THE FORMATION OF A PERSECUTING SOCIETY:
INTOLERANCE AND THE BIRTH OF EUROPE
History 100.81, Spring 1997
McGraw 366, MWF 10:10-11:00
Home:
http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/hist100.81/
| Jo Miller | Office: McGraw 161 |
| djm8@cornell.edu | Fri. 11-12 and by appt. | 5-8864 (office) | Mailbox: McGraw 437 |
Contents of Syllabus:
- Course Description
- Readings
- Policies:
- Additional Resources
- Tentative Schedule for the Semester (coming soon)
This course presumes that intolerance is not a mysterious and permanent condition of the universe, but a historical phenomenon whose origins can be examined and, one hopes, understood. The legacy bequeathed to us by the High Middle Ages includes Arthurian literature, Gothic splendors, universities, romantic love, and parliamentary government, but it also has a darker side. We will examine how Europeans, as they defined their own culture between 1000 and 1400, came to identify certain groups -- non-Christians, gays, lepers, heretics, the poor, etc. -- as "outsiders" to be marginalized, excluded, and even persecuted. Readings from a wide array of primary and secondary sources, combined with a series of short writing assignments, will enable students to participate in current scholarly debates about the history of persistent hatreds.
Because History 100.81 is primarily a writing course, our approach to the historical material will be selective rather than exhaustive; the topic is meant to provide fuel for discussion and exposition as well as a starting point for anyone who might want to pursue further studies in this sort of history.
I have kept the readings for this seminar relatively short -- never more than 75 pages per week, and usually much less -- in order to allow you more time for thinking and writing. Therefore it is especially important that you read carefully, actively, and (need I say it?) punctually. Reading assignments are listed on the schedule next to their due dates; you should arrive in class ready to discuss the texts. Please bring the assigned materials with you to every class meeting, since we will often do close readings of texts as a group.
REQUIRED BOOKS:
| R. I. Moore, The Formation of a Persecuting Society | HN380.P6 M82 |
| Thomas Kane, The New Oxford Guide to Writing | PE1408.K16 N5 |
| Richard Lanham, Revising Prose | PE 1421 .L28 R4 1992 |
| Karen Elizabeth Gordon, The Well-Tempered Sentence | PE 1450 .G65x 1993 |
| Course Readings (photocopies) | |
| Webster's Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary (or a substitute, subject to my approval) | |
This is the book you will use more than any other. Please get into the habit of looking up any unfamiliar words you come across in the weekly readings. Remember: your spell-checker is NOT a dictionary; make sure you understand the preise meaning of the words you use, and not just the correct spelling.
OPTIONAL BOOKS:
| Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference, 3rd ed. | PE1408.H118 W9 |
| Patricia O'Connor, Woe Is I | not yet in library |
All books are on two-day reserve in Uris Library. I've also placed copies of Western Civilization:The Continuing Experiment, Volume I: to 1715 (eds. Thomas F.X. Noble et al.) on both two-hour and two-day reserve in Uris. This brand new textbook -- which is engaging and clearly written, with beautiful color photographs and maps -- will answer your more general questions about the Middle Ages. You should read or at least skim the medieval section at some point early in the semester. CB245.W515 v.1
REQUIREMENTS for the course include:
- Eight short essays, two of which will be rewrites. Please turn in
essays by the beginning of class on the day they are due. Cornell's rules
forbid depositing papers in mailboxes or other unattended stations where safety
and confidentiality cannot be assured; assignments must be collected and
returned in person. You may rewrite more than two essays if you wish, and I am
always happy to look at drafts and revisions.
ESSAY GUIDELINES - Please submit TWO COPIES of all writing assignments.
- Essays must be typed, double-spaced, in a reasonable
font, with one-inch margins and numbered pages, printed
in black (not faint grey) ink on white paper. Separate title
pages are not necessary. - Proofread your work -- don't just run a spell-checker.
