ENG 227British Literature I

Catalog

ENG 227 British Literature I - This course covers English literature from its origins in the late first millennium through the Middle Ages and Renaissance and right up to the Restoration, culminating in Milton's epic Paradise Lost , which we will read in full. We begin the semester, however, not in England, but in Italy, starting with Virgil's Aeneid (the classical cornerstone of Western European literature), and following that with Dante's Inferno (the great Christian response to Virgil's pagan epic). These Italian works form a foundation on which English literature (with its own Germanic and pagan origins) eventually builds. In addition to epics, we will read medieval romance, drama, and a lot of short lyric poetry. Significant emphasis will be placed on close reading. Evaluation will be based on detailed, objective exams as well as regular in-class writing assignments and a short final paper.