This course covers over one thousand years of English writing, from Anglo-Saxon to Neoclassical literature. We will focus primarily on the relationship between ‘form’ and ‘history’ in seeking to understand this literature, where ‘form’ refers to a given text’s genre or mode (e.g., ‘revenge tragedy’), its linguistic and narrative characteristics, and so on, while ‘history’ means both material and cultural formations as these change through time. While we will engage closely with questions of traditional literary history, we will also consider how more recent ways of reading and thinking about literature’from deconstruction to queer theory’ might enrich our understanding of these mostly canonical works. The course will touch upon a number of ‘big’ themes in English literature, with particular emphasis on the rise of individualism and the impact of the Reformation on early-modern culture and thought.
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The ease of content will vary from student to student, but when tackling early English literature, be aware that you’re going to be reading medieval, Renaissance, and Restoration era texts. These are typically the texts that newer literature students struggle with, simply due to the fact that older form of English read almost like a different language. However, if you have an interest in literature and in taking other ELH courses, having the mindset that these texts are important to literary history will help greatly.
The workload consists mostly of analytical essays, and is quite manageable as most TAs are open to reading through essays, outlines, or discussing ideas and approaches for papers. Make use of their time and advice, as having their perspective as people who are familiar to literature studies will benefit you throughout the course and any other literature mods.
June 26, 2022 -
This mod was taught to me by Prof Riordan and he is wonderful. Thorough QnA, enjiyable online lectures and easy-to-understand works. I only wish i could have sat in a physical lecture theater and hear him speak passionately. The exam was 2 rounds, first a quote ID section and a short answer qn, then a long essay for the next half. It was an onlinr submission fot covid semester. I reccomend Prof Riordan highly
June 13, 2021
