ENGL2140 Epochs of English

2020

4.5

1 x 2-hour seminar weekly

1 9 Units of level one ENGL topics
2 4.5 Units of level one ENGL
3 COMS1001 - Academic and Professional Communication
Must Satisfy: ((1) or (2 and 3))

This is a core topic for the English major because it focuses directly and critically on the two core practices of literary interpretation: literary history and close reading. The topic will give students a firm grasp of the story of English literature, and as such, it provides a crucial background for the study of literature in English and for students' wider cultural literacy. It also focuses on developing an advanced understanding of the theory and practice of the central skill of literary study: close reading. There is a core body of literary-historical knowledge that we will gain through study of a textbook, and the practice of close reading will be pursued through attention to some of the most famous poems in the language, which will be anthologised in a course booklet.

This topic aims to:

• give an account of the major periods of English Literature

• clarify the protocols and practice of the principal skill of literary study, close reading

• pursue these literary historical and hermeneutic goals through examples primarily from canonical poetry

On completion of this topic students will be able to demonstrate:

• a survey knowledge of cultural history as it impinges on canonical English literature

• a practical and theoretical grasp of the technique of close reading

• an appreciation of a number of canonical poems in the English tradition