Home: English Literature II

Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog
Caspar David Friedrich, 1818 (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Welcome to English Literature II!

This survey course will introduce you to English literature from the late 18th century to the present. The term English literature means literature from Great Britain. This would include literature primarily from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Canada. 

We study English literature because the influence of Great Britain and the British Empire--its language, culture, history, and so on--has profoundly influenced America, as well as other countries of the world. 

The periods of English literature that we will study in this course include the following: 

1. Romanticism (1785-1830)
2. The Victorian Age (1837-1901)
3. The Bloomsbury Group (1903-1964)
4. Modernism (1910-1965)
5. Existentialism (1850-Present)
6. Post-Modernism (1965-Present) ("Literary Periods & History Timeline," The Literature Network. Web 03 Dec. 2015. 2015) 

Course Objectives:

1. Students will be able to identify key characteristics of the literature and history of Romanticism, the Victorian Age, The Bloomsbury Group, Modernism, Existentialism, and Post-Modernism through six online quizzes that will be posted on the website over the course of the semester. 
2. Students will be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills and analysis of the readings through participation in online forum discussions.
3. Students will be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills and analysis of the readings through assigned written work, including weekly reading journals, short-paragraph response to assigned questions over the readings, two shorter papers (3-4 pages each), and one final paper (5 pages).
4. Students will be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills and analysis of the readings through three assigned online group discussions (Skype) over the course of the semester.