The course traces the development of English literature from the beginnings through the early modern period, emphasizing the distinctive cultural orientation dominant in each period and showing how that orientation conditions the way we under-stand representative works of literature. It provides a skeletal framework for the sequence of “periods” in English literature by focusing on major figures and characteristic genre.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: Two mid-term examinations and a final ex-amination.

REQUIRED TEXT: The Norton Anthology of English Literature. The Major Authors. 8th (or earlier) edition. New York and London: Norton.