There are clear camps when it comes to the English language: For some, it is "the most perfect all-purpose instrument," "the grandest triumph of the human intellect," "the lingua franca of the angels," and, for others, it is "a weapon of war," "a steamroller," "the language of the criminal who committed the crime." It's the engine of angels or the cudgel of demons. But of course, English is not simply one or the other of these things. Over time, it has been lots of different things to lots of different people. And the purpose of this course will be to explore those uses and users throughout the history of the English
language.

This course will look to primary texts from major periods in the
history of English to begin to answer questions such as:

* What is English? What does it look like? (Is there one English
or are there many Englishes?)
* Who uses it? (A handful of people or a horde? The vulgar among
them or the elevated? The invaded or the invaders?)
* Where is it used? (In England or elsewhere? In letters, law
courts, literature?)
* How is its use mediated? (Is it spoken or written? Is it
transmitted by pen, wire, web?)
* What does it mean to use it? (Is its use praised or disparaged?
Does the language carry or disseminate political or
philosophical attitudes or ideologies?)

The readings for the course will include contemporary histories of the
language but primary attention will be given to texts, recordings, and
films that constitute interesting uses of English: the /Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle/, /Beowulf /(and the 2007 film /Beowulf/), the /Ancrene
Wisse/, the Prologue to /The Canterbury Tales/, early dictionaries and
grammars, speeches by Elizabeth I, various acts of union passed by the
United Kingdom, eighteenth-century elocution manuals, /Pygmalion /(and
the 1950 film /Born Yesterday/), episodes of NBC's /Outsourced/, Zadie
Smith's 2008 lecture "Speaking in Tongues," and /Trainspotting /(the
book and the movie).

Coursework will include lectures, discussions, presentations, exams,
and short response essays. Course texts will be available in the
University Bookstore or in the coursepack. No prior knowledge of Old
English, Middle English, or linguistics is necessary.