Old English E 364P Fall 2014 Blockley T TH 9:30-11:00 CAL 200 Unique # 35905 (Crosslist 395N #36120)
Old English E 364P Fall 2014 Blockley T TH 9:30-11:00 CAL 200 Unique # 35905 (Crosslist 395N #36120) Description: The earliest vernacular compositions in English, dating from the seventh century to some decades beyond the Norman Conquest in the eleventh, are our sources for Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon. In this course we will learn how to read them with healthy skepticism, an on-line concordance, and the glossaries of various editions. We will begin with the prose and read extracts from proverb collections, vernacular chronicles, and saints’ lives. We will do some transcription from facsimiles of manuscripts to discover what editors put in and leave out in producing texts. We will spend most of the course reading the most-studied verse compositions, including The Wanderer, heroic poems like The Battle of Brunanburh, The Battle of Maldon, and Judith, enigmatic first-person poems like The Dream of the Rood, The Wife’s Lament, and possibly some riddles. There will be daily translation, homework exercises and grammar quizzes as necessary, a midterm exam covering the grammar of prepared translations, and a final exam or, with previous negotiation by October 15th, a brief but formal presentation culminating in a written project. Texts: J. C. Pope and R. D. Fulk, Eight Old English Poems (Norton, 2001) P. S. Baker, Introduction to Old English, 3nd ed (Wiley Blackwell, 2012) and online Clark-Hall Concise Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon (finding out more than the contextual glosses for the prose passages in Baker) optional: Michael Barnes, A New Introduction to Old Norse: Grammar (ACMRS, 2003) (Barnes’ book is very helpful in dismissing ‘false friends’ from Modern English syntax) [Higham and Ryan, [An Introduction to] The Anglo-Saxon World (Yale, 2013) DOE online corpus (and DOE for A-F, when available), through UT Libraries Requirements & Grading: Daily* translation and participation, quizzes, exercises 55% Midterm 25% Final exam or project 20% No makeup quizzes.
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