Kathryn Lynch
111 Founders
x2575, or 781-235-2726
Office Hours:
T/F: 9:45-10:45
Beowulf, ed. Howell Chickering (New York: Anchor Books,
1977)
John Gardner, Grendel (New York: Random House, 1989)
This Writing 125 section has a double focus. At the same time that we will be exploring the rich and mysterious early English epic Beowulf, we will also be working on strengthening your writing skills and introducing you to the discourses of the various disciplines within the university. When the course is working at its best, these two focuses will merge into one, as we make specific links between the language issues of the poem and the language that we use in our own writing. For example, studying this Old English poem will introduce us to the history of the English language and build a respect for the historical dimension of words; comparing modern English translations will suggest the difficulty of capturing the full meaning of an original language in a translation and will demonstrate the small but significant differences that can be registered in individual choices of diction and syntax.
We will also look through the writing of Beowulf at several other distinct concerns of the poem--for example, at the formation of the hero and at how he embodies the values of Anglo-Saxon society, at the monster who challenges that hero and that society, and at the role played by women and the category of the feminine. In the last month of the semester we will take these issues beyond Beowulf, as we read another later medieval poem about a different kind of monster (a werewolf!) and at a modern novel (John Gardner's Grendel) that retells the traditional story from the monster's perspective. Finally we will make a brief excursion into contemporary American pop culture, as we study together an episode of the TV classic "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," a detour that will also get us thinking about the differences between visual, verbal (and perhaps musical) ways of making meaning.
Our Writing section has an electronic conference, called "WRIT125-8-F04," available on FirstClass. Inside this conference, you will find several additional subconferences, including one devoted to open discussion of topics raised by the course, one containing course materials like syllabus and assignments, one for announcements, one for required reserve reading, and one that specifically requests your comments on what we are doing or your problems. This last conference is a "drop conference," set up so that it can be read only by me.
The reserve list is available on-line through the Wellesley College library catalog; hard copies of reserve readings will be available at the Knapp Center in Clapp Library.
We will be doing some writing every week. Over the course of the semester you will complete six separate, formal writing assignments (for one assignment, there is the option of an oral presentation instead) as well as organizing a portfolio of you work that will require some additional writing (be sure to keep all your writing!). There will also be opportunities to do less formal writing, in class and/or on our electronic conference. We will be revising most of this writing in edit groups, and some limited opportunities for further revision will be part of the portfolio assignment. The hope is that writing all the time in this way will make writing easier for you and take the pressure off any single assignment.
Please note that Writing 125 has a program-wide attendance policy, one that you and I are both obligated to follow: You may not miss more than four class sessions over the course of the semester, with no distinction between excused and unexcused absences. A fifth absence will require me to give you a "no credit," and you will then need to repeat the course. I will also be scheduling some individual conferences; attendance at these is required, and missing a conference will count against your four as an absence from a class.
Assignments 1 and 2 will each count half a grade; assignments 3-6 will each count one full grade. All formal papers, taken together, will be worth 60% of your final grade. The portfolio, which will allow for some revision, will be worth another 15%. The remaining 25% of your grade will be based on your participation and contribution to other aspects of the course: editing, posting on the conference, attendance, participation in class discussion, and preparation for class. According to official College policy, the course will be graded on a curve in which the mean grade may not be higher than B+.
The schedule below is meant to be loosely descriptive rather than
prescriptive. We will be touching on many writing issues throughout the term
that will emerge from your own interests and skill levels (and so they are not
represented here). This syllabus is chiefly intended as a general schedule for
reading assignments, not a complete schedule for the course. I may assign
additional reading, and I also encourage you to read other sections of our
Beowulf text; Chickering's Commentary section, in particular, is very helpful. I
also reserve the privilege of making more comprehensive revisions to this
schedule if it seems either too ambitious or too unambitious for the progress of
our class. Unless otherwise indicated, reading assignments are always due in the
next class. Writing assignments will generally be distributed separately and
will each have individual due dates.
Tuesday, September 7: Introductory;
backgrounds to Old English (Bede, Caedmon).
Homework: 1-page writing
assignment on the Episode of the Sparrow, from Bede, due Friday, 9/10. Read
lines 1-188 from Beowulf.
