Time Schedule:
Nicholas Halmi
ENGL 202
Seattle Campus
Gateway course designed for English pre-majors and majors. Introduces critical, historical, and theoretical frameworks important to studying the literature, language, and cultures of English. Concurrent registration with ENGL 197 required.
Class description
WINTER 2008: As a “gateway” to the English major, and hence a preparation for later courses, this course is intended to introduce students to contemporary debates in literary history, literary theory, and the interpretation of literary works. We shall study both literary and critical/theory works, paying particular attention to the historical contexts in which they emerge and in which our own discussion of them occurs. The emphasis will be on intensive rather than extensive reading, “exemplary” rather than “representative” texts and issues: this is not a survey course. We shall focus on two periods in English literary history, conventionally designated the Renaissance (or early modern period) and Romanticism, the first pre-industrial and the second corresponding to the beginning of industrialization. The types of literature we shall read include lyric poetry, verse drama, and prose fiction; the types of criticism/theory include formalism, feminism, and cultural materialism. Required texts: Shakespeare, Tempest (Norton); Austen, Mansfield Park (Norton); photocopied course packet available late Dec. at the Ave Copy Shop.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
WINTER 2008: Please buy the course packet from the Ave Copy Shop, 4141 University Way, before the class begins and bring it to the first lecture. The course packet will be used for most of the assigned readings. The Norton Critical Editions of Shakespeare's Tempest and Austen's Mansfield Park are available at the Campus Book Store.
Class assignments and grading
