LIT 3112 Spring 2020 Coldiron

This course offers a selective survey of literature composed in English, from roughly the 7th century CE (the date of the oldest extant poem in Old English, "Caedmon's Hymn") to 1798 (the date of the manifesto in the Preface to Wordsworth and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads). Focusing on genre, form, technique, and socio-historical contexts (including transnational contexts), we will seek both a broad, "big picture" view of 1,000 years of earlier English literary history and a "close reading" view of particular authors and works that form the broader survey. The course aims to build your skills of literary analysis and your knowledge of literary history.