Course Overview – English 12
This course will focus on the development of literature in Great Britain, starting with the AngloSaxons and ending with current British literature. Special emphasis will be placed on writing,
culminating with writing two research papers. It is essential that students have a greater
awareness of the cultural, social, and political influence of Great Britain’s literature on the United
States and are able to write informatively about their knowledge.
Objectives
Students are to acquire an understanding of British literature, tracing its roots from the AngloSaxon literature through the current literature of the Great Britain. Special emphasis will be given
to those works considered classics and part of the literary canon. Additionally, we will focus on
writing skills, especially the research paper. They will understand how to correctly use MLA and
APA documentation and cite sources within their papers. Students will gain knowledge about
what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid plagiarism in their papers.
A. Students must possess a desire to learn more about literature and its role in society
B. Students must possess the skills necessary to work cooperatively in groups.
C. Students must be able to read critically, and be prepared for exams on the material for
which they are responsible
D. Students must be able to express themselves through the use of the written word
E. Students must understand the literary terms used within the classroom
F. Students must understand the context (historical, economical, political, and social) in
which the literature exists
G. Students must learn and remember major literary figures
H. Students must learn and remember proper grammar, sentence structure, and writing
skills
I. Students must learn and remember proper communication skills via speeches, writing
assignments, and research paper(s)
Requirements
1. Each unit from the textbook will consist of taking notes, numerous reading assignments, and
reading activities that are designed to help prepare the student for the unit exams.
2. Each unit will consist of numerous vocabulary assignments and quizzes designed to help the
students comprehend the reading assignments.
3. Exams will range from 50 to 100 points, depending on the length of the unit.
4. Quizzes will be given on reading assignments and vocabulary, ranging in value from 5 to 50
points.
5. One review assignment will be given per unit. This is an assignment designed to help the
students with the unit exam.
6. One research paper will be written, with the student learning about proper MLA
documentation and how to avoid plagiarism. Worth 150 points.
7. Several group projects will be presented on British authors and eras. Each project worth 50
points.
Content
PART ONE: BRITISH LITERATURE
Weeks 1-2
Unit One: The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods
Part One: Tests of Courage
1.
2.
3.
4.
Literary Map of Britain
Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods
The Epic
Beowulf
A. Grendel
B. The Battle with Grendel
C. Grendel’s Mother
D. The Battle with Grendel’s Mother
E. Beowulf’s Last Battle
F. The Death of Beowulf
G. Mourning Beowulf
5. D.J.R. Bruckner: A Collaboration Across 1,200 Years
6. The Illiad
7. The Exeter Book
8. Lyric Poetry from Seafarer, The Wanderer, and The Wife’s Lament
9. The Venerable Bede: A History of the English Church and People
10. Five paragraph essay on the use of fate in Anglo-Saxon literature
Skills Objective: Obtain the knowledge how to differentiate and interpret various genres
of literature; obtain knowledge of terms associated and used with literature
Weeks 3-4
Part Two: Reflections of Everyday Life
1. Introduction to Life and Times
A. Geoffrey Chaucer Author Study
2. Geoffrey Chaucer
A. The Prologue
B. The Life and Times of Chaucer
C. The Pardoner’s Tale
D. The Wife of Bath’s Tale
E. The Author’s Style
3. Write a pilgrim’s tale
4. Giovanni Boccaccio: The Decameron: Federigo’s Falcon
5. The Paston Family
6. Ballads
Skills Objective: Differentiate between the Anglo-Saxon and the Medieval Period styles
of literature
Week 5
Part Three: Attempts at Perfection
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Gawain Poet: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d’Arthur
William Caxton: Preface to the first edition
Valmiki: Ramayana
Margery Kempe: Autobiography
Skills Objective: Differentiate between the Anglo-Saxon and the Medieval Period styles
of literature
Week 6
Unit Two: The English Renaissance
Part One: Aspects of Love
1. Introduction
A. Timeline and historical background
2. Sir Thomas Wyatt: My Lute, Awake!
3. Elizabeth I: On Monsieur’s Departure
4. Christopher Marlowe: The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
5. Sir Walter Raleigh: The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd
6. Edmund Spenser: Selected Sonnets
7. William Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets
A. Write a sonnet
8. Francesco Petrarch: Selected Sonnets
Skills Objective: Comprehend the difference between Elizabethan and Italian sonnets,
and hone poetry writing skills
Weeks 7-9
Part Two: A Passion for Power
1. William Shakespeare: Author Study
A. Life and Times
B. The English Renaissance Theater
C. The Rebirth of the Globe
2. Macbeth
3. James Thurber: The Macbeth Murder Mystery
Skills Objective: Comprehend dramatic terms and techniques used by William
Shakespeare
Week 10
Part Three: Facing Life’s Limitations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
King James Bible: Psalms
Sir Francis Bacon: Essays
John Donne: A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
Ben Jonson: On My First Son
Robert Herrick: To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
Andrew Marvell: To His Coy Mistress
Richard Lovelace: To Lucasta, Going to the Wars
Omar Khayyam: Rubaiyat
John Milton: Selected Poems
A. Paradise Lost
a. Narrative Essay
10. Margaret Cavendish: Female Orations
11. Amelia Lanier: Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women
12. John Bunyan: The Pilgrim’s Progress
Skills Objective: Discussion of the Renaissance and how that affected literature;
improvement of narrative writing skills
Week 11
Unit Three: The Restoration and Enlightenment
Part One: Views of Society
1. Introduction: Timeline and historical background
2. Samuel Pepys: The Diary
3. Alexander Pope: An Essay on Man
4. Jean de La Fontaine: The Acorn and the Pumpkin
5. Joseph Addison: The Spectator
6. Lord Chesterfield: Letters to His Son
7. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Letter to Her Daughter
8. Mary Astell: Some Reflections Upon Marriage
Skills Objective: Discussion of the Restoration and Enlightenment and how that affected
literature
Week 12
Part Two: Arguments for Change
1. Daniel Defoe: An Academy for Women
2. Jonathan Swift
A. Life and Times
B. Gulliver’s Travels
C. Letter from Richard Sympson
D. A Modest Proposal
E. The Author’s Style
3. Voltaire: Candide
4. Mary Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Skills Objective: Discussion of the Restoration and Enlightenment and how that affected
literature
Week 13
Part Three: Revelations about Human Nature
1. Samuel Johnson
A. The Rambler
B. The Idler
C. A Dictionary of the English Language
2. James Boswell: The Life of Samuel Johnson
3. Thomas Gray: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
4. Fanny Burney: The Diary and Letters of Madame d’Arblay
5. Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun: Memoirs of Madame Vigee-Lebrun
Skills Objective: Discussion of the Restoration and Enlightenment and how that affected
literature
Week 14
Unit Four: The Flowering of Romanticism
Part One: Seeking Truth
1. Introduction: Timeline and historical background
2. William Blake: Selected Poems
A. Presentation of Blake’s artwork
3. Matsuo Basho and Kobayashi Issa: Haiku
4. William Wordsworth
A. Life and Times
B. Selected Poems
C. The Author’s Style
5. Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Selected Poems
6. Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice
Skills Objective: Comprehension of theme, symbolism, and poetic devises
Week 15
Part Two: Embracing the Imagination
1.
