Course Description
A survey of Tudor literature, from the time of Henry VII to Elizabeth I. The course will attend to the verse, prose, and drama of the period in their cultural contexts.
Athena Title
Tudor Literature
Prerequisite
Two 2000-level ENGL courses or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 3000-level ENGL course) or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 2000-level CMLT course)
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course aims to introduce students to early Tudor literature, from the time of Henry VII to Elizabeth I. Reading from a representative sample of authors, students will gain knowledge and familiarity with the literature of the period, particularly works in verse, prose, and drama. They will gain the ability to place this literature and its many forms in its cultural context and in dialogue with literature from other periods. Students will achieve a considerable degree of critical sophistication and the ability to discuss the works in question both independently and in class, orally and in writing. The course will provide students with familiarity with different historical, literary, and theoretical approaches to early literature.
Topical Outline
While individual texts will vary from year to year and instructor to instructor, the course will cover the same broad strokes: this course provides a survey of authors writing in the early Tudor period, from the reign of Henry VII to Elizabeth I. Versions of this course might focus particularly on Tudor poetry in its cultural context, with attention to the evolution of verse in this period. The course might examine the rise of novel verse forms in English, alongside the development of older verse forms. A focus on verse might bring English literature into conversation with literature from elsewhere in Europe or focus on the variety of poetic forms in early Tudor literature. Other versions of this course might focus on the transition in this period from manuscript to print, with attention to the material forms of Tudor literature. Readings might draw on prefaces written by early printers, such as William Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde, and Thomas Pynson, as well as new ways of publishing poetry, like Tottel’s Miscellany. Such a focus will examine how manuscript and print overlap, and how forms of writing and printing influence the production and reading of literature. Further possible topics might include the relationship of literature to religious, technological, and political changes in the period. Such a version of the course might attend in particular to the role of the Tudor court in the dissemination of literature and the creation of audiences. Students will become familiar with the vast societal and cultural changes in the period and understand how contemporary writers responded to those changes. Sample authors might include John Skelton, Stephen Hawes, Thomas More, Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Anne Askew, George Gascoigne, and Elizabeth I.
Syllabus