FALL SEMESTER OVERVIEW

During the first semster of British World Literature, students will conduct a chronological survey of British literature, from the Old English time period through the Age of Reason (also known as the Age of Enlightenment). Students will examine the effects of culture upon literature and art and vice versa.

 

Essential Questions:

• How does the past influence the present?

• How is literature influenced by culture?

• How does culture influence literature?

• How are our ideas about ourselves influenced by literature and art of the past?

• How do our ideas about ourselves shape our views of the past and the present?

• What is the purpose of mythology?

• How are literary archetypes metaphors for man?

• How can humankind change society through language? 

 

 

 UNIT I: LITERARY ARCHETYPES 

OLD ENGLISH TIME PERIOD (449 A.D. - 1066 A.D.) 

Students will examine the evolution of the early epic hero and how this hero evolved due to the advent of Christianity in Britain.

 

UNIT II: THE ROMANTIC CODE 

MIDDLE AGES (1066 A.D. - 1487 A.D.)

Students will examine the continuing evolution of the hero through an analysis of the questing mythic hero in the literature of the Middle Ages.

 

UNIT III: THE STORYTELLING TRADITION 

MIDDLE AGES (1066 A.D. - 1487 A.D.)

Students will examine the tradition of storytelling as a means to express common values.

 

UNIT IV: LOVE AND DRAMA 

THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE (1487 A.D. - 1660 A.D.)

Students will examine the Renaissance perception of love and the cosmic concept of Shakespeare’s tragic hero as a reflection of the

self.

 

 UNIT V: THE LANGUAGE OF CRITICISM 

THE AGE OF REASON (1660 - 1798) 

Students will analyze the foundations of critical observation and social commentary in British literature and recognize how authors employ language as a tool to incite change.