ENGL 2504 British Literary History after 1660
Instructor Contact:
Dr. Rebecca Schneider (she/her)
Email: rebecca.schneider@colorado.edu
About the Course:
This section of ENGL 2504 surveys how African, Afro-Caribbean, and African diasporic people, including enslaved people, have influenced British literary history after 1660, while also allowing for discussion of major developments in Anglophone literature over several hundred years. The course texts cover both representations of African descended people’s lives by non-African authors as well as African-diasporic people’s self-expression in myriad literary forms.
Objectives:
Students who actively participate in the work of the course, and who read carefully and closely, will have the ability to do the following by the end of the semester:
· Comprehend basics like what actions are happening to whom or what in course texts
· Intuit or deduce the possible implications of the events in course texts
· Synthesize personal experience and knowledge of the world with ideas in course texts
· Analyze a text’s implications to identify the stakes of the narrative
· Identify/evaluate gaps in existing knowledge about topics introduced in course texts
Required Texts:
Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko and Other Writings. ISBN 978-0199538768 (this edition)
Botkin, Frances. Thieving Three-Fingered Jack. ISBN 978-0813587394
Earle, William. Obi; or, The History of Three-Fingered Jack ISBN 9781551116693 (this edition)
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. Any edition.
Johnson, Linton Kwesi. Selected Poems. ISBN 978-0141025018 (this edition)
Prince, Mary. The History of Mary Prince. Any edition.
Shire, Warsan. Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth. ISBN 978-1905233298
Plus various PDFs and links made available on the course Canvas page
Grading (out of 500 points):
Reading quizzes, discussion prompts, and other weekly assignments make up 50% of the overall grade. A literary historical research project makes up 30% of the overall grade. A literary analysis essay turned in at the end of the term makes up the remaining 20%.