Papers that have not been carefully proofread will be
downgraded or returned without a grade and counted as
late. Getting a friend or roommate to read over your work
is an excellent idea.
- Peer editing, which students say is one of the most fruitful and
enjoyable parts of a freshman writing seminar.You and you classmates will have
several chances to exchange and comment on one another's drafts and papers
(I'll give you guidelines for how to do it). You will also get to work in
groups on several in-class exercises. Expect your writing to be seen by
your classmates.
- A grammar notebook, to be checked at week 8 and turned in at
the end of the semester. (We'll talk more about this - it's a lot more fun than
the name suggests.)
- A regular e-mail journal, in which you can record your reactions to the reading assignments. This journal is intended to keeep you from falling behind on readings, to prepare you to contribute to class discussions, and above all to give you practice reading the way you should in college: actively and thoughtfully, asking questions of the text instead of letting it wash over you. When I assign e-mail journals, I will suggest questions for consideration; you are free to go beyond these questions, however, and if you get the urge you may write more journal entries than are assigned. Treat the e-mail messages as an opportunity to express freely your own thoughts, opinions, observations, and questions. You may also use them to float preliminary ideas for your essays. Because they are informal, you needn't be overly concerned with structure, organization, and rhetorical polish in your e-mail messages; you should nevertheless strive for precise vocabulary and clear, fluent expression of your thoughts, just as you would in conversation. For obvious reasons, I cannot give credit for late journal entries.
ATTENDANCE is critical to your success in this course. Unlike large lecture courses, seminars are collaborative efforts which depend on the consistent participation of everyone in the group. Attendance records will be kept. If you need to miss a class meeting, I expect you to contact me by e-mail (preferably before the class) with an explanation of your absence. You should then seek out a classmate who can fill you in on what you missed, since you will be responsible for all material covered during class. Please be aware that in-class assignments cannot be made up and that unexcused absences will visibly affect your final grade.
LATENESS disrupts the entire class and is unacceptable. Be ready to start promptly at 10:10; I will not repeat announcements or course material for late arrivals. Do not, however, skip class merely because you realize you cannot arrive on time -- it's chronic tardiness I'm worried about, not the occasional, unavoidable slip-up.
PLAGIARISM, whether deliberate or inavertent, has serious consequences at Cornell. We will have handouts and discussions about how to avoid plagiarism. If you ever feel unsure of the rules for citing sources, be on the safe side and ask your instructor for advice.
GRADING is not an exact science in a writing seminar, though teachers break it down into neat-looking percentages to comfort ourselves and our students. I will usually pencil tentative grades onto your papers, but since rewrites are always permitted, I will not record a grade until you tell me the paper is finished. Improvement over the course of the semester will dramatically affect your final grade, but this does not mean that students who write excellent papers at the beginning of the course will be penalized.
The grammar notebooks and e-mail logs are requirements of the course and will not be given letter grades. Exceptionally thorough notebooks and well thought-out e-mail logs will improve your final grade, whereas a weak, perfunctory showing in these assignments will lower it. I will allow you to skip two e-mail assignments; beyond that, incomplete notebooks and journals will weigh heavily against you.
Grades will be based on your writing and peer editing (75%), and on your active participation in the course (25%), plus any extra credit you earn. "Active participation" includes:
- coming to class prepared and contributing to discussion
- offering thoughtful commentary and questions in your weekly e-mail journals
- seeking out the instructor when you need to discuss drafts and revisions of your papers
- keeping lines of communication open - if you have a problem, a question, an idea, or an opinion on how the course could be improved, don't wait until the end of semester to speak up! This course is yours, and you'll get the most out of it if you make your voice heard.
