LTEN 149: Anti-Semitism in English Literature Spring 2014 (803901)
MWF 10:00 am-10:50 am WLH 2112
Professor Lisa Lampert-Weissig llampert@ucsd.edu
Course website: www.medievallit.org; Office: Lit 347
Required texts at UCSD Bookstore:
Croxton Play of the Sacrament. Ed. Sebastian, TEAMS, 2012.
Marlowe, Christopher. The Jew of Malta. Ed. Siemon. New Mermaids, 2002.
Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice, Ed. Marcus. Norton, 2006.
Edgeworth, Maria. Harrington. Broadview
Du Maurier, Trilby. Oxford World Classics
Other materials on reserve at Geisel Library and through links/handouts noted in syllabus. (You need a UCSD internet connection;Geisel reserves password: llw149).
Tentative schedule of readings. Additional secondary readings may be added depending on student interest and course pace.
Week One: Introduction and Historical Background
Mon. 3/31: Introduction to course
Wed. 4/2: Introduction to historical/theoretical background
Fri. 4/4: Historical background on Jews in medieval Europe/England. Study questions
Read poem by Meir B. Elijah of Norwich (Handout; links to articles by Einbinder; Krummel) AND
Introduction to Hillaby and Hillaby, The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History. Available on-line at Geisel library through UCSD connection; Link to Roger entry
Week Two: Prioress Study/quiz questions
Mon. 4/7: Selection from Kruger, Spectral Jew AND Chaucer’s portrait of Prioress from General Prologue to Canterbury Tales, lines 118-165 and “Prioress’s Prologue and Tale.” Link to reading on course website and/or Neville Coghill translation on e-reserve at Geisel.
Wed. 4/9: Chaucer’s portrait of Prioress and “Prioress’s Tale.”
Fri. 4/11: Chaucer’s portrait of Prioress and “Prioress’s Tale.”
Week Three: Study/quiz questions
Mon. 4/14: Croxton Play of the Sacrament (read introduction and play)
Wed. 4/16: Croxton Play of the Sacrament AND Lampert, “Once and Future Jew” (Geisel reserve)
Fri. 4/18: Croxton Play of the Sacrament
This edition is online at: http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/sjcspint.htm
I have made a working translation of this play for the use of my students. You can find it here.
Week Four: Study/quiz questions
Mon. 4/21: Marlowe, Jew of Malta (take a look at introduction as well)
Wed. 4/23: Marlowe, Jew of Malta
Fri. 4/25: Marlowe, Jew of Malta and selections from Shapiro, Shakespeare and the Jews
Week Five: Study/quiz questions
Mon. 4/28: Marlowe, Jew of Malta and selections from Shapiro, Shakespeare and the Jews (repeat from 4/25)
Wed. 4/30: Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice
Fri. 5/2: Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice
Week 6: Questions for Wed. and Friday.
Mon. 5/5: Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice;additional readings from Norton edition--read selections by Shapiro and Hall; see Week 5 for question
Wed. 5/7: John Donne (readings to be posted/distributed)Holy Sonnet XI and "Preached at the Churching of the Countess of Bridgewater"
Fri. 5/9: Wandering Jew texts. Take a look at the handout of the early broadside. You can find an edited version of the" Ballad of the Wandering Jew" here and Felsenstein reading at Geisel reserves
Week 7: Questions
Mon. 5/12: Edgeworth, Harrington (our discussion of the Wandering Jew will likely still be going on today, but please do get started on Harrington). Link to Rachel Mordecai's letter to Edgeworth.
Wed. 5/14: Harrington
Fri. 5/16:
Week 8:
Mon. 5/19: Harrington
Wed. 5/21: Harrington
Fri. 5/23: Trilby Trilby questions
Week 9:
May 26: Memorial Day
Wed. 5/28: Trilby
Fri., 5/30: Trilby
Week 10: Review Eliot questions
Mon. 6/2: T.S. Eliot. Selected poems and criticism available through Geisel reserves. "After Strange Gods" selection to be distributed.
Wed. 6/4: Eliot, Anthony Julius (Geisel); Emanuel Litvinoff "To T.S. Eliot"
Fri. 6/6: Review
Final exam:. Exam due at end of our exam period, 11 am, Monday, June 9. Final slides
Course Requirements:
Essays: 60 %
Final exam: 30 %
Class Participation: 10%
Attendance: Attendance is expected. Poor attendance can lower your grade. Moreover, if you miss class repeatedly your grade will be lowered automatically. If you miss 3 or more classes then you cannot earn an A for the course; if you miss 5 or more classes then you cannot earn a B; if you miss 7 or more classes then you cannot earn a C; if you miss 9 or more classes you cannot earn a D. The “three class” policy is not a “get-out-of-class-free-card.” You are expected to attend class, and to be present for in-class essays (see below). It is neither expected nor advised to miss 3 classes or more. Coming in late, which is disruptive, may count as an absence at my discretion and can lower your course participation grade. Attendance will be taken with an attendance sheet; it is your responsibility to make sure you sign it.
Deadlines: I consider being able to meet a deadline to be an important part of written assignments. Only documented legitimate medical or personal emergencies will excuse late work. If an emergency arises, you must let me know as soon as possible and I will do my best to accommodate your needs. It is your responsibility to keep me informed, and, indeed, I can’t help you if I don’t know that there is a problem.
Course format:
This course will be a little different from the average literature course. We will have assigned readings to discuss at every class meeting, and will focus our discussion around a set of questions I have distributed at the previous meeting. You should come to class having read the assignment and having prepared some thoughts in response to the questions. Most of our class sessions, then, will consist of a combination of lecture and discussion and your active participation is crucial to the success of the course.
On three to five unannounced occasions during the quarter, I will, at the beginning of class, ask you to write a 30-35 minute essay in response to one of the questions provided for the day. This essay should be well organized, thoughtful, persuasive, and use specific examples from the reading. You may prepare as much or as little of the essay in advance of class as you like; you may even write the entire essay before class, if you wish. You may use any of the course texts, as well as your notes, when writing the essay. I will drop the essay with the lowest score from your overall essay grade. Please bring 8 x 11 lined paper and use ink for these essays if at all possible.
If you are not present in class on a day on which I ask for an essay, there are no make-ups, although that day’s essay may be counted as your ‘lowest score’ essay. If you turn in an essay and decide you are not happy with it, you may bring in a new version, or an essay in response to any of the other questions from the same set, to me at the beginning of next class and substitute that essay for the one you have already turned in; you may do this only once with each essay, but you may do it for as many different essays as you like over the course of the quarter. Make-up essays must be typed (double-spaced, please).
Vacation plans and extracurricular activities are never an excuse for missed or late work. Sometimes, unfortunately, legitimate medical or personal emergencies keep us from performing as we would like. If something like this comes up for you during the course of our class, please let me know as soon as you can. It’s your responsibility to keep your instructors informed and, indeed, we can’t help you if we don’t know there is a problem.