LTRS 3803
Fate and the Individual in European Literature, Part I
AKA “The Auden Course”

NB—LTRS 3803 is a part of a two-course sequence. Its companion course, LTRS 3813, will be offered in the spring term.
It covers Western literature from the Enlightenment through the twentieth century. Students are encouraged but not
required to take both parts.

In 1941, as a visiting faculty
member at the University of Michigan, the poet W.H. Auden taught
an English course entitled “Fate
and the Individual in European
Literature.” Some seventy years
later, in 2012, a faded, marked-up
copy of Auden’s original syllabus
surfaced in the University archives.
Soon grainy copies of it were
circulating far and wide on the internet, spurring a
multitude of comments and reflections. Scholars and
writers were excited by the discovery, for it provided them
with a list of texts that Auden himself, one of the greatest
poets and critics of the twentieth century, considered
central to the Western tradition. But who could not be
awed and daunted by the immense scope of the reading
list? Auden presented his undergraduate students at a large American public university with nearly
six thousand pages of reading for a one-semester, two-credit-hour class. Incredible. Where on earth
today would one find institutions or teachers or students so audacious as to attempt something similar?
Well, here we are. We have envisioned this course as an effort to rekindle the spirit—a mingling of
seriousness towards and delight in the Western canon—that Auden’s syllabus embodied. Over two
sequential semesters we are going to explore much of the literature that
he considered to be indispensable to an understanding of the intertwined
traditions that constitute the modern world. The fall semester will run
from the ancient Greeks, through the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages
and the Renaissance. In the spring, we will focus on modernity,
beginning in the Enlightenment and ending in the mid-twentieth century.
Throughout we will be wrestling with the big questions conjured up by
Auden’s title: what is the role of destiny in human affairs? What is the
role of God or the gods? What is the meaning of human freedom? What
is the value of an individual person and what constitutes a meaningful
life? How should we relate to those who surround us and to those in
authority?

 We’ve omitted a few of Auden’s texts and added some others we think are important. While our
reading list is perhaps not quite so daunting as his was, we nevertheless recognize that it demands a
lot of you. We are asking you to read a good deal more than you would in most humanities classes.
We hope you will see this as a valuable intellectual challenge and rise to it. Your professors believe
that wrestling with Homer and Augustine, Dante and Milton, Goethe and Melville is essential to a true
liberal education. We are looking for students – regardless of major – who are excited by the challenge.
The class will be a mixture of lecture and discussion. Your three professors will all take turns leading
the class on different days. When they aren’t scheduled to teach, they will be sitting alongside you as
your fellow students, each of them eager to better grasp the books and ideas that have shaped our
collective story.

Instructors
Prof. Wilfred McClay
Email: wmcclay@ou.edu
Office: Carnegie 232
Office Hours: MTR 2-3pm
Phone: 325-0436

Prof. Kyle Harper
Email: kyleharper@ou.edu
Office: Evans 104
Office Hours: F 11-12:00

Prof. David Anderson
Email: dkanderson@ou.edu
Office: 302 Cate 2
Office Hours: W 2-4pm

Reading List (available from the campus bookstore)
Aeschylus, Agamemnon, tr. Robert Fagles, Penguing Classics
Augustine, Confessions, tr. Henry Chadwick, Oxford World’s Classics
Beowulf , tr. Seamus Heaney, Norton Critical Editions
Dante, Inferno, tr. Allen Mandelbaum, Bantam Classics
Dante, Purgatorio, tr. Allen Mandelbaum, Bantam Classics
Homer, The Odyssey, tr. Robert Fagles, Penguin Classics
Milton, Paradise Lost, ed. Stephen Orgel, Oxford World’s Classics
Petronius, Satyricon, tr. Sarah Ruden, Hackett Classics
Racine, Phedre, tr. Margaret Rawlings, Penguin Classics
Shakespeare, The Tempest, Folger Shakespeare Library Editions (Simon & Schuster)
Shakespeare, King Lear, Folger Shakespeare Library Editions (Simon & Schuster)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, tr. J. R. R. Tolkien, Del Rey
Virgil, The Aeneid, tr. Robert Fagles, Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition

 Schedule of Readings and Assignments

Week 1
8/22 – Intro; Auden
8/24 – Homer, The Odyssey (Books 1-8) KH
Week 2
8/29 – The Odyssey (Books 9-16) WM
8/31 – The Odyssey (Books 17-24) KH
Week 3
9/5 – Aeschylus, Agamemnon DKA
9/7 – Virgil, Aeneid (Books 1-4) WM
Week 4
9/12 – Aeneid, (Books 5-8) KH
9/14 – Aeneid, (Books 9-12) DKA
Week 5
9/19 – Petronius, “Dinner Party of Trimalchio” KH
9/21 – Augustine, Confessions (Books 1-5) WM
Quiz One
Week 6
9/26 – Confessions, (Books 6-9) KH
9/28 – Beowulf (Lines 1-1382) DKA
Week 7
10/3 – Beowulf, (Lines 1383-end) KH
10/5 – Dante, Inferno (cantos 1-10) DKA
Week 8
10/10 – Inferno, (cantos 11-22) WM
10/12 – Inferno, cont’d (cantos 23-34) DKA
Essay One Due

