English 45A

Book List

Chaucer, Geoffrey: Canterbury Tales (15 Tales and the General Prologue); Greenblatt, Stephen: Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 1; Milton, John: Paradise Lost

Description

This course will concentrate on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Spenser’s Faerie Queene(Book I), and Milton’s Paradise Lost; additional works from the Norton Anthology will be read for literary and historical context. If this course has a thesis, it is that English authors, while cognizant of native literary traditions, looked to ancient Greece and Rome, and to contemporary France and Italy, for inspiration and approval. Written work for the semester will consist of several quizzes, one midterm exam, three papers, and a final exam. Students must be prepared to attend lectures and discussion sections faithfully.