Course Syllabus

ENGL 2610 British Literature I

Course Description

The course focuses on the development of ideas, movements, and genres in British Literature from its beginnings through the eighteenth century (1700s) as illustrated through representative texts.

Justification

A lower division survey of British literature is standard at most colleges and universities. This course will transfer as General Education, elective, or major credit. It fulfills General Education credit within the Humanities category (HU) and a major requirement for English majors.

General Education Outcomes

1. A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to understand the value of literature in making meaning within evolving cultural and sub-cultural contexts. Students will be able to read and discuss a selection of texts from the earliest English writings through the eighteenth century (1700s) in order to understand its development and the way writings culturally impacted the immediate and surrounding regions.
2. A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to apply the disciplinary research methodology of primary text close reading and analysis.
3. A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to use insights from history, geography, economics, political science, religious studies and/or other relevant fields and areas in order to better contextualize, understand, and respond to works of early British literature.
4. A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to critically analyze and evaluate literary texts. They will also be able to understand the development of ideas, movements and genres in the foundational periods of English writing and literature, from the Middle Ages through the eighteenth century.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes

1. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to explore and explain how humans responded to the conditions of their time through study of the works of English writers from the Middle Ages through the eighteenth century (1700s). Students will be able to identify philosophical questions about human thought and experience in British literary texts, and from their own related experiences. Students will be able to articulate the ways in which these authors have asked and answered these questions and join their voices to the larger academic conversation. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to explore and explain how humans responded to the conditions of their time through study of the works of English writers from the Middle Ages through the eighteenth century (1700s). Students will be able to identify philosophical questions about human thought and experience in British literary texts, and from their own related experiences. Students will be able to articulate the ways in which these authors have asked and answered these questions and join their voices to the larger academic conversation.
2. EXPLAIN: Explain how humanities artifacts take on meaning within networks or systems (such as languages, cultures, values, and worldviews) that account for the complexities and uncertainties of the human condition. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to read a range of early British literary texts from the Middle Ages through the eighteenth century as examples of the complexities and uncertainties within the human condition. Students will be able to understand how history, audience, authorial choices in relation to the text, and personal biases impact the reading of a text. Students will be able to carefully examine and clearly articulate how these texts and other artifacts generate meaning with various audiences, both on their own, and dialectically in relation to others such artifacts.
3. ANALYZE: Analyze humanities artifacts according to humanities methodologies, such as a close analysis, questioning, reasoning, interpretation, and critical thinking. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to closely and critically read the works of early British Literature from the Middle Ages through the eighteenth century, analyzing language, poetic and dramatic structures, and themes.
4. COMPARE AND CONTRAST: Compare and contrast diverse humanistic perspectives across cultures, communities, and/or time periods to explain how people make meaning of their lives. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to understand, compare, and contrast cultural and community development across early British Literature from the Middle Ages through the eighteenth century as presented through the writings of the times. They will be able to discuss representative works of early British Literature in historical context and understand how people make meaning of their lives throughout time.
5. APPLY: Using humanities perspectives, reflect on big questions related to aesthetics, values, meaning, and ethics and how those apply to their own lives.  Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to examine a variety of questions about human thought and experience (e.g. love, life and death, the family, religious thought, the state, and social inequities such as class, race, gender, and sexuality) within the works of early British Literature, from the Middle Ages through the eighteenth century, exploring how they might answer these questions for themselves.

Course Content

This course will address a selection of literary works of British Literature from the Medieval (early and late), Early Modern, Restoration, and Eighteenth-Century eras, including poetry, fiction, drama, essays, and criticism.The selections for the course will include texts that demonstrate the variety of voices, genres, and ideas present in Britain from the Middle Ages through the end of the eighteenth century (1700s). Works will be in translation where necessary and may involve comparisons of original and translated texts. Emphasis will be given to understanding major concepts of the periods as they are demonstrated by the literature (i.e. shifts in language, genres, and religion; tensions of social class, gender, national identities, and concepts of liberty; etc.). The course will focus on close reading, literary conventions, historical influences, contextual and textual analysis, critical thinking, and writing. The course may be organized thematically or chronologically. As a survey course, it should reflect the variety and complexity of literary output during the periods.