2.
3.
4.
George Gordon, Lord Byron: Selected Poems
Percy Bysshe Shelley: Selected Poems
Heinrich Heine: The Lotus-Blossom Cowers
John Keats: Selected Poems
A. Write poetry
Skills Objective: Comprehension of theme, symbolism, and poetic devises
Week 16
Unit Five: The Victorians
Part One: Personal Relationships
1. Introduction: Timeline and historical background
2. Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Selected Poems
3. Robert Browning: Selected Poems
4. Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Sonnets
5. Charlotte Bronte: A Warning Against Passion
6. Milestones: The Novels of Charles Dickens
7. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell: Christmas Storms and Sunshine
8. Mary E. Coleridge: The King is Dead, Long Live the King
9. Rudyard Kipling: The Miracle of Purun Bhagat
10. Leo Tolstoy: What Men Live By
Skills Objective: Comprehension of how literature was affected by Victorian ideals
Week 17
Part Two: New Voices, New Directions
1. Matthew Arnold: Selected Poems
2. Gerard Manley Hopkins: Journal
3. Thomas Hardy: Selected Poems
4. A.E. Housman: Selected Poems
5. Rabindranath Tagore: 1996
Skills Objective: Comprehension of how literature was affected by Victorian ideals
Week 18-22
Far From The Madding Crowd
1. Read the Thomas Hardy Novel
A. Quizzes and Tests on the novel as we read
Skills Objective: Comprehension of the influence Hardy had on modern writers; enhance
writing skills
Week 23-24
Unit Six: Emerging Modernism
Part One: New Images of Reality
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
William Butler Yeats: Selected Poems
Lady Isabella Augusta Gregory: The Rising Moon
D. H. Lawrence: The Rocking-Horse Winner
James Joyce: Araby
Katherine Mansfield: A Cup of Tea
6. Virginia Woolf: The Duchess and the Jeweller
7. E.M Forster: from Virginia Woold
8. T.S. Eliot
A. Author Study
B. Preludes
C. The Hollow Men
D. The Naming of Cats
E. Prufrock
F. The Author’s Style
9. W.H. Auden: Selected Poems
10. Stephen Spender: What I Expected
11. Dylan Thomas: Selected Poems
12. Octavio Paz: Writing
Skills Objective: Enhancement of skills re: use of theme, symbolism, and other literary
terms
Week 25-27
Author Projects
1. Students will pick and author, research, and then present that author in class for
fifteen minutes
Skills Objective: Enhancement of time management skills, public speaking skills, and
organization
Week 28
Part Two: Shocking Realities
1. William Butler Yeats: An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
2. Rupert Brooke: The Soldier
3. Siegfried Sassoon: Dreamers
4. Vera Brittain: The Testament of Youth
5. Winston Churchill: The Speeches
6. George Barker: To My Mother
7. Elie Wiesel: from Night
8. Etty Hillesum: Letters from Westerbork
9. Aldous Huxley: Words and Behavior
10. Elizabeth Bowen: The Demon Lover
11. George Orwell: A Hanging
Skills Objective: Comprehension of how WWII affected all aspects of life, including
literature
Week 29
Unit Seven: Contemporary Voices
Part One: Appearance and Reality
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Introduction: Timeline and historical background
Penelope Lively: At the Pitt Rivers
Doris Lessing: A Sunrise on the Veld
Muriel Spark: The First Year of My Life
Margaret Atwood: The Moment
Seamus Heaney: Digging
Ted Hughes: The Horses
Seamus Heaney: The Nobel Lecture
Czeslaw Milosz: In Music
10. Stevie Smith: Selected Poems
11. Harold Pinter: That’s All
Skills Objective: Summarizing and synthesizing the British and Western tradition in
literature
Week 30
Part Two: Culture and Conflict
1. William Trevor: The Distant Past
2. Chinua Achebe: Civil Peace
3. Wole Soyinka: Telephone Conversation
4. Derek Walcott: Midsummer
5. Nadine Gordimer: Six Feet of the Country
6. Isabelle Allende: Writing as an Act of Hope
Skills Objective: Summarizing and synthesizing the British and Western tradition in
literature