SURVEY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE I

Specific Foundation

Specific Foundation / Core

Upon successful completion of the course, students will have achieved the following: -familiarity with a broad spectrum of English literature from the Middle Ages to the early 18th C. -familiarity with the English language as it developed up to the 18th C--through the reading of the texts in the language in which they were originally written. -strengthening of the historical consciousness and the understanding that the literature of a people is related to that people's history--through the contextual study of literary texts and historical contexts. -strengthening of the theoretical and critical thought--through a comparative approach of the common issues faced by the various periods (love, marriage, relation between the two sexes, religion etc).

Lit 6-260 (group a) Survey of English Literature I Winter Semester 2024-2025 Dr Effie Botonaki Course Description (based on The Norton Anthology, 10th edition) This course offers an overview of English Literature from the late medieval period, through the Renaissance, to the Restoration and the dawn of the Neoclassical Age. The emphasis is on the literary texts, but equally important are the various con-texts (social, religious, ideological, political) that determine their meaning and show the wider forces at work in the shaping of ideas and social practices. The general aim of the course is to enable students to understand how the literary representations relate to the changing historical conditions and at the same time to familiarize them with the development of English literature over a course of about six centuries. Expected learning outcomes: • Familiarization of students with the changes that took place from the medieval to the early modern periods. • Ability to connect literary texts to social and historical context. • Improvement of the students’ critical skills. Method of assessment: A final exam. A bonus of 0.5-1 grade will be added to the final exam grade for those who participate (on a regular basis) in elearning forums and class discussions. Required primary texts: (1) The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 10th ed. (2) Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (to be acquired from the free market or accessed through the internet): https://www.shakespeareswords.com/Public/Play.aspx?WorkId=32 This website offers you the original text, a modern version of it, as well as a glossary and valuable explanatory notes. You can download and save the entire text (all the Acts/scenes in one pdf file). A pdf of this edition is uploaded on elearning. https://www.folger.edu/romeo-and-juliet You can download the original text for free but without any of the notes of the Folger edition (you have access to them only if you buy the book). A pdf of this edition (without the notes) is uploaded on elearning Secondary Text: Κροντήρη, T. Ο Σαίξπηρ, η Αναγέννηση κι Εμείς. Thessaloniki, University Studio Press, 2001, chapters 1, 2, 4-6. We have several copies of it in the Departmental Library. Course Syllabus Session 1. General Introduction to the course. The Middle Ages: From the Romans to the Normans; feudalism; class structure of feudal society; family & marriage; the role of the church; development of literature. Read: “Middle English Literature” (Norton Anthology, Vol. A, 10th ed., pp. 14-20); “Feudalism – a Definition essay,” “Conquests of Britain- from Romans to Normans,” and “Medieval England – Social Structure” (all three on e-learning). Session 2. Thomas of England, Le Roman de Tristran (Norton, Vol. A, 10th , 138-143); background on Romance (Norton, Vol. A, 10th, pp. 158-159); “Romance and Courtly Love” (e-learning); Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love, trans. John Parry, pp. 28-36 & 184-186 (e-learning). Session 3. Introduction to Chaucer & “The General Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales & (Norton, Vol. A, 10th, pp. 256-262, up to line 18 of the text); Chaucer, “The Franklin’s Tale” (e-learning, prefer the interlinear translation). Optional reading: “Medieval English” (Norton, Vol. A, 10th, pp. 20-26). Session 4. The Early Modern Age: Renaissance Humanism, Protestant Reformation, Tudor Politics; court & courtiers; patriarchy. Read: “The Sixteenth Century” (Norton, Vol. B, 10th ed., pp. 3-21); “Women in Power” (Norton, Vol. B, 10th, p.193); Excerpts from conduct books written by Dod, Cleaver and Smith, prescribing the proper conduct of husbands and wives (e-learning); Erasmus, “Woman in childbed” (e-learning); Queen Elizabeth, “Tilbury speech” (Norton, Vol. B, 10th, pp. 221-222, 234-235); An Homily Against Disobedience & Willful Rebellion (Norton, Vol. B, 10th, pp. 164-167). Session 5. Renaissance courtly love & the Petrarchan sonnet. Read: “An Elizabethan Miscellany” (Norton, Vol. B, 10th, pp. 502-503); summary of Book 4 of Castiglione’s Courtier (in e-learning); excerpts from Castiglione’s The Courtier (Norton, Vol. B, 10th, pp. 176-183 up to the first 4 lines); Philip Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella (sonnets 1, 9, 37, 71). Session 6. Edmund Spenser’s Amoretti (sonnets 1, 64, 67, 74). Introduction to William Shakespeare (Norton, Vol. B, 10th, pp. 718-722) Shakespeare’s Sonnets, 18, 130, 138 (all in Norton). “The Elizabethan Theatre” (Norton, Vol. B, 10th, pp. 27-33). Session 7. Romeo and Juliet Session 8. Romeo and Juliet Session 9. Romeo and Juliet Session 10. The Early 17th Century: from female to male monarch, the strengthening of patriarchy; navigations & colonial aspirations, scientific discoveries, changes in mood and literary style; the “strong lines” of John Donne & his followers. Read: “The Early Seventeenth Century 1603-1660” (Norton, Vol. B, 10th, pp. 891-910); John Donne, “The Flea”; Holy Sonnets 10 (“Death, be not proud”) and 14 (“Batter my heart”); Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress” (all in Norton, Vol. B). Session 11. Read “The Revolutionary Era, 1640-1660” (Norton, Vol. B, 10th, pp. 910-914). “Crisis of Authority” (Norton, Vol. B, 10th, 1384-1385); “The Execution of Charles I” (Norton, Vol. B, 10th, pp. 1388-1391); Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I: lines 1-26; Book IV: lines 285-535; Book IX: lines 531-612, 678-833; 990-1066; Book X: lines 862-965, Book XII: lines 607-649 (all in Norton, Vol. B). Session 12. The Late 17th & Early 18th Century: The restoration of monarchy, libertinism, the emphasis on Reason, international trade. Read: Introduction to “The Restoration and the eighteenth century” (Norton, Vol. C, 10th, pp. 3-5 and 8-14); John Locke, from “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” (Norton, Vol. C, 10th, p. 106—the first two paragraphs); Addison, “The Royal Exchange” (Norton, Vol. C, 10th, pp. 471-473). Session 13. Satire John Dryden, from “A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire” (Norton, Vol. C, 10th, 83-84); Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal” (Norton, Vol. C, 10th, pp. 454-460).

Middle Ages, Renaissance, humanism, Reformation, 17th century, Restoration, English literature, poetry, drama, theatre, epic

12-06-2025