ENGL 20500 British Literature: Fact, Fiction, and Everything In-Between
GE-Human Culture: Literature Dragons, fairies, demons, gods and goddesses, a talking Holy Cross, and zombies—these are some of the strange and marvelous things that you will encounter in this course, along with the usual kings, knights, and ladies. We will examine literature from the full range of the British Isles, including the Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and Anglo-Norman cultures, stretching from the Old English epic Beowulf through Thomas Grey’s 1750 “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.” One thing we will consider throughout the term is whether or not medieval people “believed” some of these stories; and what might have been viewed as “real,” or “fiction,” or something between the two.
Credits
3