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Literature Before 1660

ENGL 020.301
instructor(s):

This discussion course is designed to familiarize students with key works of literature from Chaucer to Milton.  We will proceed chronologically within each genre, beginning with poetic narratives (Chaucer’s tales, Spenser’s romance, and Milton’s epic), continuing with the drama (a comedy and tragedy by Shakespeare), followed by lyric poems (Sidney, Donne, Jonson, Lanyer, Wroth, Herbert, and Marvell), and concluding with prose selections (from More’s Utopia and Pepy’s Diary).  While we will be situating these works in their historical and cultural contexts, emphasis will be on close reading.

Requirements:  Three short critical papers, occasional class exercises, midterm and final.

fulfills requirements
Sector 3: Early Literature to 1660 of the Standard Major