Major Authors in English Literature

ENGL A336 Major Authors in English Literature is a ten-credit, two-semester, higher-level undergraduate course within the HKMU Bachelor of Arts in Chinese and English programme.

The study of important and influential writers in English will deepen your understanding of literature, in English and in other languages. This course focuses on two representative works of four major authors in English literature. By studying these plays, poems and prose works — what their main literary features are, how they made an impact on their time, and how they continue to influence literature in English and other languages today, this course allows you to investigate how each author's personal style and thematic concerns are represented in their work. The authors will be placed in their context, and influences will be explored and examined, before the focus will move to each author's legacy, and how they contributed to paradigmatic change in literature.

This is a higher-level course designed for students with a solid foundation of English literature. This course consists of a study of major authors from classical to modern times. The authors William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Jane Austen and Margaret Atwood will be introduced. You will read a wide range of texts spanning some 400 years, and study different genres of literature, including poetry, novel and drama.

The course covers the following topics:

• An introduction to major authors in English literature
• William Shakespeare
• William Wordsworth
• Jane Austen
• Margaret Atwood

In this course you will broaden your appreciation of English literature and understanding of literary criticism by studying masterpieces by major authors and how they have contributed to paradigmatic change in literature. This course will first familiarize you with the relevant literary theories and concepts. The rest of the course is structured chronologically and moves from Elizabethan times up to the present, guiding you on a journey of exploration and examination of these canonical writers' lives, work and influence on literature. It will help you gain a deeper understanding of these important figures in English literature, as well as the influence and critical reception of their works.

Course aims

ENGL A336 Major Authors in English Literature aims to:

• provide you with a contemporary overview of the critical thought and current scholarship on these major authors in English literature and their work;
• equip you with a broad overview of the main schools of modern literary criticism and link these to the works and the authors which have been selected for this course; and
• develop your knowledge of these major authors: their biographical details and their characteristic styles and techniques.

Course learning outcomes

After completing ENGL A336 Major Authors in English Literature, you should be able to:

• situate the works and the authors contemporaneously, making reference to influences and conventions which were prevalent at the times the authors were publishing (LO1);
• assess the contribution of the authors in developing English literature, in whichever genre each author is known for and within wider literary domains (LO2);
• examine critically the works of the authors, identifying and explaining stylistic and thematic features (LO3);
• explain and discuss the links between these authors and their worlds, and how they have changed their artistic forms through their writing (LO4); and
• analyse critically the key features of the authors, with reference to theories of literature from their time and those of modern literary criticism (LO5).

This section provides information about what materials are needed, and how the assignments and marking are arranged. Please read it carefully.

Course materials

This course will be delivered using a custom textbook supplemented by study guides, study units, online multimedia components and face-to-face sessions.

In this custom textbook approach, different learning modules are selected by the course team from various books on the influential authors studied in this course, and organized into a single textbook specifically designed for ENGL A336 students. By incorporating the latest editions of book chapters and commentaries from different texts, the custom textbook will provide you with coverage of the stylistic and thematic features of each author, their context in their own time, and their impact and significance today.

Your study pathway through the custom textbook will be set out in a set of HKMU-produced 'study guide' booklets. Certain units of this course do not make reference to the custom textbook; these booklets are simply referred to as 'study units' and contain the core learning material for that unit.

In addition to guided activities and self-tests, the study guides or study units will include supplementary material and additional self-assessment opportunities. You will also have access to multimedia materials on HKMU's Online Learning Environment (OLE), and regular face-to-face meetings for tutorials.

Introductory video

To start off, you should watch the introductory video for the course in the ePub version of this Course Guide or on the OLE. Then turn to the first unit's study guide for further guidance through the course.

Study units / study guides

This course is divided into ten units. The first unit attempts to define what a 'major author ' is, with a theoretical discussion of literary criticism. Over the next eight units, the course will look at two notable works by each of the four major authors studied. The final unit will try to establish the links between these authors and English literature today. The course material also directs you to additional resources and readings, and includes a number of activities and self-tests to help you develop your analytical skills.

Below are descriptions of each of the ten units.

Unit 1 (Study Guide) What is a major author?

This unit tries to establish what a 'major author' is by introducing some of the most influential ideas in modern literary criticism. It will also evaluate the contributions of each of the authors chosen for study and explain how these authors and the chosen works were received in their own times, and how they are interpreted today.

Readings (included in your custom textbook)

• Bertens, H (2017) Literary Theory: The Basics, Routledge. Chapter 1: Reading for meaning: practical criticism and new criticism, pp. 4–27.

