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LECTURE PLAN
B.A. (Hons) English I sem, Paper II, English Poetry I
Faculty: Roomy Naqvy, [email protected] and [email protected] – Phone: 9312810777
Lectures: Monday, Wednesday 9.15 am to 1.00 am, H-114
The objective of the Paper is to acquaint the students with English poetry from the Middle Ages, i.e.,
Chaucer, to the Senior Romantic Poets, Wordsworth and Coleridge. I’ll teach Unit I and Unit II, which
would cover the following texts: Chaucer—“Prologue to the Canterbury Tales” (Lines 1-78),
Shakespeare—‘Let me not to the marriage of true minds”*, Milton—“On his Blindness”, Donne—
“Canonization”* and “Death be not proud”, Dryden—Mackflecknoe, Gray—“Elegy written in a country
churchyard”*. As you can see, the focus of the syllabus is not just to study individual poems because
the Paper covers the core periods of English Literature. While I teach the poems and the poets, I’ll
keep on asking students to do additional work, both in terms of reading as well as written work at
home. Any work that I give to the students in the classroom should be completed at home. Every
fortnight or so, I would check the homework given to the students. If I am absent due to ill-health or
due to official work, I’ll endeavour to fix extra classes the same week in consultation with the Class
Representatives.
BA ENG(H) Sem-I
Week 1: Oldest poems, Middle Ages background. Chaucer. Defining poetry and talking about its role
in society. Differentiating poetry from prose. Introduction to different poetic forms. Crusades. The
Canterbury Tales as microcosm of society. Importance of Chaucer as poet. Homework given on these
topics.
Week 2: Homework checking. Chaucer's modern vision in The Canterbury Tales. What is irony/ satire.
How does Chaucer use irony. Introduction to The Canterbury Tales, Referring also to The Nun’s Priest’s
Tale. Defining poetic terms such as laughter, pun, wit. Central vision of The Canterbury Tales.
Week 3: Start of The Canterbury Tales.
Week 4: Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. Discussion in class. Detailed teaching. Character of Knight.
Week 5: Completed The Canterbury Tales. Discussion of sonnet in detail. Petrarchan / Shakespearian
sonnet. Discussion: “Let me not to the marriage of true minds” .
Week 6: Teaching: Milton’s sonnet “On his blindness”. How is a Petrarchan sonnet different from a
Shakespearian sonnet.
Week 7: Metaphysical poetry. Detailed introduction. Importance of metaphysical poets. TS Eliot’s
essay on “The Metaphysical Poets”
Week 8: Teaching: Donne’s poem “Canonization”. “Canonization” as a love poem. Comparison of
imagery with Shakespeare’s “Let me not to the marriage of true minds”
Week 9: Teaching: Donne’s poem “Death be not proud”.
Week 10: Introduction to Augustan Age. Dryden. Satire.
Week 11: Teaching: Dryden’s poem “MacFlecknoe”
Week 12: Teaching: Dryden’s poem “MacFlecknoe”
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Week 13: Precursor to Romantics. Graveyard poets. Teaching: Thomas Gray’s ”Elegy Written in a
Country Churchyard”
Week 14: Teaching: Thomas Gray’s ”Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”
Note: Week 13 would be the third week of October. I propose to devote four classes (Week 13 and
Week 14) to presentations and submissions. This would essentially mean the second mid-term. The
marks allocated would be 25. All students would be required to attend the presentations and
submissions without fail. This would enrich the class as a whole. If presentations take more time, I’ll
take extra classes but would stick to the schedule.
I’ll return the assignments to the students with comments. The next three weeks in the month of
November would be devoted to students, where they could discuss any doubts, any metaphors or
images in the poems taught, as also clarify any questions regarding the literary background of the
texts in the course.
Background Reading:
1. Students should focus primarily on the History of Literature texts for the literary background.
The book recommended in Paper I is the Routledge History of English Literature. Additionally,
they should also read another standard history of literature such as the History of English
Literature from the Earliest Times to 1916 by Arthur Compton-Rickett. These books would help
the students acquire a sense of the general background.
2. Students should also use A Glossary of Literary Terms by M H Abrams extensively.
3. The two units that I teach the students start with Chaucer and end with Thomas Gray, the
precursor to the Romantics, it is important that the students be well-versed with certain terms
as also literary movements. Students should be aware of the following literary
movements/periods: Crusades, Renaissance, Elizabethan Age, Metaphysical poets,
Restoration, Eighteenth Century / Augustan Age, Precursors to Romantics.
4. Students should also be aware of the following literary terms: epic, narrative poetry, allegory,
dream allegory, simile, metaphor, metre, sonnet, Petrarchan / Shakespearian sonnet,
metaphysical wit/ conceit, irony/satire.
5. Further reading materials would be provided in the class.
** Where possible, students should make efforts to read other poems by the poets prescribed in the
course. I would recommend these in my classes.