Students in this course will gain a foundational knowledge of the major texts and developments of English literature from its inception. The course fulfills the 120 requirement for the English major and minor. Starting with Beowulf, we will survey the tradition’s most durably influential figures, including Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, Pope, Swift, Blake, Wordsworth, and Tennyson. We will also explore works more recently added to the canon, by Mary Wroth, Aphra Behn, Olaudah Equiano, and Mary Wollstonecraft. Along the way, we will reflect on theories of the canon and on what a literary period is (for instance, the Middle Ages, the Romantic Era), and how periodization continues to shape the study of literature. Like 120, this course emphasizes the close reading of significant texts, in class discussion and essay writing.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 15

Prerequisites: Not open to students who have taken ENG 216.

Instructor: Noggle

Distribution Requirements: LL - Language and Literature

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered

Notes: This course can substitute ENG 120 as a requirement to the major.