ENGL 2211 - English Literature of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Course Description

Continuing from ENGL 2111: English Literature from Chaucer to Milton, this course examines some of the key writings of major authors in English literature from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The reading list is drawn from a list that includes Pope, Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Keats, Austen, Arnold, Tennyson and Browning. Attention is also given to the political, philosophical, social, and religious atmospheres of what we now call the Neo-Classical, the Romantic, and the Victorian periods of English literature.

Learning outcomes

• Perform close critical readings of English literature circa 1700-1900 CE (Augustan, Romantic, and Victorian periods), demonstrating fluent comprehension of course texts.
• Critically and creatively evaluate a variety of literary genres, literary movements, and influential writers, making thematic and stylistic comparisons.
• Critically and creatively interpret literary texts, applying literary terminology, techniques, and rhetorical strategies appropriately.
• Critically reflect on and articulate the complexities and assumptions of various historical perspectives and cultural assumptions employed by writers.
• Compose analytical essays that investigate a topic, using an articulate thesis, scholarly argument, and academic citations.
• Write with proficiency at a university-level, grammatical style.

Course topics

• Unit 1: English Literature of the Restoration and the Eighteenth Century—The Writing of Dryden, Swift, Pope, Montagu, and Burney
• Unit 2: English Literature of the Romantic Period—The Poetry of Barbauld, Smith, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Keats
• Unit 3: Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey in Its Social and Literary Context
• Unit 4: English Literature of the Victorian Period—The Poetry of Barrett Browning, Tennyson, Browning, and Arnold

Required text and materials

Students have free access to a number of Open Educational Resources (OER), directly within the course.

Students are also asked to watch the following film, which is available to rent or buy on various streaming platforms:

For Print Students the study guide and assignment file are individual files.

Note: The above print files can be purchased through the Wolfie's Campus Store.

Assessments

To successfully complete this course, students must achieve a passing grade of 50% or higher on the overall course, and 50% or higher on the final mandatory exam.

Prerequisites

• None

Recommended requisite(s)

• ENGL 2111

Exclusions

• Students with credit for UBC’s ENGL 201 may not take this course for further credit.  
• ENGL 2210