ENGL C231: Survey of British Literature: Beginning-1785
Professor Gary Enns
Professor Gary Enns
Welcome to the liquid syllabus of English C231! Consider this page an early jumpstart to your semester, providing you an opportunity to preview the class and to dive into a few first assignments if you so choose. Reading through this page is your first bold step on the road to developing strong academic critical thinking and writing skills.
My name is Gary Enns, and I am your instructor and coach. If you need anything or have any questions, large or small, don't hesitate to reach out! I am here to help you succeed. You will find my college contact information through the Cerro Coso directory.
Here is a little about myself: I am a creative writer and an avid reader, local stage actor, traveler, backpacker, and tennis player, among many other things. I received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from California State University, Fresno. Some of my stories and poems have appeared in journals such as Granta, Crazyhorse, The Missouri Review, Southern Humanities Review, The Wayfarer, and others. For more on my travels and writing, visit GaryEnns.com, and feel free to follow my public-facing Instagram, @Gary.S.Enns.
To learn more about this course, scroll down. For a quick start into the first weeks' assignments and some great literature from the semester, visit Getting Started and Literary Works. For the course's academic honesty policy, including AI usage, see Academic Honesty.
Gary Enns
This course surveys the literature written in the British Isles up to the last quarter of the 18th century.
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."
So says Jaques, the melancholy counterpart to the lovesick Orlando in Shakespeare's As You Like It.
In this course we will explore many rich literary works, and if indeed we are all merely players on the grand stage of life, then the characters we study in our great literature are representations of ourselves.
This course studies English literature from Anglo-Saxon times to the end of the Eighteenth Century. You can expect to study weekly lessons on history and literature and enjoy weekly readings of some of the English-speaking world's most cherished literary treasures, including
Beowulf
The Lais of Marie de France
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
Julian of Norwich's The Book of Showings
William Shakespeare's Richard III
John Milton's Paradise Lost
Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver, by Thomas M. Balliet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In brief, here are the major units of the class:
Weeks 1-2: Anglo Saxon Literature - Beowulf
Weeks 3-4: Anglo Norman Literature - The Lais of Marie de France
Weeks 5-6: Middle English Literature - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Weeks 7-8: Middle English Literature - Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
Week 9: Middle English - Julian of Norwich's The Book of Showings
Weeks 10-11: Modern English - William Shakespeare's Richard III
Weeks 12-13: Early 17th Century - John Milton's Paradise Lost
Weeks 14-15: Restoration - Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels
All that you need for any given week is provided in the weekly Canvas module. Simply move through the items in the module, study, and complete them in order.
For the purpose of this course, weekly modules run from Tuesday to Monday, allowing you the weekend plus a day to complete the work of the module.
A typical week will consist of written (and often video-accompanied) lessons, a quiz or two (or three), a journal entry focused on the lessons of the week, and a discussion with peers and professor.
Plan ahead for the following due date pattern:
Mondays to Tuesdays: Finishing up readings
Wednesdays: Most journal entries or quizzes due
Thursdays: First discussion posts due
Fridays to Saturdays: Completing any readings/studies as needed
Sundays: Discussion responses to peers and professor due
Grendel, by Joseph Ratcliffe Skelton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
This is a zero textbook cost course, meaning no book purchases are required. Good news! Save your money. For a list of titles and alternative modes, see Literary Works.
To navigate this course and to complete essential assignments, you will need the following:
reliable computer (PC or Mac will do)
up-to-date browser: Mozilla Firefox and/pr Google Chrome are recommended for full Canvas functionality.
word processor: Google Docs is recommended and provided with your college Google account
PDF reader: Adobe Acrobat Reader is free to download.
Regular, active participation is expected of all students enrolled in the college. A student shall be dropped by the instructor for lack of active participation prior to the census (20%) date and any time up to the 60% date when the student is not actively participating.
This course prepares you to
Compose formal written analyses of texts that demonstrate appropriate academic discourse and the conventions of literary analysis.
Define, identify, and analyze literary and dramatic techniques in the works.
Identify key elements of literary genres in order to analyze and interpret texts.
Read actively and critically a selection of literary works of English literature from Anglo-Saxon times to the end of the eighteenth century.
Relate literary works to their historical, cultural, and aesthetic contexts.
Research appropriate primary and secondary sources and apply documentation skills without plagiarism.
More specifically, this course teaches you to
Demonstrate familiarity with major authors, works, genres, and themes of the period.
Analyze and interpret the literature and intellectual movements of the period.
Demonstrate understanding of appropriate academic discourse and the conventions of critical literary analysis.
Relate the literary works to their historical, philosophical, social, political, and aesthetic contexts.
Demonstrate comprehension of the above through class discussion, written exams, and essays.
To jump into the first weeks' assignments early, visit Getting Started.
For an explanation of this course's plagiarism and artificial intelligence policies, visit the Academic Honesty page.