III An Oxford Final Honor School
The scope and content of an English honor school is well illustrated in the following passage from the Oxford examination statutes, which treats of the final school in English literature. The system will be seen to be very different from a system under which a student may receive honors in ignorance of all but a single movement in English literature.
§ 10. Of the Honour School of English Language
and Literature.
1. The Examination in the School of English Language and Literature shall always include authors or portions of authors belonging to the different periods of English literature, together with the history of the English language and the history of English literature.
The Examination shall also include Special Subjects falling within or usually studied in connexion with the English language and literature.
2. Every Candidate shall be expected to have studied the authors or portions of authors which he offers (1) with reference to the forms of the language, (2) as examples of literature, and (3) in their relation to the history and thought of the period to which they belong.
He shall also be expected to show a competent knowledge (1) of the chief periods of the English language, including Old English (Anglo-Saxon), and (2) of the relation of English to the languages with which it is etymologically connected, and (3) of the history of English literature, and (4) of the history, especially the social history, of England during the period of English literature which he offers.
3. The Examination in Special Subjects may be omitted by Candidates who do not aim at a place in the First or Second Class.
4. No Candidate shall be admitted to examination in the Final Honour School of English Language and Literature, unless he has either obtained Honours in some Final Honour School or has passed the First Public Examination [i. e. Moderation].
5. The Examination shall be under the supervision of a Board of Studies.
6. It shall be the duty of the Board of Studies in framing regulations, and also of the Examiners in the conduct of the Examination, to see that as far as possible equal weight is given to language and literature: provided always that Candidates who offer Special Subjects shall be at liberty to choose subjects connected either with language or with literature or with both.
7. The Board of Studies shall by notice from time to time make regulations respecting the Examination; and shall have power—
(1) To prescribe authors or portions of authors.
(2) To specify one or more related languages or dialects to be offered either as a necessary or as an optional part of the Examination.
(3) To name periods of the history of English literature, and to fix their limits.
(4) To issue lists of Special Subjects in connexion either with language or with literature or with both, prescribing books or authorities where they think it desirable.
(5) To prescribe or recommend authors or portions of authors in languages other than English, to be studied in connexion with Special Subjects to which they are intimately related.
(6) To determine whether Candidates who aim at a place in the First or Second Class shall be required to offer more than one Special Subject.
(ii) Regulations of the Board of Studies for the
Examinations in 1901 and 1902.
The subjects of examination in this School are—
| I. | Portions of English Authors. |
| II. | The History of the English Language. |
| III. | The History of English Literature. |
| IV. | (In the case of those Candidates who aim at a place in the First or Second Class) a Special Subject of Language or Literature. |
I. English Authors.
Candidates will be examined in the following texts:—
Beowulf.
The texts printed in Sweet’s Anglo-Saxon Reader.
King Horn.
Havelok.
Laurence Minot.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the Prologue and the following Tales:—
The Knight’s, The Man of Law’s, The Prioress’s, Sir Thopas, The Monk’s, The Nun’s Priest’s, The Pardoner’s, The Clerk’s, The Squire’s, The Second Nun’s, The Canon’s Yeoman’s
Piers Plowman, the Prologue and first seven passus (text B).
Shakespeare, with a special study of the following Plays: Midsummer Night’s Dream, King John, Much Ado about Nothing, Macbeth, Cymbeline.
Milton, with a special study of Paradise Lost.
These texts are to be studied (1) with reference to the forms of the language; (2) as examples of literature; and (3) in their relation to the history and thought of the period to which they belong.
After Milton no special texts are prescribed, but Candidates are expected to show an adequate knowledge of the chief authors.
II. History of the English Language.
Candidates will be examined in the Philology and History of the Language, in Gothic (the Gospel of St. Mark), and in Translation from Old English and Middle English authors not specially offered.
III. History of English Literature.
The Examination in the History of English Literature will not be limited to the prescribed texts. It will include the history of criticism and of style in prose and verse; for these subjects, Candidates are recommended to consult the following works:—
Sidney, Apology for Poetry.
Daniel, Defence of Rhyme.
Dryden, Essay of Dramatic Poesy, and Preface to Fables.
Addison, Papers on Milton in the Spectator.
Pope, Essay on Criticism.
Johnson, Preface to Shakespeare and Lives of the Poets.
Wordsworth, Prefaces, etc., to Lyrical Ballads.
Coleridge, Biographia Literaria.
IV. Special Subjects.
Candidates who aim at a place in the First or Second Class will be expected to offer a Special Subject, which may be chosen from the following list:—
1. Old English Language and Literature to 1150 a. d.
2. Middle English Language and Literature, 1150-1400 a. d.
3. Old French Philology, with special reference to Anglo-Norman French, together with a special study of the following texts:—
Computus of Philippe de Thaun, Voyage of St. Brandan, The Song of Dermot and the Earl, Les contes moralisés de Nicole Bozon.
4. Scandinavian Philology, with special reference to Icelandic, together with a special study of the following texts:—
Gylfaginning, Laxdæla Saga, Gunnlaugssaga Ormstungu.
5. Elizabethan literature, 1558-1637 a. d.
6. English literature, 1637-1700 a. d.
7. English literature, 1700-1745 a. d.
8. Wordsworth and his contemporaries, 1797-1850 a. d.
9. History of Scottish poetry to 1600 a. d.
Candidates who desire to offer any other subject or period as a Special Subject must obtain the leave of the Board of Studies a year before the Examination.
Candidates who offer a period of English Literature will be expected to show a competent knowledge of the History, especially the Social History, of England during such period.
The following scheme of papers is contemplated:—
1. Beowulf and other Old English texts.
2. King Horn, Havelok, Minot, Sir Gawain.
3. Chaucer and Piers Plowman.
4. Shakespeare.
5. Milton.
6. History of the language.
7. Gothic—O. E. and M. E. translations.
8. & 9. History of the Literature, including questions on the history of criticism. Two papers, (1) to 1700, (2) after 1700.
10. Special Subjects.
Footnotes
Notes
1 Educational Review, vol. v. p. 113.
2 For a note on the value of walking as a part of athletic training, see Appendix I.
3 William G. Brown in The Nation, vol. 61, No. 1585, p. 346.
4 For a detailed statement as to the course such a student would be able to pursue under the English system of honor schools, see Appendix III.
5 The Atlantic Monthly, October, 1900.
6 For full details as to the scheme of an English honor school, see Appendix III.