Early British Literature covers a millennium of writing in English, from the early medieval period through the eighteenth century. British literature becomes a significant cultural and imaginative force with the rise of vernacular literature in the medieval and early modern fields. The key works and authors remain points of reference not just in later periods of British literature, but also for American and post-colonial writers. Early British writers developed an array of forms (poetry, prose, drama) and genres (narrative verse, epic, allegory, lyric poetry, historical writing, sermon, dramatic tragedy, satire, the novel, and more) that provided the foundations for English literature.
Possible courses for the Early British Literature cluster:
- ENGL 221: British Literature to 1798
- ENGL 405: Taking Shakespeare from Page to Stage
- ENGL 407: History of the English Language
- ENGL 440: Studies in Shakespeare
- ENGL 441: Chaucer
- ENGL 442: English Medieval Literature
- ENGL 443: The English Renaissance
- ENGL 444: Shakespeare
- ENGL 445: Shakespeare’s Contemporaries
- ENGL 446: Milton
- ENGL 447: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century
- ENGL 478: The English Novel to Jane Austen
The following courses may qualify for the Early British literature, depending on their content:
- ENGL 301M: Honors Seminar in English: Literature before 1800
- ENGL 400: Authors, Texts, Contexts
- ENGL 401: Studies in Genre
- ENGL 445: Topics in British Literature
- ENGL 297: Special Topics
- ENGL 397: Special Topics
- ENGL 497: Special Topics
- ENGL 487W: Senior Seminar