Instr:                 Michael Noonan
Office:              CRT 386,     229-4539
e-mail:              noonan@uwm.edu
Office hours:     T, R   11:30-12:00  and by appointment.
Web page:         http://www.uwm.edu/~noonan/

Course Information:                      TR          11:05am-12:20pm       CRT 118

Course Description

In this class, we'll explore the history of the English language from its origin in the Indo-European family of languages to the present time. We'll also indulge in some speculations on the future of the language.

Text:   Baugh & Cable: A History of the English Language
This text is available at the UWM bookstore.

Handouts:
There will many handouts distributed in the class sessions. We may not be able to discuss all the handouts distributed in class in the session they are distributed, so please remember to bring handouts back to class for the next class meeting if they haven't been discussed in class. Some handouts and other materials will be available for downloading from my webpage: http://www.uwm.edu/~noonan/. I'll announce in class which handouts will be made available in this way. You might also be interested in looking at the page already there titled Internet Resources for the History of English.

Exams:
There will be one midterm exam and a final exam. The exams will be roughly equal in value and will constitute approximately 40% of the student's grade.

Make-up Exams:
Exams may be made up at a time convenient for the instructor and the student, provided the student can demonstrate 'good reason' for not taking the exam at the scheduled time. Illness, accident, and family emergency constitute good reason; lack of time for study does not. The student is responsible for arranging for the make-up as soon as possible after the scheduled time of the exam, if possible within a week of the scheduled time for the missed exam. Exams not made up will be assigned zero points.

Assignments:
There will be roughly biweekly short written assignments. Together, they will constitute approximately 60% of the student's grade. Due dates and point values of assignments will be posted on the web.

Late Assignments:
Assignments should be turned in at the beginning of the class period on the day they are due. Those turned in after the corrected assignments have been turned back will be assigned half of the points they would otherwise have received unless 1) the student can demonstrate 'good reason' for not turning in the assignment on time or 2), if the student has been absent from class, the student turns in the assignment on the day of his/her return. Assignments not turned in will be assigned zero points.

Grades:
Each of the homework assignments and each of the problems on the exams will be assigned a point value (and will be clearly labeled for point value). The course grade will be determined on the basis of the total number of points accumulated throughout the semester according to the following table:
100-90% = A
89-80% = B
79-70% = C
69-60% = D
59-0% = F
'+' and '-' grades will be assigned to borderline cases for the semester grade. By using the table above, the
student can determine his/her grade at any time during the semester.

Graduate Students:
In addition to the exercises and examinations that students taking the course for undergraduate credit must do, students taking the course for graduate credit must write a short [15 page] research paper. The nature of this paper, including a list of acceptable topics, will be discussed later in the semester, just prior to the midterm. The paper will constitute 20% of the student's course grade; the other requirements, the exams and the written assignments, will be prorated accordingly, with exams constituting 32% and the written assignments 48% of a graduate student's grade for the course.

Reading & Exam Schedule:
Jan. 22, 24     Introduction & Background: Ch. 1, 2
Jan. 29, 31
Feb. 5, 7         Old English: Ch. 3, 4
Feb. 12, 14
Feb. 19, 21
Feb. 26, 28     Middle English: Ch. 5, 6, 7
Mar. 5, 7
Mar. 12, 14
Mar. 19, 21     Spring Break
Mar. 26, 28     [review, 28th, midterm, 30th]
April 2, 4         Early Modern English: Ch.8
April 9, 11       Modern English: Ch. 9, 10, 11
 April 16, 18
 April 23, 25
 April 30, May 2
 May 7, 9          [review, 11th]
May15             [Final exam:12:30-2:30]