ENGL 2220 - British Literature to 1800

1. Analyze a variety of texts from the earliest Middle Ages through the Restoration.
2. Understand that literature reflects the philosophical, religious, or historical norms and values of specific cultures at specific times.
3. Use various writing techniques to practice literary analysis.
4. Identify the presence of literary elements in genres such as fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or drama.
5. Apply a critical approach to analyze selected works of British literature.
6. Recognize the differences in the values and ideas within the British Empire at this time compared to present day American values and ideas.
7. Understand the changes in language, specifically how Old English changes to become Middle English, and Middle English in turn changes to become what we now understand as modern English.
8. Comprehend the ways in which literature helps us celebrate differences and better understand ourselves, other people, and the world around us.

1. The study of various forms of literature.
2. A brief overview of the times (religious, philosophical, political) during which the literature was written.
3. Literary elements and devices as they are used in the literary genres.
4. Critical and/or affective writing in response to works of literature.
5. Critical approaches to literature (may include, but not be limited to, reader-response, feminist, biographical, historical, psychological, deconstruction, archetypal, and new criticism).
6. Interpreting and evaluating literature and developing support for these interpretations and evaluations.
7. Recognizing the role of fiction, creative non-fiction, drama, and poetry as cultural, historical, political, and personal artifacts.
8. Recognizing the role of literature as a cultural artifact that explains the behaviors and interactions among the people, values, and institutions of early Britain.
9. Viewing literature as historical documentation that can be used to investigate the societal behaviors and values of early Britain.
10. Topics covering Middle English Period (including the changes from Old to Middle English language), the Renaissance, the Elizabethan Period, the early Seventeenth Century and the time of the Restoration and the Eighteenth Century.
11. Authors covered may include authors such as Chaucer, Malory, Spenser, Sidney, Campion, Shakespeare, Johnson, More, Bacon, Marlow, Dryden, Gay, Swift, Pope, Johnson, Herrick, Herbert, Milton, Marvell, and Goldsmith.