Our writing seminar is a cooperative effort and demands more than mere spectatorship. Once we all get to know one another, I hope everyone will relinquish the natural fear of looking foolish and begin instead to think of this class as a safe place to make mistakes and to learn from them. Remember that no comment or question will ever be penalized; if you're embarrassed (which you shouldn't be), then take advantage of e-mail and office hours.
| If you ever want to know how you are doing in the course, or what you would need to do to achieve a certain final grade, please schedule an appointment with me to discuss your progress. |
CONFERENCES: You should schedule two conferences with me during the semester to discuss your writing. I will need to approve the topic you choose for your final paper.
DICTIONARIES:
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the closest thing we have to a final authority on our language. You can find it in Olin Reference [PE1625 .M98 1989], Uris Reference [PE1625 .M978 1989] and on CD-ROM in Olin's Electronic Texts area [Olin Ref. Disk PE 1625 .M98 1992]. (I am negotiating with the reference librarians about getting Cornell subscribed to the online OED service.)
Everyone must have a desktop dictionary for daily consultation, though, and the OED is rather bulky and expensive for that purpose. I suggest Webster's Collegiate Dictionary for its comprehensiveness and its thorough etymological notes. Of course, there are many excellent dictionaries out there; you can consult the alt.english.usage FAQ for comparative notes on several of them. Note: Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is now available online, but you still need your own printed dictionary; as we all know, electronic services often go down just when you need them.
WRITING HANDBOOKS:
*Ernest Gowers, The Complete Plain Words, revised by S. Greenbaum and J.
Whitcut,
PE1421 .G72 1988
The New Fowler's Modern English Usage (1996)
Olin Reference Temporary Control Number APE 5212
*Eric Partridge, Usage and Abusage (1994) revised by J. Whitcut
*Joseph M. Williams Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, 5th ed. PE 1421 .W72 1997
Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and
Dissertations
Olin and Uris Reference, On Order. ILR Library Reference LB2369.T82 M29 1996
Sibley and Hotel Admin. Reference LB 2369 .T8x 1996
*Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference, 3rd ed. PE1408.H118 W9
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Joseph Gibaldi. Uris Reference Z 253 .M68 1995
Many handbooks are now available online for free - see the course's main webpage for links to them.
NOT QUITE HANDBOOKS:
The Art of Writing: Teachings of the Chinese Masters, translated by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping, 1996. ISBN 1-57062-092-X. Unusual, insightful, and frequently humorous.
Borealis Bookshop (111 N. Aurora Street, across from Manhattan Bagels) has a good selection of books on writing. Well worth a browse.
OTHER WORKS OF REFERENCE:
Need a pithy and pertinent quotation? Try Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Using quotations is a wonderful way to make your point or to appear better read than you are, but don't overdo it. Olin Reference + PN6081 .B28 1992
The Reader's Encyclopedia, ed. William Rose Benét, is an amazingly useful encyclopedia of world literature. Uris and Olin Reference PN41 .B46 1987
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (now in its fifteenth edition) is the place to turn when you want to know where a phrase or expression came from; it's full of fascinating and entertaining articles. Uris and Olin Reference PN43.B84 D5 1981
An atlas frequently comes in handy. I like The Rand McNally College World Atlas.
I've never found a thesaurus to fall in love with, but I suppose Roget's is the standard work. (If you have a favorite thesaurus, I'd welcome suggestions.)
CORNELL'S RESOURCES FOR WRITERS:
The John S. Knight Writing Program office (Goldwin Smith 159) maintains a lending library of dozens of books on all aspects of writing; here you can find specialized works on organizing research papers, for instance. Drop by -- they're friendly.
The Walk-In Center (Rockefeller Hall 174) is staffed by tutors who can help you develop your ideas and improve your drafts. It's available to ALL Cornell students, not just freshmen. For complete information on this service, see the attached handout.
Your peers are your greatest resource at Cornell, so use them! Have a friend read and offer advice on your drafts; ask a roommate to help you find the perfect word that's eluding you; e-mail a seminar classmate to discuss your ideas or outlines. By the time you graduate, you will find that you've learned more from your peers than you have from all your books, labs, and lectures combined (no exaggeration -- ask any college graduate!).
