Spring 2008

E 316K • Masterworks of Literature: British (34690-34735)

Course Description

This course takes up some of the finest literature written in the English language. Beginning with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and making our way through various works by Shakespeare, Austen, and T.S. Eliot, among others, we will follow out the rich narrative of British literary history as it unfolded from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. Literary form and its relation to meaning will provide us with a special focus, as will the changing relations between authors and readers. We will also be attuned to the ways in which these literary works challenge us as both readers and citizens.

Grading Policy

Discussion Section-- Attendance, participation, short assignments 20%
Test One (regular semester) 25%
Test Two (regular semester) 25%
Cumulative Final Exam (administered at officially scheduled time during the final examination period) 30%

Texts

The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th edition, vols. 1 and 2
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (Oxford World's Classics)
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (Harcourt)
Harold Pinter, The Homecoming (Grove)
You must bring the relevant text to lecture and section.

Sample Authors:
Geoffrey Chaucer
William Shakespeare
John Milton
Alexander Pope

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