ENGL 2322/ Summer 2021 / Schedule
Week 1 7/6–7/8: Introductions“Dream of the Rood” A Talking Tree
First: As soon as possible, get set up on Slack britlitsu2021.slack.com and send a brief introduction — one to two short sentences in the #introduction channel, include a GIF or meme that tells us something about you. Create a free Medium account have a look around and get acclimated. and let me know once you’ve “followed” our class publication. I’ll add you as an “editor,” and you’ll be ready to start posting to our page.
Look at the PowerPoint, “Roman Britain and Dream of the Rood” on BlackBoard.
Read: “Dream of the Rood”
Do: Write a response to the poem. Your response should be just that, your response. You decide what it looks like, the language you use, if you include images, what topics it covers. Keep in mind your audience: anyone can read what you write on Medium, so how do you want to present yourself? Some suggested (but not required) things to think about: the depiction of Christ; the personification of the tree/cross; the inclusion of the Language of War; this poem as “marketing” used to convert Anglo-Saxon pagans; etc.
Post this response on our class Medium site. Include the tags ENGL2322 and ROOD
Week 2 7/12–7/15: Beowulf or: Am I Just Insecure?
First: Read through some of the posts on our Medium site. Make some comments.
Next: Using the #Beowulf Channel on Slack, tell us what you think it means to be a hero.
Do: Some research on metonymy. To get you started: it’s a kind of metaphor — where a part represents the whole — and we use it all the time without even thinking about it. Okay, so what? Go dig in, examine this figure of speech.
Read: Beowulf. There is a chart and timeline on BlackBoard to help keep some things straight.
Watch: The following clips re: Beowulf
Post: On the #Beowulf channel in Slack something you find interesting about the above clips.
Post: A short essay (700 words or so) on our class Medium site about Beowulf and metonymy. That’s it, that’s the prompt. Use the tags: ENGL2322 an BEOWULF
Week 3 7/19–7/22: Stories and Those Who Tell Them
Do: Take a walk. I’m serious, go outside and take a walk. Try to do so with someone else, or at the very least don’t listen to music or look at your phone (except to take a picture).
Post on Slack using the #Stories Channel a picture from your walk, and something you thought/talked about while walking.
Read/Skim: “The White Album” by Joan Didion. Think about stories: what kind of stories you tell yourself and others, why you tell them… Then, on Slack (#Stories), give us an example.
Read: “General Prologue” from The Canterbury Tales. The link provided will have a translation to modern english.
Post: Using the General Prologue as your primary source, write a post on our class Medium site about the importance of stories. Reference the Canterbury Tales in some way, but, again, the format and specific topic this post takes is up to you. Compare it to modern day, talk about stories as they are only in the Canterbury Tales, expand the definition of “story,” — the possibilities are infinite. Have fun. Use the tag STORIES and ENGL2322
Week 4 7/26–7/29: Is Satan A Hero?
First: On Slack, tell us a favorite: for example: favorite color, favorite book, favorite movie, favorite musical artist… And tell us why. Use the #general channel
Post: You have a choice: on our class Medium site, write a short post (300–500 words) about either 1). Why does evil exist? — OR — 2). Does free will exist? Post your response with the tag FREEEVIL
Read: Book 1 and Book 2 from Paradise Lost.
Create: A mixed media project on Paradise Lost. This project should be a combination of different methods of communication: text and images, videos, sounds, collage, social media posts…This project can explore any aspect of Paradise Lost. This is due by the end of week 5
Post this on our Medium site using the tag PARADISELOST and ENGL2322
Week 5 8/2–8/5: The Last Week
Post: Paradise Lost Project.
Email: Compose a self-reflective essay using the criteria on the grading narrative. Email this essay to me — it’s a private essay, I’m the only one who will read it.
