ENGL 209

Fall 2019 All Classes

All Classes

Early British Literature and Culture

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Credit: 3 hours.

This course surveys more than a thousand years of British literature from the early Middle Ages through the Renaissance and well into the eighteenth century. But what does "British literature" really mean, especially in the context of an island archipelago populated by multiple nations (England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) and repeatedly subjected to foreign rule (whether by the successive invasion of Anglo-Saxon, Viking, and Norman forces or the dynastic imposition of Dutch and German monarchs)? The range of texts we thus characterize as "early British literature" is staggering, and part of our goal in this course will simply be to appreciate the sheer volume and breadth of written work created in Britain and Ireland between the eighth and eighteenth centuries. We will do this through a necessarily selective sampling of historical periods, languages, and genres. Our authors will range from the famous (e.g., Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton) to the lesser-known (e.g., Marie de France, Lady Mary Wroth, and Eliza Haywood) to the unknown (e.g., the anonymous Beowulf-poet).

Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement and ENGL 200.

Students must register for one discussion and one lecture section.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in Fall 2022 for:

Cultural Studies - Western

Humanities – Lit & Arts

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ENGL 209 class schedule data for fall 2019
CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
33907	Discussion/ Recitation	AD1	2:00PM -2:50PM	F	English Building	Williams, K	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/26/19-12/11/19 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course.
33909	Discussion/ Recitation	AD2	11:00AM -11:50AM	F	English Building	O'Toole, K	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/26/19-12/11/19 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course.
41808	Discussion/ Recitation	AD3	12:00PM -12:50PM	F	English Building	O'Toole, K	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/26/19-12/11/19 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course.
41809	Discussion/ Recitation	AD4	1:00PM -1:50PM	F	English Building	Williams, K	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/26/19-12/11/19 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course.
33895	Lecture	AL1	11:00AM -11:50AM	MW	Lincoln Hall	Markley, R	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/26/19-12/11/19 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course. Section Info: This course focuses on British literature from 800 to 1800. Rather than trying to cover everything, we will read a limited number of representative works from different genres, including poetry, drama, satire, prose, and fiction. We will consider how politics, religion, and the changing nature of the country’s landscape shaped Britain’s national literature. We will pay attention to the ways that scholars use some key historical turning points to justify such distinctions as “medieval,” “early modern,” and “Restoration.” As significantly, we will analyze why literature of this period continues to engage us emotionally and psychologically as well as intellectually. What aspects or qualities of texts by Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Rochester draw us in—or, indeed, estrange us? What’s familiar about the distant past, and what’s alien, unexpected, and surprising? During the semester, you’ll encounter writers who have helped to shape the modern world: the anonymous Beowulf poet, Marie de France, and Geoffrey Chaucer; William Shakespeare, John Donne, and Andrew Marvell; and William Wycherley, Jonathan Swift, and Eliza Haywood. Expect to visit, imaginatively, the pilgrimage road from London to Canterbury; the Globe theater of Shakespeare and his Chamberlain’s Men; the pubs and alleys of London after the Restoration of Charles II; and the decks of slave ships plying their horrific trade between Africa and the Caribbean.