Title: EARLY ENGLISH LITERATURE

PRQ:

This course will combine lectures and discussion in order to work towards an understanding of Old and Middle English literature and the cultural contexts within which it was created.  We will read heroic poetry, religious poetry, riddles, romances, and lyrics.  All of the Old English and some of the Middle English will be read in modern translation.  The use of a “smart” classroom will enable us to incorporate visual materials into the curriculum. This course fulfills the major requirement for literature before 1500.

Two exams (midterm and final); Four quizzes; Two papers (4-5 pp.); Regular attendance, preparation, and participation

The Earliest English Poems, tr. by Michael Alexander; Beowulf: A Verse Translation, tr. by Michael Alexander; Middle English Literature, ed. by Charles W. Dunn and Edward T. Byrnes; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Sir Orfeo, tr. by J. R. R. Tolkien.