EN 170.01 Introduction to British Literature and Culture (Fall 2008-2009: 3)
Classes include two lectures and one discussion section a week, and requirements
will include quizzes and assignments, a midterm, a final, and two short
papers.Fulfills the pre-1700 requirement.
This course, in conjunction with Introduction to British Literature and
Culture II, offered next semester, provides a historical survey of British
literature from Beowulf to the present. Both courses will give you
a basic map of British literature and culture as they developed over the
course of 1000 years: you will be introduced to major authors and cultural
themes, as well as to lesser-known and non-canonical writers; you will learn
to place literature in relation to contemporary history, art, music, and
thought; and you will gain a thoroughly grounded starting point - and motivation
- for further exploration of British literature. This first part of the
course covers the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Restoration, ending around
1700, including such works and authors as Beowulf, Chaucer, Spenser,
Shakespeare, Donne, and Milton. You will be introduced to the history of
the English language as it developed from Old English through Middle English
to Modern English, and will explore such topics as the role of the court
in shaping Renaissance literature and art; the new Renaissance focus on
exploration and discovery; the development of drama, the English Revolution
and the development of Republicanism; and the increasing emphasis on writing
about the self in the seventeenth century. Taking this course is an ideal
way to experience the strange and fascinating works of early English literature
and to learn new ways of understanding and appreciating them.
Robert Stanton
Last Updated: 27-MAR-08