UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG
Department of Languages and Literatures
Hans Löfgren
hans.lofgren@eng.gu.se
H523c
EN1B01: British Literature Survey
Required Texts
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, vols. B, C, D; or, Seventh Edition, vols. 1 and 2
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (Norton Critical Edition)
All assigned texts below, with the exception of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the attached
appendices on John Milton’s Paradise Lost and The Rise of the Novel, are included in The
Norton Anthology of English Literature. The assignments on “Introduction and Timeline” for
each period can initially be read cursorily (later to be studied more intensively for the exam).
For each author studied, the biographical introduction is required and should be read more
attentively. (See also the GU Learning Platform for helpful links, keywords, and key section
in the NAEL.)
For each lesson, the assigned texts should be read carefully and the related study questions
should be prepared for class discussion.
Students will meet in groups of 3-5 for the student-led lessons, the day before the next
scheduled seminar, at the latest. Discussion should focus on the study questions, which will be
reviewed briefly in the seminar that follows.
TIMETABLE
LECTURE 1: Course Introduction
A. The 16th century
Monday 24 Jan 09:15 – 11:00, G412
Seminar 1: 16th Century Poetry, especially the sonnet
Introduction and Timeline
“Lyric Poets of the 16th Century”
Sir Thomas Wyatt, “They Flee from Me”
Edmund Spenser, sonnet 75
William Shakespeare, sonnets 18, 55, 73, 116, 130, 144
- Read these poems carefully in preparation for class discussion.
Thomas Wyatt
In what sense is the poem ironic, that is to say, what difference in perspective do you
find between the speaker and an implied author?
The Sonnet
1. What is the definition of a sonnet?
2. What themes do you find in the sonnets assigned?
3. What is the relation of form and content in each sonnet, that is, the relation between
the sections of a sonnet as defined by rhyme scheme and its imagery? its ideas?
B. The Early 17th Century
LECTURE 2: Shakespeare
Introduction and Timeline
Thu 27 Jan 13:15 – 15:00, G412
Seminar 2: William Shakespeare, King Lear
1. What problems do you see in the scene where Lear asks his daughters to say how
much they love him? What expectations does he have for his old age?
2. Consider characters opposed in terms of good and bad qualities: are these clear-cut
oppositions?
3. Consider imagery of seeing and in this context the disguises assumed by many
characters. What instances of deception and misrecognition do you find?
4. What is the central conflict of the play, and what part do the major characters play in
this conflict? How is the conflict resolved? how does it remain unresolved?
LECTURE 3: Milton
Seminar 3: Early 17th century poetry: student-led
John Donne, “The Sun Rising”, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, Holy Sonnets
10 and 14
“Lyric Poets of the Early 17th Century”
George Herbert, “The Altar”, “The Redemption”
Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress”
John Donne, “The Sun Rising”
1. What does the speaker of the poem mean by claiming that “Princes do but play us”?
2. By means of what kind of imaginative process does the speaker arrive at the
conclusion that the sun is contained within the bedroom “sphere” of the lovers?”
3. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”: Donne is famous for his metaphysical conceits,
extended metaphors that seem to explain the nature of the universe and the meaningful
relation between spirit and matter, thought and feeling. Explain how the central image
of a geometer's compass works in this poem, focusing on unification of the physical
universe, science, feeling and physical love.
4. Holy Sonnet 10: Explain the poetic argument by means of which the speaker conquers
death.
5. Holy Sonnet 14: Explain how and with what effect this poem combines the imagery of
faith and warfare, spiritual and physical love.
George Herbert
Compare and contrast the religious attitudes of Herbert and Donne.
Andrew Marvell
With reference to the historical introduction to this period and to the available
biographical information, explain the essential differences in values, poetic style and
subject matter of Donne, Herbert and Marvell.
Thu 3 Feb 13:15-15:00, G412
Seminar 4: Milton
John Milton, Paradise Lost: all introductory arguments and summaries; Book 1 lines
1-270 and Book 9, all. See the study questions in Appendix 1.
C. The Enlightenment and the 18th Century (1660-1785)
LECTURE 4: The Enlightenment and the 18th Century
Seminar 5: Pope, Johnson and Swift: student-led
Introduction and Timeline
Alexander Pope, from An Essay on Man
Samuel Johnson, on Milton and Pope
Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal
Alexander Pope
1. The Norton Anthology states that An Essay on Man “gives memorable expression to
the ideas about the nature of the universe and our place in it, ideas on which 18thcentury optimism rested”. What are the main ideas expressed in the piece?
2. What is it about Pope’s language and his structuring devices that helps make these
lines easy to remember? Pick out a couple of lines that you find memorable.
3. Pope’s major argument in An Essay on Man can be summed up in one phrase:
“Whatever is, is RIGHT”. It might be argued that such a statement is facile and
superficial. To what extent can we defend Pope’s philosophy of man and the universe?
