Basic course   – קורס מבוא

 

The course surveys the development of English culture over the centuries by looking at major works of English literature from the early Middle Ages to early Twentieth-Century Modernism. We will survey literary works by authors as diverse as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Sidney, Donne, Milton, Pope, Swift, Wordsworth, Blake, Keats, Coleridge, Conrad, Wilde, Eliot and Joyce. In each case we will consider the cultural context that gave rise to each work, and reflect on their overall place in the development of a growing English literary canon. In the process, we will reflect on the different changes in British culture as reflected in its emerging literary traditions, as we explore the complex tensions between text, context, and historical-literary perspectives.

 

Primary texts: Assigned weakly reading from the Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th volume, “The Major Authors”. All of the texts will be available to download from the course website or via links to online sources, though students who want to buy used copies of the anthology or editions of individual works are welcome to do so.

 

Requirements: As per university regulations, class attendance is compulsory. Failure to attend on a regular basis (as defined by the regulations) may result in penalties to the final grade or debarment from taking the final exam.

 

There will be three exams of relative weight dividing the course material into three parts (two mid-terms and a final).

The final grade will be calculated as follows:

midterm 1 – 30%,

midterm 2 – 30%,

final exam – 40%.