Daniel Paul O'Donnell

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English 3450a: Introductory Old English (Fall 2006)

About this course

This course introduces students to the language and literature of Anglo-Saxon England (a period extending from approximately CE 449 to 1200).

Our principal task will be to learn the language. We will also be enjoying some of the most sophisticated prose and verse literature of the early Middle Ages and some time will be set aside for class discussion.

Learning goals

By the end of the course, students should be prepared for further study in Old English, other medieval languages and literatures, or the History of English. They should have a solid working knowledge of English grammar (historical and contemporary), and initial experience working with the physical monuments of the period.

Texts

• Blair, John. 2000. The Anglo-Saxon Age. Oxford: OUP. (Required).
• Mitchell, Bruce, and Fred C. Robinson. 2000. A Guide to Old English. Cambridge: Blackwell. (Required).

Evaluation

General policies

The following policies will be followed in all my classes unless otherwise announced. You are expected to be familiar with these policies and any other documents cited here. Failure to conform to these policies may result in your grade being lowered.

Grade scale

The University of Lethbridge keeps track of student performance using a letter and grade point system (See section 4 of the University Calendar). Instructors assign students a letter grade at the end of each course (the University does not issue or keep track of mid-term grades). These letter grades are converted to a numerical value (a Grade Point) for assessing overall academic performance (a Grade Point Average or GPA). The University does not record percentage-type grades and does not have a fixed scale for conversion from percentage scores to letter grades and grade points. Each instructor is responsible for determining their own methodology for determining students’ final letter grade.

In my classes, I use the following letter-grade to percentage correspondences:

How your grade is determined depends on the type of work being assessed. Tests of specific skills or knowledge (such as identification questions in literature classes, or fact-oriented tests in my grammar and language classes) are usually assigned a numeric score which is easily converted to a percentage. Essays, presentations, and other performance-oriented tests are usually graded by letter. I convert letter grades to percentages by taking the median value in each grade-range, and rounding up to the nearest whole percent (the only exceptions are A+ [which is converted to 100%], and F [which is converted to an arbitrary percentage between 0% and 49% based on my estimation of the work’s quality]). These scores can be found in the conventional value row of the above table.

In marking work I try to keep the University’s official description of these grades in mind (a description can be found in the University Calendar, Part IV.3.a). If you get an A it means your work is excellent; a B means your work is good; a C means it is satisfactory; a D that it is poor; and an F that it is failing to meet University-level standards.

Class schedule

The following schedule is intended to help you plan your work for the semester. I reserve the right to make changes.

 

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