Unit 2 Reading 'what you will' into Twelfth Night

This unit evaluates Shakespeare's Twelfth Night according to a variety of critical perspectives and explains the historical and literary significance of the play's key themes and symbols. We will discuss various character interactions and the notion of cross-dressing in Elizabethan times. Through referencing this play, this unit will discuss and analyse the impact of Shakespeare on drama and the development of the English language.

Readings (included in the Appendix to the unit)

• Key passages from Massai, S (ed.) (2007) William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night: A Sourcebook, Routledge.

Unit 3 'Something wicked this way comes': Macbeth and motive

This unit evaluates Shakespeare's Macbeth according to a variety of critical perspectives and again explains the historical and literary significance of key themes and symbols. We will discuss and analyse the various character interactions and the notions of motive, agency and guilt. Through referencing this play, this unit will continue to look at Shakespeare's impact on drama, specifically on tragedy, and the development of the English language.

Readings (included in the Appendix to the unit)

• Key passages from Leggatt, A (ed.) (2006) William Shakespeare's Macbeth: A Sourcebook, Taylor & Francis.

Unit 4 (Study Guide) 'The breath and finer spirit of all knowledge': Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads

This unit evaluates William Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads according to a variety of critical perspectives. We will examine the key characteristics of Romantic poetry, the historical and literary significance of key themes and symbols, and the significance of the ballad form in Romantic poetry. This unit will look at the impact that Wordsworth and the Romantics had on poetry, and literary theory, referencing these works where applicable.

Readings (included in your custom textbook)

• Alexander, J H (2016) Reading Wordsworth, Routledge. Chapter 4: Lyrical Ballads (1798 and 1800), pp. 17–52.

Unit 5 (Study Guide) 'I cannot miss my way': The Prelude and Romanticism

This unit continues the exploration of Wordsworth's poetry and evaluates The Prelude from different critical perspectives. We will discuss the key characteristics of Romantic poetry as well as the themes and symbols in this text. This unit will further establish the influence of Wordsworth and the Romantics on poetry and literary theory.

Readings (included in your custom textbook)

• Alexander, J H (2016) Reading Wordsworth, Routledge. Chapter 5: The Prelude (1805), pp. 5–93.

Unit 6 'No enjoyment like reading': Pride and Prejudice and Austen's new novel

This unit situates Jane Austen in her historical context, with reference to the novel Pride and Prejudice. It will explain the impact of her gender on her work and on her career. It will explore the key features of Pride and Prejudice in relation to the literary theories of the time as well as to modern literary theory. This unit will guide you to analyse the novel by doing a close reading of certain key passages.

Readings (included in the Appendix to the unit)

• Key passages from Morrison, R (ed.) (2009) Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: A Routledge Study Guide and Sourcebook, Routledge.

Unit 7 'Faultless in spite of all her faults': Jane Austen and Emma

This unit continues to examine Jane Austen's work and the impact of her gender on her writing with reference to the novel Emma. It will explain key features of Emma in relation to the literary theories of the time as well as to modern literary theory. Again, this unit will guide you to analyse the novel by doing a close reading of certain key passages.

Readings (included in the Appendix to the unit)

• Key passages from Byrne, P (ed.) (2004) Jane Austen's Emma: A Sourcebook. Psychology Press.

Unit 8 (Study Guide) 'The gaps between the stories': Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

This unit situates Margaret Atwood in her historical context, with reference to The Handmaid's Tale. We will apply theories of postcolonial literature and feminism to interpret key features of this novel. We will also examine how Atwood engages with notions of genre, and how she works within and outside of traditional genre in her works. This unit will guide you to analyse this novel by doing a close reading of certain key passages.

Readings (included in your custom textbook)

• Sheckels, T F (2016) The Political in Margaret Atwood's Fiction: The Writing on the Wall of the Tent, Taylor and Francis. Chapter 6: The Handmaid's Tale, pp. 77–97.

Unit 9 (Study Guide) 'From a familiar thing … into the unknown': Alias Grace and genre deconstruction

This unit continues to examine Atwood's writing with reference to Alias Grace. We will again apply theories of postcolonial literature and feminism to interpret key features of the novel, and examine how Atwood engages with and uses genre. As in previous units, you will be guided to analyse the text by doing a close reading of certain key passages.

Readings (included in your custom textbook)

• Shead, J (2016) Margaret Atwood: Crime Fiction Writer: The Reworking of a Popular Genre, Taylor and Francis. Chapter 4: Alias Grace: The Cold Case and the Doomed Detective, pp. 87–111.

