British Literature is influenced by many classic works previously written outside of England. In order to better understand its influences, you are to read some excerpts from a few of those works. When you are assigned outside reading for homework over the next six weeks, you will be required to submit a one page, typed, reflective journal each time you read. Now, you will need to not only annotate the text (highlight and make notes in the margin), but also respond in detail to specific questions. Your answers are required to be thoughtful and succinct, and are to be as different as you can make them from assignment to assignment. You will be using these notes and your annotations to help you complete an in-class critical essay which will be due on October 2nd/3rd.
Journals should be typed and double-spaced (Times New Roman, 12 pt font) for full credit and should be two brief paragraphs (less than one page double spaced),
For each journal, you will complete one paragraph for each of the following:
v Continue the following stem: After reading this assignment, I learned . . .. Regardless of your focus, have a section of your response that in some way links the reading to your personal life and/or modern world.
v Additionally, when analyzing the reading, choose your focus from one of the following questions. Begin each paragraph with the question you selected to answer. Choose a different stem for each reading.
o
What information is
conveyed in the title of the work? Does
the title suggest the topic or main idea, merely imply the subject, or arouse
interest? Does the title indicate the
author’s attitude toward the subject?
o
What thesis is the
author arguing? What evidence is
offered? Is it persuasive? Is there other evidence to be considered
that the author does not reveal?
o
What are the main issues
raised in the reading?
o
What assumptions is the
author making? What point of view is
the author coming from?
o
How do the points or
claims made in the reading compare to those brought up in other readings in
this course or class discussions?
o
If fiction,
what characters, themes, symbols/motifs does the author reveal?
o
What was most
interesting about the reading?
o
Can you make any
connections between what you are reading/viewing in everyday life, history,
situations in the world, or any other subject you are studying?
o
What aspects of the
reading did you find particularly problematic or difficult? What puzzled you as you read (about the
author, characters, ideas, etc.)?
o
What questions did the
reading raise for you? Did you learn
anything about yourself from the reading/viewing/studying concerning your own
values, attitudes, and beliefs?
Outside Reading (copies are available by hyperlink). Choose an excerpt (2-3 pgs) from each of the following:
2. Poema
del Cid (Poem begins on page
64-65) or read part of the “Introduction”
3. Plato’s Republic or Phaedrus
4. Francis Petrarch letter to Giovanni Boccaccio and The Story of Griselda
5. Ovid The Art of Love
6. Giovanni Boccaccio Il Filocolo (see Mrs. Anderson) or Il Filostrato
7. Geoffroi de Charny The Book of Chivalry (See Mrs. Anderson)
8. John Gower Vox clamantis, Book 3
9. William of Saint-Amour The Perils of the Last Times (See Mrs. Anderson)
10. The Good Woman in Scripture (See Mrs. Anderson)
11. Guillaume de Lorris or Jean de Meun Romance of the Rose (See Mrs. Anderson)
12. Saint Augustine The City of God