ENGL1000: Introduction to British Literature
Course guide

Convenor: Dr Chris Tiffin. Room 511, Michie. Ph. 33652172;c.tiffin@uq.edu.au

Lecturers: Dr Lloyd Davis. lloyd.davis@uq.edu.au; Dr Martin Duwell,  m.duwell@uq.edu.au, Dr Jude Seaboyer j.seaboyer@uq.edu.au

Tutors:  Ms Lesa Scholl, and Mr Thomas Porter. (Please see our web page in the first week for contact details.)

Web address: http://emsah.uq.edu.au/courses/engl1000

ENGL1000 introduces, in their socio-historical contexts, representative texts from a thousand years of British literary history. Not only are they some of the most important in the British literary canon (and we'll have more to say about canonicity as the course progresses), but they are also some of the most popular and pleasurable.

Knowledge and Skills:

• In the course of the semester you will have the opportunity to develop skills in textual analysis through reading, researching, interpreting, and writing about literary works.
  
  
• Since ENGL1000 provides an overview of British literature from about the tenth to the early twentieth century, as well as a range of genres, it will help you to identify areas for further more specialised study.
  
  
• Because we have chosen texts central to the development of literatures in English, an understanding of these historical texts will enrich your reading of international contemporary texts, including novels, film, and television.
  
  
• You will learn to identify and respond clearly, fluently, critically and creatively, both orally in tutorial discussion, and through writing essays, to a range of texts and to the historical and cultural issues that have shaped them.
  
  
• You will develop your ability to collect, analyse and organise information as you undertake research for class discussion and assessment.
  
  
• You will participate actively in informal tutorial discussions, developing the ability to work through ideas in dialogue with your peers. (See participation below.)
  
  
• These skills transfer readily to other disciplines and are increasingly considered crucial by employers of new graduates across the disciplines.
  

Assumed background:
No previous knowledge of British literature is assumed and historically ENGL1000 has attracted a wide variety of students. For some it is their first university enrolment in English; others are completing an English major; still others may be majoring in such disciplines as law or engineering or history. There are no pre-requisites, and first-year English students can do as well as those with more experience.

First week tips:

• Buy The Norton Anthology now as you must read Beowulf for next week's classes. Stocks of texts sometimes run out; if you can't afford to buy a copy now, ask the book shop to hold one for you, and use the copy in the library's High Use Area in the meantime.
  
• It's essential you attend both lecture and tutorial because they are designed to achieve different things. They build on each other, and material covered in the lecture will not necessarily be covered in the tutorial, and vice versa, and the final examination will draw on knowledge gained class attendance as well as from reading and research.
  
  
  
• The reading load varies for each tutorial but expect to devote an average of about ten hours a week: two-and-a-half hours in class, and seven or eight reading and preparing for tutorials and written assignments. Begin reading longer texts like Wuthering Heights a couple of weeks early.
  

Contact hours: Weekly 90-minute lecture/discussion and 60-minute tutorial (see timetable).

Teaching format: Each lecture will focus on a specific literary historical period and examples of writing associated with it. You will be provided with an outline. The tutorials will build on the lectures and provide opportunities to ask questions and to develop and to share ideas in smaller groups. You will be provided with a tutorial guide a week before each class.
Assessment is based on the work covered in lectures and tutorials, and on your research. Opportunities to prepare for the written assignments and the examination will be built in to tutorials.

Tutorials: Register now through My-SINet. Confirm your place by attending the first tutorial, in week 2.

Because we believe discussion is essential to your understanding of the course, tutorials are compulsory. You cannot pass the course if you do not attend.

Web page: ENGL1000's web address is: http://emsah.uq.edu.au/courses/engl1000. All handouts, except lecture notes, are available there. Check the noticeboard weekly for updates. To find reading guides for each lecture and tutorial, go to "timetable" and click on the "tutorial worksheet" for the week in question.

Participation:

Almost every class requires participation. That it attracts 20% of your final grade in ENGL1000 reflects its importance, but what will be expected of you? .

You will become an active participant in your own learning. You will come to class ready to discuss your reading, to share your ideas, and to respond to the ideas of others. The tutorial guides will help to focus, but not limit, discussion.

It's a good idea to make notes as you read, based on the reading guides. They're useful for in-class discussion, and for written assessment. If you find it difficult to frame a question on the spot, it's perfectly acceptable to make a note of it, and read it out. If you think of something in the lecture but don't have the opportunity to raise it, bring it to the tutorial.

Participation means being engaged with your colleagues. It includes the practice of actively listening and responding to others' points of view whether you agree or disagree. Sometimes your participation might consist of smiling and nodding in response to something you find particularly helpful or interesting. It might consist of encouraging a colleague who's finding it difficult to work through a difficult idea. Practise commenting on points raised earlier in the tutorial, or in an earlier meeting, and building on those.

It's fine to disagree, but practise demolishing arguments rather than your colleagues!

Participation means sharing your ideas AND leaving space for others to share theirs.

Tutorial times and venues:

See assessment for outlines, due dates, etc.

You must keep to deadlines for the written assignments. If, through illness or any other reason, you have difficulty keeping up with the schedule, see your tutor immediately. Don't let a situation arise in which work is overdue and you have not discussed it with your tutor, or you will be penalised.

Copies of both texts are available in the High Use section of the library, as well as for general borrowing.

N.B. If you have an earlier edition of The Norton Anthology, compare it with the seventh edition as it is significantly different - you may need to use a library copy for some of your reading.

The EMSAH web page provides a wealth of information. On-line resources listed on the home page give advice, for example, on writing essays, and there are direct links to a number of useful (and academically reliable) literature and literary criticism sites. (Many on-line resources are to say the least unreliable.)

Make the best use of The Norton Anthology. For example, check out the introductions to each period and author, timelines, period bibliographies and the section on literary terms. The companion web site is an excellent place to begin on-line research.