About the Course

This survey of English literature from the reigns of the Tudor through the Stuart monarchs spans a range of significant historical and cultural events: the use of print to reproduce and distribute written material; the Lutheran, and then English Reformations; several shifts in the state church between Catholicism and Protestantism; England's strengthening into a formidable military power; the flowering of English as a poetic language, and of the theatre that would become synonymous with Shakespeare; England's dominance over Ireland and establishment of colonies in the New World; a civil war and the beheading of a king; vast increases in literacy, publication rates, and publications by women; and the restoration of a monarchy that would signal victory to the witty playwrights of the Restoration while indicating defeat for authors such as Milton and his Puritan contemporaries.

In the context of such a rich time period, this course examines a collection of literary works through five intertwining strands of inquiry that weave throughout four basic eras. The areas of inquiry include

1) travel, exploration, and imagining new worlds;
2) religious reformations,
3) English as a literary tongue,
4) gender, and
5) monarchy and forms of rule.

The eras through which the texts of the course will be arranged consist of the reigns of

1) the early Tudor monarchs (Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary),
2) Elizabeth I,
3) James of the House of Stuart, and
4) Charles I and Charles II of the house of Stuart, interrupted by the English Civil War and Protestant dissidents.

These organizing principles by which the course is organized include a range of literary genres, including prose romances and utopias, travel narratives, lyrics, drama, epics, and argumentative fiction and prose.

Assignments

• One short (4-5-page) paper that makes connections between on the longer works on the syllabus and peripheral works (generally, in the anthology)
• One longer (8-page) paper that incorporates library research on at least one of the works on the syllabus
• A midterm exam (includes an in-class and an out-of-class component)
• One 1-2-page response to one of the plays, sent to the class or the class web site electronically (we'll devise a schedule soon and see what works best for you)
• A final exam
• Participation, in groups, in a text annotation project or a performance project, both of which require written reporting on our class WWW site and presentation to the class. The general shape of the project will take direction soon, in part through suggestions by class members. Projects also require a proposal in advance, at which point I will offer direction/ suggestions.

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