Literature in Britain: the 18th Century to the Present
Term 2
MWF, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
This survey will concentrate on literature in Britain from the eighteenth century to the present. We’ll begin with Mary Shelley’s 1818 edition of Frankenstein. We’ll definitely watch a film version of it, probably Kenneth Branagh’s. We’ll read Keats, with a focus on the great odes. We’ll read a twentieth century novel — possibly A.S. Byatt’s Possession. We’ll also acquire a technical knowledge of the mechanics of poetry: metre and rhythm, syntax and line, diction, metaphor, rhetoric. We’ll approach these poems and novels from the perspective of working poets—as if we were writing them. For your term paper you’ll have the option to write your own ode.
