Tradition of English Lit I

Catalog description

Is It Good To Be the King? This course will introduce you to many of the major authors and texts of the English literary tradition from the Middle Ages through the English Civil War of the 1660s, including Chaucer, Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Milton. The purpose of the course is twofold. First, you will read representative texts from various periods in English history so that you can gain a sense of how England's literary tradition developed over time. Second, you will have the opportunity to develop your skills of close reading and literary analysis while also considering how literature responds to and influences a country's social and political movements. Throughout the semester, we will focus on issues of the literary representation of kingship and governance in order to consider how English authors model or critique the leadership of the commonwealth. Prerequisite: English 120 or English 121 for majors; for non-majors, English 120 or 121 or third-year standing. ARNER.