Introductory description

This module will study a number of works of medieval and early modern literature in the context of contemporary beliefs and historical and social developments. The module will be taught by means of language classes (first term only) to introduce students to Middle English; lectures on the historical, cultural and critical context; and seminars to discuss particular texts.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Texts studied will include works by Chaucer, Sidney, Spencer, and Mary Wroth; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; early modern travel writing; medieval and early modern drama.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Show advanced skill in reading Middle English and a coherent understanding of the structure and history of the English language;
• Demonstrate a coherent and detailed understanding, informed where relevant by recent scholarship, of Medieval English literature (especially the work of Chaucer and his contemporaries), society and culture; of the forms and metres of English poetry; and of sixteenth-century and early seventeenth-century poetry, prose and drama in its intellectual and social context;
• Deploy accurately in relation to particular texts their knowledge of the relationships between different genres and of the historical and cultural contexts in which the texts studied were produced;
• Develop an independent and creative response to primary texts studied on the course;
• Describe and comment on particular aspects of recent research and scholarship.

Indicative reading list

Andrew and Waldron (ed.) Poems of the Pearl Manuscript (Exeter)
L. D. Benson (ed.) The Riverside Chaucer (Oxford)
S. Greenblatt et al. (ed.) The Norton Anthology of English Literature. The Sixteenth Century and Early Seventeenth Century. Volume B (rev. 10th edition, Norton, 2018)
D. Aers, Community, Gender and Individual Identity: English Writing 1360-1430 (1988)
J.A. Burrow, Medieval Writers and their Work 2nd edn (Oxford, 2008)
Maurice Keen, English Society in the Later Middle Ages 1348-1500 (Penguin, 1990)
Jerry Brotton, The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2006)
S.J. Greenblatt, Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare, 1980
Peter Marshall, The Reformation: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2009)
J. Guy, Tudor England (Oxford, 1988)

Research element

Research for essay

Subject specific skills

Show skill in reading Middle English and some understanding of the structure and history of the English language
Demonstrate some knowledge of Medieval English literature (especially the work of Chaucer and his contemporaries), society and culture
Show awareness of the forms and metres of English poetry
Demonstrate some knowledge of early modern literature and its intellectual and social context

Transferable skills

Essay writing and research skills