Unit 10 (Study Guide) 'The question minus the answer': English literature today

The final unit of the course aims to evaluate the predominant literary theories of various time periods in light of notions of 21st century literary theory. It will explain how 21st century literary criticism engages with and extends or upends older theories. We will use the works from the major authors to show facets of 21st century literary theory, particularly notions of decentering and undecidability, and we will use the concept of postmodern theory to extend your reading of the works.

Readings (included in your custom textbook)

• Bennett, A and Royle, N (2016) An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory, Routledge. Chapter 35: The postmodern, pp. 325–334.

Assignment File

This course features four assignments. The Assignment File will help you to anticipate and focus on the requirements of each assignment.

Presentation Schedule

The Presentation Schedule is available on the OLE under 'course schedules', and it gives the dates for completing your assignments, and for attending tutorials, day schools, and so on.

Custom textbook

You will need to refer to the custom textbook for Units 1, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10 of the course. The custom textbook comprises selected chapters from the following publications:

• Alexander, J H (2016) Reading Wordsworth, Routledge.
• Bennett, A and Royle, N (2016) An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory, Routledge.
• Bertens, H (2017) Literary Theory: The Basics, Routledge.
• Shead, J (2016) Margaret Atwood: Crime Fiction Writer: The Reworking of a Popular Genre, Taylor and Francis.
• Sheckels, T F (2016) The Political in Margaret Atwood's Fiction: The Writing on the Wall of the Tent, Taylor and Francis.

Other texts for study

You will need to refer to required readings for each unit. For some of the readings, you may be required to obtain the texts yourself by searching online or in the library. You should follow the instructions in each unit to locate the relevant readings.

References

Abrams, M H (2009) A Glossary of Literary Terms, 8th edn, Thompson. Alexander, M (2013) A History of English Literature, Palgrave Macmillan.

Bennett, A and Royle, N (2016) An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory, Routledge.

Brown, J R (2007) A. C. Bradley on Shakespeare's Tragedies: A Concise Edition and Reassessment, Palgrave Macmillan.

Dobson, M and Wells, S (2015) The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, Oxford University Press.

Eagleton, T (2004) The English Novel: An Introduction, Wiley-Blackwell.

Ferber, M (2012) The Cambridge Introduction to British Romantic Poetry, Cambridge University Press.

Goring, P, Hawthorne, J and Mitchell, D (2010) Studying Literature: The Essential Companion, Bloomsbury.

Morris, P (2013) Realism, Routledge.

Todd, J (2015) The Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press.

Wu, D (2006) Romanticism: An Anthology, 3rd edn, Blackwell.

Audiovisual materials/software

You may need to access the Internet from time to time for this course, so Internet access is necessary for this course. Should you not have Internet access, HKMU's computer labs provide sufficient access to study this course.

Websites

While these are not required reading material, you may find these general and topical websites useful.

Literary theory and criticism:

• https://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/
• https://www.britannica.com/art/literary-criticism
• https://libguides.uta.edu/literarycriticism/theories
• https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introliterature/chapter/introduction-to-critical-theory/
• http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm (An introduction to modern literary theory, including key movements and themes)
• http://litguide.press.jhu.edu/ (A sampler of the diversity of modern literary criticism in the academic sphere)
• http://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-300 (An online open course about modern literary criticism)
• https://blackboard.sc.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-148398218_2
• https://study.com/academy/lesson/introduction-to-literary-theory-major-critics-and-movements.html

William Shakespeare:

• http://www.bl.uk/shakespeare
• https://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/
• https://www.rsc.org.uk/learn/schools-and-teachers/teacher-resources
• https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/education/teaching-resources/
• https://www.thoughtco.com/female-characters-in-shakespeare-2984939
• https://www.thoughtco.com/renaissance-shakespeares-time-2984986
• https://morningside.libguides.com/shakespeare/online
• https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/

William Wordsworth:

• https://wordsworth.org.uk/
• https://digital.library.cornell.edu/collections/wordsworth
• https://www.bl.uk/people/william-wordsworth
• https://guides.lib.byu.edu/wordsworth
• https://www.literaryconnections.co.uk/resources/wordsworth.html

Jane Austen:

• https://www.bl.uk/people/jane-austen
• https://www.hup.harvard.edu/features/austen/austen-resources.html
• https://janeausten.co.uk/blogs/media-reviews/jane-austen-on-line-austen-resources-on-the-net-2
• http://jasna.org/austen/resource-links/
• https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/jane-austen%E2%80%99s-emma

Margaret Atwood:

• http://margaretatwood.ca/
• https://csi.asu.edu/people/margaret-atwood/
• https://atwoodsociety.org/
• http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/atwood/atwood.htm

Equipment needed (IT resources)

Hardware

• a PC with a Pentium III 800 MHz processor or better;
• 512 MB RAM (ideally 1GB RAM);
• 1GB of free disk space; and
• a broadband Internet connection

Software

• English Windows XP or above; or OpenOffice.
• Web browser: Firefox 2, Internet Explorer 7, or a compatible equivalent.