Friday, September 10: Backgrounds, cont.; 1-page writing assignment due today
on the Episode of the Sparrow from Bede.
Homework: Read the
"Backgrounds" section of your Beowulf text (pp. 245-77); post a discussion
question on our discussion conference, or respond to one posted by someone else.
Tuesday, September 14: Discussion of papers turned in Friday, reading
discussion.
Homework: Read lines 189-670 from Beowulf; post on
discussion conference.
Friday, September 17: Reading discussion.
Homework: 2-page paper on
"the Presentation of the Hero" (assignment distributed separately) due Tuesday,
September 21.
Tuesday, September 21: Read aloud from "presentation papers," due today;
reading discussion.
Homework: Read lines 671-1162 from Beowulf.
Friday, September 24: Reading discussion.
Homework: "Word Hoard"
assignment, due Friday, October 8; begin research & post on discussion
conference a word you are looking into.
Tuesday, September 28: Discuss progress on "Word Hoard" assignment; reading
discussion.
Homework: Read the section in Commentary on the
Finnsburgh episode, pp. 322-31.
Friday, October 1: Reading discussion.
Homework: Finish rough draft
of "Word Hoard" paper, bring to class on Tuesday in original plus three copies.
Monday, October 4: Recommended Lecture: Peter Hawkins, "The Art of Smiling," Library Lecture Room, 4:30.
Tuesday, October 5: Edit Groups for "Word Hoard" assignment.
Homework: Revise paper.
Friday, October 8: "Word Hoard" paper due.
Homework: Read lines
1162-1698 from Beowulf and Jane Chance Nitzche's essay "The Structural Unity of
Beowulf: The Problem of Grendel's mother"; reading of poem due on Tuesday, Oct.
12; reading of essay due on Friday, October 15.
********************************Fall Break*******************************
Tuesday, October 12: Reading discussion.
Homework: Nitzche essay
(see above); Reading Response paper assignment, distributed in class today;
paper due Friday, October 22.
Friday, October 15: Reading discussion.
Homework: Post on
discussion conference, finish draft of paper to bring to class in 3 copies on
Tuesday.
Tuesday, October 19: Edit groups for Reading Response paper.
Homework: Revise paper.
Friday, October 22: Reading Response paper due today. "Crux" assignment
distributed today (due Tuesday, November 2); can be either written or oral (or
both); begin scheduling of oral presentations.
Homework: Read lines
1698-2236 from Beowulf. Sometime in the week and a half, before the "crux"
assignment is completed, post something in the discussion conference on your
crux (no edit groups on this assignment).
Tuesday, October 26: Oral presentations / reading discussion.
Friday, October 29: Oral presentations / reading discussion.
Tuesday, November 2: Final day on "crux" assignment, papers due.
Homework: Read lines 2236-2599.
Friday, November 5: Reading discussion.
Homework: Read lines
2600-3182 (i.e., finish Beowulf).
Tuesday, November 9: Tanner conference: NO CLASS.
Homework:
Start reading John Gardner's Grendel, pages 1-45.
Friday, November 11: Finish discussion of Beowulf, begin discussing Grendel.
Homework: Grendel paper assignment distributed today; due Tuesday,
November 24. Fiinal portfolio guidelines distributed. Read Gardner's Grendel,
pp. 46-110. Confirm time to see film Grendel Grendel Grendel sometime during
week of 11/15-11/22.
Tuesday, November 16: Reading discussion.
Homework: Finish Grendel
& drafts of paper (bring to class Friday in 3 copies).
Recommended
Lecture: Linne Mooney, Title TBA, 4:30 Library Lecture Room.
Friday, November 19: Grendel paper edit groups.
Homework: Revise
paper.
Tuesday, November 24: Grendel paper due today; discuss film.
Homework: Read Marie de France, "Bisclavret." Final paper assignment
distributed. Due Monday, December 13 as part of portfolio.
***************************** Thanksgiving **************************
Tuesday, November 30: Reading discussion of "Bisclavret."
Friday, December 3: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode and discussion.
Homework: Post comment on Buffy; finish paper draft & bring to
class Tuesday in 3 copies.
Tuesday, December 7: Discussion / brief editing groups.
Homework:
Revise Paper.
Friday, December 10: Final class.
Monday, December 13: Portfolio of all papers due in my office by 5