ENGL 7160X: History of the English Language: Syllabus

Course objectives

The goals of this course are to develop an understanding of the history of the English language, as well as skills in critical reading, analytical writing, critical argumentation, and academic research. By the end of the course, students will be expected to

• Demonstrate familiarity with significant developments in the history of the English language
• Interpret entries in the Oxford English Dictionary to identify words’ etymologies and historical evolutions
• Formulate thoughtful questions and clear arguments, in writing and discussion, based on textual evidence
• Locate, read, understand, and respond to peer-reviewed scholarly writings

Attendance and Participation

Each of you will approach the history of the English language through the lens of your own experiences, insights, and questions, and the class will be shaped by the interaction of your perspectives. I look forward to learning about what each of you brings, and I hope you’ll all contribute actively! Please be kind and respectful to other students to encourage engagement from everyone. Participation is an important part of classwork, worth 45 points of the overall semester grade (3 points/week from a combination of attendance, active participation, and written posts). Please attend all sessions if you can; if you have to miss class because of illness, you will have the option to complete additional writings to make up the participation points.

Texts

This class is designated OER, which means it uses Open Educational Resources rather than requiring you to purchase books. All readings will be available either through the Brooklyn College Library’s Electronic Books or as PDFs. Details of assigned and recommended readings are listed below.

Writing

Over the course of the semester you will post weekly reading responses of at least 200 words on Blackboard; 2 short weekly 100-word responses to other students’ posts; one OED exercise (2pp); one short essay (5pp); one take-home exam; and one longer essay (12-15pp), which will include a proposal, draft, peer-critique, and final draft. Weekly reading responses should be posted before midnight on Thursdays; weekly responses to others’ posts, and all other assignments, should be posted before midnight on Fridays.

Coursework and grading

Disability Services

In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations students must first be registered with CSDS. Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to schedule an interview by calling (718) 951-5538 or emailing testingcsds@brooklyn.cuny.edu. If you have already registered with CSDS, email Josephine.Patterson@brooklyn.cuny.edu or testingcsds@brooklyn.cuny.edu to ensure that I receive the accommodation email.

University Policy on Academic Integrity

The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism and for avoiding both. The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy and the Brooklyn College procedure for policy implementation can be found at www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies. If a faculty member suspects a violation of academic integrity and, upon investigation, confirms that violation, or if the student admits the violation, the faculty member MUST report the violation. Students should be aware that faculty may use plagiarism detection software.

Student Bereavement Policy

You can find information on the Student Bereavement Policy here: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about/initiatives/policies/bereavement.php

Sexual and Gender-based Harassment, Discrimination, and Title IX

Brooklyn College is committed to fostering a safe, equitable and productive learning environment. Students experiencing any form of prohibited discrimination or harassment on or off campus can find information about the reporting process, their rights, specific details about confidentiality of information, and reporting obligations of Brooklyn College employees on the Office of Diversity and Equity Programs website. Reports of sexual misconduct or discrimination can be made to Public Safety (719.951.5511), the New York City Police Department (911 or a local NYPD precinct), Ivana Bologna, Title IX Coordinator (718.951.5000, ext. 3689), or Michelle Vargas, Assistant Director of Judicial Affairs, Division of Student Affairs (718.951.5352).

Assigned Books (available through Brooklyn College Library’s Electronic Databases or selections extracted in PDFs; some are password protected)

Mark Abley, The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches from the Future of English (Houghton Mifflin, 2008)

Melvyn Bragg, The Adventure of English (Arcade, 2003)

Bill Bryson, The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way (Harper Collins, 1990)

David Crystal, The Stories of English (Overlook, 2004)

Seth Lerer, Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language (Columbia, 2007)

Rosemary Salomone, The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language (Oxford, 2021)

Assigned Articles

Chotiner, Isaac. “Globish for Beginners.” The New Yorker (May 24, 2010). https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/05/31/globish-for-beginners.

McWhorter, John. “Is Texting Killing the English Language?” Time (April 25, 2013). https://ideas.time.com/2013/04/25/is-texting-killing-the-english-language/.

Online Repositories and Web Dictionaries

Lexico Dictionaries | English. “Explore The English Language | Lexico.Com.” Accessed August 7, 2022. https://www.lexico.com/explore.

Johnson, Samuel. “Johnson’s Dictionary Online.” Accessed August 7, 2022. https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/?page_id=8.

Early Modern English Texts: Readings in Early English - Middle English Texts. “1. From Love’s Labours Lost 2. From As You Like It 3. From The Tragedie of King Lear 4. From The Tragedie of Julius Caesar 5. From The Tragedie of Hamlet 6. From The Tragedie of Richard III 7. From the Authorized Version of the Bible (1611) 8. E.K.’s Preface to Spenser’s Shepheardes Calendar (1579) 9. From John Milton’s Areopagitica (1644) 10. From John Dryden, All for Love or, the World Well Lost (1677/1678) 11. From The Letters of Lady Brilliana Harley (1642).” Accessed August 9, 2022. https://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/stella/readings/EMod/EMODERN.HTM.

Readings in Early English - Middle English Texts. “1. From The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales 2. From The Pardoner’s Tale 3. From The Parson’s Tale 4. From The Peterborough Chronicle 5. From Sir Orfeo 6. From Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 7. From William Caxton’s Preface to His Edition of the Morte D’arthure 8. From Sir Thomas Malory’s The Morte Darthur 9. A Letter from Margaret Paston.” Accessed August 9, 2022. https://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/stella/readings/Middle/MIDDLE.HTM.

Readings in Early English - Old English Texts. “1. The Man Who Built His House on Sand 2. Abraham & Isaac 3. From the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 4. Daniel Cædmon’s Hymn From ‘The Dream of the Rood’ 5. From Ælfric’s ‘Life of King Oswald’ 6. From ’Beowulf.” Accessed August 7, 2022. https://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/stella/readings/OE/OE.HTM.

Webster, Noah, and Hezekiah Howe. An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. The Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as Far as They Have Been Ascertained. II. The Genuine Orthography and Pronunciation of Words, According to General Usage, or to Just Principles of Analogy. III. Accurate and Discriminating Definitions, with Numerous Authorities and Illustrations. To Which Are Prefixed, an Introductory Dissertation on the Origin, History and Connection of the Languages of Western Asia and of Europe, and a Concise Grammar of the English Language. New York : S. Converse, 1828. http://archive.org/details/americandictiona01websrich.

Yule, Henry, and A.C. Burnell. Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive. New edn by William Crooke. London: Murray, 1903. http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/hobsonjobson/frontmatter/frontmatter.html.

David Crystal ed., The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (Cambridge, 1995)

Philip Durkin, The Oxford Guide to Etymology (Oxford, 2009)

Dennis Freeborn, From Old English to Standard English: A Coursebook in Language Variation Across Time (Ottawa, 1998)

Henry Hitchings, The Language Wars: A History of Proper English (FSG, 2011)

Geoffrey Hughes, A History of English Words (Blackwell, 2000)

Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language (Oxford, 1992)

Robert McCrum, Globish: How the English Language Became the World’s Language (Norton, 2010)

Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert MacNeil, The Story of English (Faber & Faber, 1986)

Celia Millward, A Biography of the English Language (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1996)

Haruko Momma and Michael Matto, eds, A Companion to the History of the English Language (Blackwell, 2008)

Lynda Mugglestone, The Oxford History of English (Oxford, 2012)

Rosemary Salomone, The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language (Oxford, 2021)

Elly van Gelderen, History of the English Language (John Benjamins, 2006)