Survey of British Literature: Beginnings to 1784 -- Writing Intensive (online)

Beginnings to 1784
ENGL 3200W
Section 01
Semester
Spring
Year
2021
Lee Manion
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
1:00-1:50
Course Description

This course introduces the first ten centuries of literature in Britain through a series of heroic, tragic, and romantic texts across various genres. From the bleak heroism of Beowulf to the mockery of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, from the lyricism of Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, and Katherine Philips to the biting wit of Aphra Behn and Alexander Pope, each reading sets different literary forms in their historical context while also drawing out their common elements. As the semester unfolds we will explore how literature reflects and affects cultural realities as well as how it produces our modern notions of self, love, nature, gender, and race.

This course is writing intensive, so we will review concepts for crafting a rhetorical argument and using sources. Shorter response writing assignments throughout the semester will be used to practice these techniques in preparation for our two major writing assignments, which will go through a process of drafting, peer review, and revision. Pre-req: English 1000 or equivalent.