISH Ms. Inma Lyons, HL 317, 886-5273/ Inma_Lyons@tamu-commerce.edu

Basic department at-risk criteria are:

TASP Reading Score UNDER 250; or
2 or more "C" or lower grades in any of their major courses; or
A GPA UNDER 3.0 in their upper-level major courses.

Each "major" or content area (English, Spanish, and ESL) has some specific major requirements as well that students must meet before they will be approved to take the ExCET.

NOTE: We have never "stopped" a student from taking ExCET. We evaluate each student individually against criteria, and if students are at risk, we develop an individual remediation plan. For students who are fairly well along in the programs, that remediation mostly means MORE workshop or tutorials. Many of our at risk students CHOSE to attend more workshops and delay taking the test once they'd attended a workshop and found out what they were facing.