Welcome to ENGL 281: Introduction to Renaissance Literature. In the header of this blog you will find tabs that will take you to the pages featuring the information and resources for the course. You will find an “Announcements” page that will be updated regularly with messages from the instructor regarding the course. Please read this blog carefully, save or print the documents included here, and check regularly for updates.
On this page you will find the basic course description contact and course delivery details.
| Class Details | ||
| Class Time | MW 8:30-10:20 | Please arrive on time. |
| Class Location | ROOM CHANGE: WE ARE NOW IN 5-172 |
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| Class Blog | http://blogs.unbc.ca/engl281 | All assignments, messages from the instructor(s), announcements, and supplementary materials will be available here. Students are expected to check this blog regularly. |
| Dr. Dickson’s Phone | 250-960-5364 | |
| Dr. Dickson’s Email Address | Lisa.Dickson@unbc.ca | Use your official UNBC email address ONLY for correspondence with instructors. |
| Office Hours | Monday 10:30-12:30: Drop-In; first-come, first-served;
Thursday 1:00-5:00: Available for appointments; email me by Wednesday at 4:30 for a time slot
Location: ADMIN 3005 |
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| ENGL Admin Assistant | Phone: 250-960-5712
Email: Kathy.Shaw@unbc.ca |
Any assignments handed in outside of class MUST be signed and date-stamped by the Admin Assistant. |
Course Description
The “English Renaissance” was a time of great growth and upheaval during which the nation witnessed the circumnavigation of the world, the development of English nationalism and imperialism, religious schism and the Reformation, and the horrors of regicide and the Civil War. This period also saw the explosion of English literature as the English language began to make a claim to the beauty and expressiveness formerly ascribed only to the “international,” scholarly languages of the Continent. This course will introduce students to the poetry, prose and drama of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Touching on such important contextual documents as the speeches of Queen Elizabeth and The Book of Homilies, we will place the works of such writers as Marlowe, Spenser, Sidney, Lanyer, Philips, and Milton in their political, social and religious contexts. We will also be paying careful attention to the important formal aspects of the works. While classes will include lectures, there will be a strong emphasis on discussion and class participation, as we will also be developing reading, communication, interpretation, research and writing skills. Students are expected to attend every class and to arrive having read and considered assigned material. Discussion questions distributed in advance by the instructor will be the basis of class work. Please make sure you come to class with notes for these discussions.
Required Text
The Norton Anghtology of English Literature. 9th edition. Vol. B