WFU VIRTUAL STUDY ABROAD FAIR
ENG302 British Literature and Definitions of Britishness with Dr. Jessica Richard ([email protected])
This course will count toward the English major or minor or as Division II credit.
This course introduces students to the writing of major literary figures whose work challenges and redefines the nature of Britishness, from Shakespeare and Milton to Wordsworth, Jane Austen, and Zadie Smith. Against the backdrop of Cambridge University, where several of the writers we study attended, we will examine Milton’s role in the revolution that briefly toppled the monarchy (and which began in the nearby town of Ely). We will consider Shakespeare and Austen’s depictions of English history and futures, as well as the role their works play in the vast British heritage industry today. We will explore Wordsworth’s poetry of the English countryside. And we will study Zadie Smith of an example of the long history of multicultural and multiracial Britain.
Students will write reading responses and keep “commonplace books” tracing themes across the readings and processing their own experiences and definitions of Britishness.
The program will take advantage of its setting in the center of Cambridge as well as its close proximity to London. We will take day trips to Ely and London (including a visit to the British Library and a play at the Globe Theatre). The class will also take a 2-day trip to the Lake District to see Wordsworth’s home.
This course will count toward the English major or minor or as Division II credit.
This course introduces students to the writing of major literary figures whose work challenges and redefines the nature of Britishness, from Shakespeare and Milton to Wordsworth, Jane Austen, and Zadie Smith. Against the backdrop of Cambridge University, where several of the writers we study attended, we will examine Milton’s role in the revolution that briefly toppled the monarchy (and which began in the nearby town of Ely). We will consider Shakespeare and Austen’s depictions of English history and futures, as well as the role their works play in the vast British heritage industry today. We will explore Wordsworth’s poetry of the English countryside. And we will study Zadie Smith of an example of the long history of multicultural and multiracial Britain.
Students will write reading responses and keep “commonplace books” tracing themes across the readings and processing their own experiences and definitions of Britishness.
The program will take advantage of its setting in the center of Cambridge as well as its close proximity to London. We will take day trips to Ely and London (including a visit to the British Library and a play at the Globe Theatre). The class will also take a 2-day trip to the Lake District to see Wordsworth’s home.