Week 9
10/17 – Dante, Purgatorio (cantos 1-14) KH
10/19 – Purgatorio, cont’d (cantos 15-33) DKA
Quiz Two
Week 10
10/24 – Gawain and the Green Knight (Fits 1-2) DKA
10/26 – Gawain (Fits 3-4) KH
Week 11
10/31 – The Sonnet (see handout) DKA
11/2 – The Tempest (Acts 1-3) KH
Week 12
11/7 – The Tempest (Acts 3-5) WM
11/9 – King Lear (Acts 1-3) DKA
Week 13
11/14 – King Lear (Acts 3-5) DKA
Quiz Three
11/16 – Donne, selected lyrics (see handout) DKA
Week 14
11/21 – Racine, Phèdre WM
11/23 – Thanksgiving (no class)
Week 15
11/28 – Phèdre, cont’d WM
11/30 – Milton, Paradise Lost (Books 1-4) DKA
Week 16
12/5 – Paradise Lost (Books 5-8) WM
12/7 – Paradise Lost (Book 9-12) KH
Quiz Four
Week 17
12/12 – Essay Two Due

 Grading Breakdown
Class participation: 20%
Quizzes: 20%
Essay Two: 30%
Essay Three: 30%
Assessment in this course will be based on class participation (worth 20% of the final grade), four
quizzes and two assignments.
For each essay you are required to write on one of the texts we have discussed in class. These two
papers are not research essays—you are welcome to use secondary research, but it is not required.
Every essay must include a bibliography page that gives publication information for any texts
quoted (including the primary text). You must also cite any quotations parenthetically. Any essay
that does not include a bibliography and page or line citations will be penalized 5%. Please
submit an electronic copy of your paper to the appropriate folder on Canvas.
Suggested Topics:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Power
Erotic desire
Wisdom
Violence
Conflict
Gender

7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)

Ambition
Sin
Redemption (personal or collective)
Pleasure
Suffering
Pride and / or humility

These headings are designed to give you a wide range of interpretive latitude: we want you to
concoct your own topic from them. Some (such as power or violence) may have both literal and
metaphorical meanings that you are welcome to consider. Some (such as redemption) may apply
to either the individual or the society (redemption for Homer would likely mean something very
different than it does in Dante or Racine). Pair a theme and a text in a way that lets you engage the
ideas that interest you most.
Essay One:
Due: 12 October 2017, before midnight
Weight: 30%
Length: Six to eight pages, double-spaced, 12 pt font.
Format: Upload to Canvas
Permitted Texts: from The Iliad through Beowulf

 Essay Two:
Due: 12 December 2017, before midnight
Weight: 30%
Length: Six to eight pages, double-spaced, 12 pt font.
Format: Upload to Canvas
Permitted Texts: from Dante through Milton

University Policies
Email: Your official OU email account must be checked at least once every weekday during term.
Academic integrity and honesty: Integrity is presumed and required on the part of all students in
the course. All students must become familiar with www.ou.edu/provost/integrity. In addition to
explaining important concepts about academic integrity, this site also provides guidance about how
academic misconduct is treated and what your rights are. In writing for this course, you must give
proper credit through the use of quotation marks and by footnoting or other citation for any ideas
or words of others on which you rely in your written work. Use of the work of others is positively
encouraged and is central to scholarship, but it must always be properly credited. When it is not
credited, and when the thoughts/words/ideas of others are passed off as your own, then that is
plagiarism. Plagiarism is serious academic misconduct and will be reported to the appropriate
university office; penalties can be severe. If you are in doubt about how to handle quotations or
citations, please consult one of the instructors. And please note: all written assignments will be
uploaded to Canvas with turnitin.com enabled.
We expect every essay to include a properly formatted bibliography page that gives publication
information for any texts quoted (including the primary text). You are also required to follow the
citation rules printed in the “Writing Guidelines” handout on Canvas.
Religious Observance: It is the policy of the University to excuse the absences of students that result
from religious observances and to provide without penalty for the rescheduling of examinations
and additional required classwork that may fall on religious holidays.
Absences: Attendance is required. It is the student’s obligation to inform us of absences in advance
of such absences, including those justified by religious observance, legally-required, or provostapproved university-sponsored activity.
Students who accrue more than three unexcused absences will receive a penalty of one full letter
grade for the semester. Students who accrue four unexcused absences will receive a penalty of two
full letter grades for the semester. Students who accrue six unexcused absences will receive a penalty
of three full letter grades.
Late penalties and extensions: Late essays will be docked 3% per day of lateness (weekends
counting as one day). We are willing to grant reasonable extensions for essays provided you email
us at least one week in advance.

 Electronic Devices: Students are not permitted to use cell phones, computers, or other electronic
devices in class. Any student who has a compelling reason for being exempt from this rule must
consult us as soon as possible.
Accommodation: Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from
fully demonstrating his or her abilities should contact us as soon as possible so we can discuss
accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate your educational opportunities.
Codes and Policies of Behaviour: Each student should acquaint him- or herself with the
University’s codes, policies, and procedures involving academic misconduct, grievances, sexual and
ethnic harassment, and discrimination based on physical disability.
Writing Center: Most universities have a writing center, a place for students, faculty and staff to
meet and talk about writing. The Writing Center here at OU is a resource we encourage you to use.
As a writer you will want to seek feedback from many different readers. The writing consultants at
the writing center are able to talk to you about your writing—at any stage of the process and for any
course you are taking. You can make an appointment (online or at 405-325-2936) and you can drop
in when they are open. We would encourage you to visit the website for more information.
(www.ou.edu/writingcenter.html)