Course Description: what to study, why study, how to study, when to study
1. What to study
This yearlong survey course aims to broaden students’ knowledge and to form a working outline of English literary history from the Anglo-Saxon Period, the Renaissance, the Medieval Period, to the early 18^th Century. The reading mainly focuses on the canonical authors who represent important literary and cultural concerns of their time, and the assignments span genres including romance, epic, ballad, poetry, drama, critical essay and film. Perspectives from historical contexts and literary/critical theory would be brought into the reading as a vehicle for further delving into the core significance of the literary works.

2. Why study
(1) Reading these works is important to grasp the essence of Western Culture.  
(2)   It helps you read advanced writings like articles in Time.  (e.g.: “The Merchant of Menace;” “utopia”).  The writers of Time are well-read in English literature. To know these writers, you have to read what they read.
(3)   It prepares you for graduate studies of literature.
(4)   It helps complete your education as an English major and as a global citizen.

3. How to study
(1)   Abandon any negative thoughts about the course.  Experience and feel for yourself without being led by other senior course takers’ judgment. 
(2)   Set up a constructive purpose, which can be one of the four reasons above, for studying this course.
(3)   While previewing, use the theme of the week to help you think. 
(4)   During class discussion, use the questions given in class to guide your thinking process.
(5)   While studying for the exam, read and think like an anthropologist.  Treat the authors we are to study as ones who are both similar and radically different from us in terms of their mindset.  Our similarities with them help you grasp human nature or the universal in human society.  And our difference from them gives you a sense of wonder, which is an aesthetic experience, as well as improves your understanding of our time.  For it is only in comparison with an “Other” that we can discover our own peculiarity.
(6)   Other suggestions for study can be provided according to the particular nature of a certain text.

4. When to study
(1)   Preview assigned readings (which I promise will only be a reasonable amount) before each class meeting.
(2)   Actively participate in class activities.
(3)   Review at least two weeks before the midterm and the final.

General Considerations
1. Text
The Norton Anthology of English Literature.  8th Ed.  Vol. 1 (around NT$1360).  Available at , which is on 882().  Buy a copy for yourself by September 17, the coming Sat., so that you can preview the assigned readings for the next class meeting.

2. Syllabus, Guiding Questions, Lecture Outlines
The syllabus of the courses lists themes, texts, genres, and topics for discussion and important terms.  The syllabus represents the structure of the course and should be brought the class each meeting.  Guiding questions and lecture outlines are given from time to time to help you grasp the key issues in a certain period or text.

3. Reading Assignments
The next week’s reading, assigned and recommended, will be listed on a handout.  Should you be absent, please make arrangements for someone to pick up the handout for you. 

Extra credits
(1) Class participation: Active participation in classroom activities is encouraged. Those who voluntarily respond to questions or lectures can be given extra credits.
(2) Attendance: only three excused absences, with school’s official approval notes, are allowed. One absence without school’s approval will result in deduction of one point from you FINALIZED score. Except for unusual conditions, unexcused absence of more than three times will result in failing the class.
(3) Assignments: There are totally three assignments, for each assignment, five points at most will be given. In other words, five points will be deducted from your finalized score for each missed assignment. Late assignment will be given no more than 3 points.
(4) Online presentation: Each group gives me a ppt file for presentation, with written description for each slide. The files will be available and downloadable from my website in Moodle from early October on.
(5) The Midterm and the final employ a standard format with slight variations:
Part I Multiple-choice or match questions on materials in the lecture outline or in the textbook, which are ever highlighted in class discussion.
Part II Identification and short-answer questions: identify an ever-discussed passage by author, title and/or the speaker of the quoted passage. Short-answer question(s) related to the quotation.
Part III Essay Questions
The essay questions usually constitute about 50 percent of the exam. The questions grow out of our discussion based on the themes of class meetings and the guiding (assignment) questions for thinking about a text.
(6) For extra credit, you may write a short paper on topics drawn from the texts not discussed in our class. Either you discuss a text in the textbook or relate a topic we have raised in class to a text not included in the textbook.