Course Catalog - 2024-2025

     

ENGL 210 - BEGINNINGS: BRIT LIT TO 1800

Long Title: BEGINNINGS: BRITISH LITERATURE TO 1800
Department: English
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Language of Instruction: Taught in English
Course Type: Lecture
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions:
Must be enrolled in one of the following Level(s):
Undergraduate Professional
Visiting Undergraduate
Undergraduate
Description: "Beginnings" is a course about the emergence and development of English literature. It is a backgrounds class for majors and non-majors who are interested in reading, and/or in creative writing, and who want to understand the literary past and how it remains with us. You will leave the class with 1) a clear and informed grasp of the major authors, texts, and literary movements from the Middle Ages through the British Enlightenment, 2) some answers to why we should still care about these "early" authors and their writing now, and 3) sharpened skills in reading and appreciating poetry and literary forms generally. Our class will approach our literary past with openness and curiosity for what it might hold for us, remembering that we can’t find our voices without knowing something about the traditions, legacies, and heritages that precede and shape us. (This class fulfills the pre-1800 requirement for the English major as well as Humanities distribution.)