GOOD READING:
The single best way to improve your own writing is by a steady diet of good reading. The converse, "garbage in, garbage out," is also true; you will find it well-nigh impossible to achieve a graceful, controlled style if you bathe your senses in the bastardized English of television shows, corporate memos, amateurish journalism, and turgid academic journals. Fine writing is lamentably scarce and getting scarcer, but it can still be found in a few places. Try these:
Harper's Magazine. Recent issues in Olin Periodicals Room, back issues Olin + AP2 .H29
The Onion. (Yes, believe it or not! The movie reviews and "Savage Love" column are particularly well written.) Available online at http://www.theonion.com.
Times Literary Supplement. Recent issues on newspaper shelves in Olin and Uris.
New York Review of Book. Recent issues on newspaper shelves in Olin and Uris.
Our newspapers, regrettably, are written at the level of a twelve-year-old's comprehension and are typically riddled with errors. If you must read newspapers, I would recommend you sample the British broadsheets now available on the web and in the Olin basement. Try the Times, Telegraph, or Manchester Guardian Weekly. All are kept on Olin's newspaper shelves (downstairs), and the Times and Telegraph publish electronic editions.
Superb Essayists and Reviewers include Clive James, Dylan Thomas, Mark Twain, Lewis Lapham, Matthew Parris, Thomas F. X. Noble, Michiko Kakutani, Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Toni Morrison, Paul Fussell, Stephen Fry, and Dennis Miller, to name a few. Read them for inspiration and pleasure.
For good fiction in a variety of styles there are always the Norton, Oxford, and Penguin Anthologies, and one I particularly like called The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction, ed. Anne Charters (St. Martin's Press, 1983), ISBN: 0-312-76251-8 (not in our library).
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES:
PRESCRIPTIVE GUIDES AND ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS:
I strongly recommend you browse through the wonderful online resources now
available to writers. (For one thing, they're free! And many of them are
searchable.) On the Web you can find such things as the complete texts of
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Strunk and White's Elements of
Style, several complete grammar manuals, answers to frequently asked
questions, annotated bibliographies, classic essays on language and style, and
a wealth of advice from writers, teachers, and journalists. I maintain an up-to
date list of links to these resources on the course's main webpage.
DEMOCRATIZED DISCOURSE ON THE INTERNET:
"Indeed a friend who went to the school with me once remarked that after
reading Usenet for a
week he was glad he had gone to a school that included grammar and spelling in
the teaching." In cyberspace you are what you write. Alas, the internet, once
a preserve of the fairly literate, has in latter years sunk to a level of
discourse so appallingly low that even USA Today looks coherent in comparison;
to read Usenet now is to endure a seizure-inducing barrage of braying
illiteracy and slovenly speech. Nevertheless, there are still a few bright
spots amid the muck. The skilled writers who prize rhetoric now congregate in
certain newsgroups, where they exercise ruthless quality control and snap
pitilessly at the flanks of linguistic bunglers. (See me if you want to find them. A word of caution: lurk long before posting.)
FOR BLOCKED WRITERS:
Victoria Nelson, On Writer's Block: A New Approcach to Creativity (1993)
Though I have not read it, many people recommend Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Olin PN145 .G61 1986.
Overcoming Writing Block by Karin Mack and Eric Skjei (exercises and techniques).
William Cronon's handout for planning and outlining research papers.
FOR THOSE SEEKING PUBLICATION:
Writer's Digest magazine publishes a series of guides for the would-be professional.
The Writer's Handbook (new editions published annually) offers advice on writing techniques and markets for manuscripts. Olin PN 137 .W95, latest volume in Reference.
The newsgroup misc.writing maintains an up-to-date FAQ on such matters.
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Copyright © 1996, 1997 Jo Miller djm8@cornell.edu
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