This survey of the earliest British literature focuses on student responses to the texts studied. Class members will be encouraged to participate in activities designed to open up the field of British literature to those who may not have ever studied or enjoyed it before. Texts may include Beowulf, some medieval lyric poetry, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Book of Margery Kempe, The Canterbury Tales, and some late medieval drama. Students will be expected to participate in various activities and discussions, write several short papers, including letters, as well as help plan and participate in a Medieval Feast at the semester's end. This course explores stories, poems, letters and other writings of American authors from the first settlement at Jamestown to the beginning of the Civil War.
Attention is given to both literary characteristics and historical contexts.
Requirements include short writing assignments in and out of class and one essay. This course explores what happens when novels are translated into the film or video medium. The major premise here is that an adaptation is an interpretation, just as valid as a critical essay, though in narrative rather than expository form. This course will examine the question of what it means to be American in our contemporary society. Through a series of fictional works and films, the course will focus on different aspects of our society, including race relations, immigration, individualism, popular culture, and the West.