This subject serves as a foundational unit for students undertaking studies in English Literature. English literature is itself, undoubtedly foundational to our modern lives. Literature has empowered our ability to communicate and interact with one another, whilst also forming a cultural bedrock upon which much of our contemporary entertainment and media is built. The rich and encapsulating Dramatics produced throughout human history have served to entertain and inform readers, whilst also critiquing societies and cultures throughout time.
The unit will provide students with an understanding of what literature is, why it is significant, how it functions, and how to examine it. The unit surveys seminal literature from the Classical period to the seventeenth century, examining critical texts such as Homer’s The Odyssey, Old English works such as Beowulf, as well as the work of William Shakespeare and John Milton (among others). It also investigates the origins of the English language and the impact of the Christian Bible on the English tongue.
Nil