ENGL 209

Fall 2025 Part of Term 1

Part of Term 1
Aug 25-Dec 10

Early British Literature and Culture

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Credit: 3 hours.

[IAI Code: H3912] 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 (either by violent invasion or dynastic succession)? 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 sixth 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 2025
CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
33907	Discussion/ Recitation	AD1	10:00AM -10:50AM	F	113 English Building	Mecolli, M	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/25/25-12/10/25 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course.
33909	Discussion/ Recitation	AD2	11:00AM -11:50AM	F	113 English Building	Mecolli, M	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/25/25-12/10/25 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course.
41808	Discussion/ Recitation	AD3	12:00PM -12:50PM	F	123 English Building	Vowels, G	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/25/25-12/10/25 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course.
41809	Discussion/ Recitation	AD4	1:00PM -1:50PM	F	113 English Building	Vowels, G	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/25/25-12/10/25 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course.
33895	Lecture	AL1	1:00PM -1:50PM	MW	147 Armory	Gray, C	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/25/25-12/10/25 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course. Section Info: FA25 ENGL 209 - Early British Lit and Culture - Catharine Gray - This course covers British literature from approximately the eighth to eighteenth century. Rather than attempt a comprehensive survey of such a long period, it aims to expose students to a diverse selection of texts from different periods, partly in the hopes that such exposure will help you choose courses in the future. We will closely read works from multiple different genres, including sonnets, epics, plays, satires, prose polemic, and prose fiction. As we read, we will consider what is strange and what is familiar about these old texts, as they worry about and experiment with gender roles and erotic relations; explore the existence and threat of the supernatural; analyze the affordances and effects of new (to them!) media; discuss religious, national, and racial identities; and debate definitions of tyranny, rebellion, and free speech. Authors may include the unknown writer of Beowulf, Geoffrey Chaucer, Gwerful Mechain, William Shakespeare, Richard Barnfield, Mary Wroth, John Milton, and Aphra Behn.