Partly we will accomplish this by reading a range of literature covering the period. This will help us to concentrate our energies on specific groups of questions and readings. In the process we'll be able to wrap our minds around contexts which can give the study of the period an enduring pleasure, not just a short-lived one. See the Course Calendar for more details. Let me give some examples of the general kinds of questions we'll be asking.
Literary criticism is all about issues.
It enables us find the threads which connect different writers and times. We need to become familiar with the methods of interpretation available to us to open issues up, and to understand the questions and answers earlier scholars have proposed. Interpretations do not exist in a vacuum, but exist within the context of earlier interpretations as well as contemporary culture. Each week there will several secondary readings. Weekly Work .