ENGL 320 - Studies in Literary Traditions

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

This course examines various literary traditions. The materials may cross historical, national and linguistic boundaries, and may investigate how a specific myth, literary form, idea, or figure (e.g., Pygmalion, romance, the epic, the fall of man, Caliban) has been constructed, disputed, reinvented and transformed. Topics vary from year to year.

Topic for 2014/15a: Visions and Revisions of the Fall. In this class we consider the ways in which the Fall is treated as a literary, religious, and philosophical construct by John Milton in Paradise Lost and by Philip Pullman in his Dark Materials trilogy. While the course focuses on Milton’s poem and Pullman’s novels, we consider other versions of the Fall (including the Biblical one) and we also examine the lot/state/situation of the fallen (angels and others) by reading a variety of medieval and modern texts, which may include The Consolation of Philosophy, Pearl, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Butcher Boy, and Postcards. In addition, we will screen a number of films, which may include The Devil’s Advocate, The Rapture, Dogma, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Bedazzled. Mr. Amodio.

One 2-hour period.