These will enable you to write and consult information available online.

Assessment

Assignments

There will be four assignments in the form of short answer essays. Assignment 1 covers Units 1 to 3 and Assignment 2 relates to Units 4 and 5, while Assignment 3 covers Units 6–7 and Assignment 4 deals with Units 8–10. These four assignments emphasize your critical, analytical and written abilities and are designed to help you in exploring the selected literary texts and relevant concepts further. They comprise 50% of the total course marks.

Final examination

The final examination will be course-wide in scope and will cover all dimensions of ENGL A336. Through a three-hour closed-book examination session, you will have the opportunity to display your understanding and analytical ability in the learned areas. Both short questions and essay questions will be included.

Assessment summary

The assessment items are summarized in the following table.

This table brings together the units, the time taken to complete them, and the assignments that follow them.

Please ensure that you make the most of tutor contact and tutorials, day schools, and online materials.

To reach the desired learning outcomes, you will need to:

• read the materials;
• interact with the materials that you have read;
• work through the assigned readings, including online items;
• attempt the activities in the materials and connect these attempts to the feedback provided; and
• produce and present assignments to the tutor/Course Coordinator within the specified time frame.

Tutors and tutorials

Tutorials

Twelve two-hour tutorials are provided in support of ENGL A336 Major Authors in English Literature. Tutorials are not compulsory, but you are strongly encouraged to attend.

Dayschool

You will be offered two two-hour day schools in this course. The speaker(s) will discuss special topics related to the course.

Assignment extension policy

The assignment policy of the University as stated in the Student Handbook should be observed. You are required to submit assignments for a course in accordance with the dates communicated by the Course Coordinator. You may apply for a submission extension on the grounds of illness, accident, disability, bereavement or other compassionate circumstances.

Applications for extensions of up to seven days should be submitted to the tutor. The tutor shall consider valid and unexpected emergencies on an individual basis. Normally, documented proof of the extenuating circumstances is not required for extensions of up to seven days. The tutor shall decide and advise the student of the revised date for submission.

For extensions of over seven days, students should note the following:

1. If students require an extension of more than seven days on the grounds of illness, accident, disability, bereavement or other compassionate circumstances, they are required to complete an 'Application Form for Assignment Extension over seven days' and submit it to the Course Coordinator.
2. Supporting documents must be submitted along with the application for extension of over seven days to justify the claim.
3. Applications for extension should normally be lodged before or on the due date.
4. Applications are considered by:
   • the Course Coordinator for extensions of 8 to 21 days; and
   • the Dean for extensions of over 21 days.

Assignments must be submitted online via the OLE. For more information, please see the Assignment File 'general information' section on the OLE.

According to the University's policy, there is no extension of the due date for the final assignment.

Online Learning Environment

This course is supported by the Online Learning Environment (OLE). You can find course materials and the latest course information on the OLE, and use the discussion board to communicate with your tutor, the Course Coordinator and fellow students.

ENGL A336 is a course designed to introduce you to the development and change in English literature through a close reading of some of its greatest figures, and to provide a parallel understanding of the development of literary criticism and how advances in this field generate new perspectives in the appreciation of the literature.

In studying the course, you will refer to written study units and excerpts from literary texts, and a custom textbook. Support will be provided through tutorials, day schools and the OLE. The course will be assessed though four written assignments and a final examination.

Good luck and enjoy the course!

David Brown gained a BA (Hons) in English from Rhodes University, and a BA (Hons) in Applied Linguistics and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from UNISA. He then completed a Master of Philosophy in English at The University of Hong Kong, focusing on the work of Joseph Conrad. A passionate educator, Mr Brown has been involved with literacy projects with the Education Bureau in Hong Kong, and has worked in four other countries in Asia as well as lecturing at Hong Kong Metropolitan University and The Education University of Hong Kong, where he also developed various research projects around education and literature. He is currently working on his Doctorate of Education with the University of Hong Kong.