Samuel Johnson
In the Lives of the Poets Johnson gives a critical appreciation of several English poets.
Compare his assessment of Milton with that of Pope. Do you agree with Johnson’s
view of the poets?
Jonathan Swift
1. Two pages of Swift’s essay A Modest Proposal, elapse before the narrator explicitly
identifies his “modest proposal”. What does this long preamble contribute to Swift’s
satire?
2. What are Swift’s true proposals for solving the problems of poverty and overpopulation in Ireland? How are these proposals presented?
Thu 10 Feb 10:15-12:00, G412
Seminar 6: The Rise of the Novel
First-page excerpts from eight novels, two excerpts from literary criticism on the
novel: in Appendix 2, with study questions.
Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels: Part 1, chapters 1, 4, 6; Part 2, chapters 6 and 7;
Part 3, chapters 2 and 5; Part 4, chapters 1, 4-8, 121.
1. At the beginning and end of each of the four parts, Swift locates Gulliver’s travels in a
familiar world, full of exact geographical references, specific dates, and precise
measurements. Find some examples of this and comment on the realistic style.
2. Explain the satire in Part 1, chapter 4.
3. How do the “learning, laws, and customs” of the Lilliputians compare to Swift’s view
of these matters? (Part 1, chapter 6)
4. What is the combined effect of the representations of or references to England in Part
2, chapter 6 and chapter 7, respectively?
5. Does the satire of part 4 express a misanthropic view? Defend your answer.
D. The Romantic Period (1785-1830)
LECTURE 5: Romanticism
Thu 17 Feb 13:15-15:00, G412
Seminar 7: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Introduction and Timeline
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Alan Moore, “Female Gothic” (Norton Critical Edition, pages 214-224)
1. Consider the fact that the monster Victor Frankenstein creates is never given a specific
name. What are the implications of this?
2. Discuss the ways in which the monster finds himself an outsider in the world of
human beings.
3. Between Frankenstein and the monster there is arguably an ambivalent, dialectical
relationship. Discuss it and provide some examples of this. In what ways could the
two figures be considered as doubles?
4. In the course of the narrative, Frankenstein is punished for his ambition, as the
monster he creates takes out his revenge. Discuss this statement as a core theme of the
novel, especially in relation to the novel’s subtitle The Modern Prometheus.
Seminar 8: Blake and Wordsworth, student-led
William Blake, from Songs of Innocence and of Experience: “The Lamb” and “The
Tyger”, “The Chimney Sweeper” in both parts, “Holy Thursday” in both parts,
“London”.
William Wordsworth, comment on “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”, “Lines Composed A
Few Miles above Tintern Abbey”
William Blake
The title-page of Blake’s Songs describes them as “showing the two contrary states of
the human soul”. The two sections, “The Songs of Innocence” and “The Songs of
Experience”, are contrasted elements in a single design.
1. Identify the major types of contrast between the paired poems. Consider especially:
“The Tyger” as a restricted conception of creation and “The Chimney Sweeper” from
Songs of Innocence as a poem of social criticism.
2. “London” can be read as a critique of corrupt urban life or as a failure of creative
perception, the projection of a negative attitude. Discuss.
William Wordsworth
3. What does the speaker focus on in his description of nature in “Lines Composed A
Few Miles above Tintern Abbey”? What is the effect of nature upon the mind of the
speaker?
4. Discuss the role of memory in Wordsworth’s poem. Find some examples.
Tue 22 Feb 13:15-15:00, C362
Seminar 9: Coleridge, Keats, Byron and Shelley
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan”
John Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale”, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
George Gordon, Lord Byron, Child Herald’s Pilgrimage, from Canto 1
Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ozymandias”, “A Song: 'Men of England'”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
1. “Kubla Khan” retains many qualities of the dream in which it was born. What is it
about the poem that is dreamlike?
John Keats
2. “Ode to a Nightingale” progresses by means of statement and counter-statement.
Identify the places where the speaker changes his mind and comes to have a different
understanding of what the nightingale represents. Explain how the poem moves from
a state of depression or emotional withdrawal to a more affirmative and alert attitude.
3. Identify examples of assonance in “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. Interpret the meaning of
the statement the speaker feels that the urn makes in the last stanza.
George Gordon, Lord Byron
4. What is the dominant mood in the extract from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage?
5. In what ways does Byron differ from the other romantic poets you have read?
Percy Bysshe Shelley
6. The traveler in “Ozymandias” does not comment on his story. What conclusions might
be drawn from the last five lines? Give reasons for your opinion.
Examination: a sit-down exam (time and place to be announced, 6 credits) involving four
essays of no more than 250 words on specified topics. Two of these essays will be concerned
with literary history and two will be analyses of short passages of works we have read this
term. A sample exam can be found on the Learning Platform (GUL).