Humanities 491: Donne and Herbert
Dr. Michael
Bryson
Sierra Tower 832
818-677-5695
michael.bryson@csun.edu
Course Description
John Donne wrote some of the most passionate poetry in English literary
history. His poetry is often playful and erotically-tinged, but it is
also often despairing and filled with a sense of insufficiency before
God. In contrast, George Herbert writes poetry that often seems
confident where Donne's seems worried, and calm where Donne's seems
anxious. This course will explore the poetry of these two writers, and
do so through the lenses of theology (Luther and Calvin--Reformation
theologians of the 16th century) and philosophy (Plato and
Plotinus--Greek philosophers whose emphasis on love as a mechanism of
ascent to the divine was influential for both of our poets, but
especially for Donne).
Assignments
Each student will do 3
assignments.
1)
A presentation/summary of an article, or book chapter relevant to the
work of this course (Luther, Calvin, Plato, Plotinus, Donne and/or
Herbert and God or Love or ?, Donne and/or Herbert and Plato, Donne
and/or Herbert and Neoplatonism, etc.). The summary--though not the
article or chapter itself--should be printed and distributed to the
class the day it is to be presented. These will start week 3, and continue
through week 10 (approximately 2-3 presentations per week). Excellent sources
for journal articles include JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/),
Project Muse (http://muse.jhu.edu/),
and Academic Search Elite (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/ebsase.scr).
These databases must be accessed from the CSUN campus, or from
off-campus with your campus user ID and password.
2) A short paper (6-7 pages), to be distributed to the rest of the class in advance, and presented
in-class during weeks 11-13 .
3) A longer paper
(10-12 pages), based on the conference-length paper. Final paper due 5/12.
Statement on Academic
Dishonesty
Plagiarism is a serious offense that will be treated
seriously. Please read the CSUN policy here.
Weekly
Preview
Week
1 (1/28)--Introductions
Week 2 (2/4)--Luther, Bondage of the Will (62-86, 97-108, 273-320)
Week 3 (2/11)--Calvin, The Institutes (Book III, Chapters xxi-xxiv,
pages 202-258)
Week 4 (2/18)--Plato, Symposium (plus discussion of the Allegory of the Cave
and the Simile of the Line from books 7 and 6 of the
Republic) , Phaedrus
Week 5 (2/25)--Plotinus,
The Enneads (selections)
Week 6 (3/3)--The Ladder
of Love (from Book 4 of Castiglione's The Courtier) (look for the section that begins with the margin note The Courtier a lover )
Week 7 (3/10)-- Donne, Songs and Sonnets
Spring Break
Week 8 (3/24)-- Donne, Songs and Sonnets
Cesar Chavez Holiday
Week 9 (4/7)-- Herbert, The Temple
Week 10 (4/14)--Herbert, The Temple
The
course will culminate in a series of
conference-style symposiums:
Week 11--(4/21) Research Presentations (5-7 papers
of no more than 15 minutes reading length--6-7 pages, distributed in
advance to the rest of the class)
Week 12--(4/28)
Research Presentations (5-7 papers of no more than 15 minutes reading
length--6-7 pages, distributed in advance to the rest of the class)
Week 13--(5/5)
Research Presentations (5-7 papers of no more than 15 minutes reading
length--6-7 pages, distributed in advance to the rest of the class)
Reading
List
(All readings will be available either
at the Campus Bookstore or will be distributed by the instructor.)
1) John Donne--The
Major Works: including Songs and Sonnets and Sermons (Oxford World's Classics), ISBN: 019284041X
2) George Herbert--The
Complete English Poems (Penguin Classics) ISBN:
0140424555
3) Plato--Essential
Dialogues of Plato (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
ISBN: 159308269X
4) Plotinus--The
Enneads: Abridged Edition. (Penguin), ISBN:
014044520X
5) Martin Luther--The
Bondage of the Will (Revell) ISBN: 0800753429
6) John Calvin--Institutes
of the Christian Religion (Wm. B. Eerdmans) ISBN:
0802881661
7) Various other readings
provided by
instructor
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