http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ A search of MERLOT materials Copyright 1997-2013 MERLOT. All rights reserved. Wed, 22 May 2013 06:05:30 PDT Wed, 22 May 2013 06:05:30 PDT http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/images/merlot.gif http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ 44 34 http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=620103 This course approaches literature as a product of specific historical and cultural circumstances, including topics such as Anglo-Saxon England and Old English poetry; Anglo-Norman England and the Romances; and Middle English Literature. This free course may be completed online at any time. See course site for detailed overview and learning outcomes. (English Literature 201) http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=620115 This course investigates what makes poetry "modern." It examines the cultural and political history of the period as well as the major movements that comprise "modern poetry," stopping to become acquainted with its noteworthy practitioners and their works. By the end of this course, the student will have critically explored the concept of "modern poetry," identifying its characteristic techniques, concerns, and figures. This free course may be completed online at any time. See course site for detailed overview and learning outcomes. (English Literature 408) http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=620106 This course seeks to develop a nuanced understanding of the scope of cultural and literary expression in the late 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries. It attends to broad socio-historical happenings, from the birth of modernism in the late 19th century to the post-modern moment. In addition to literary "modernism," the course will also take a brief look at the cultural production of "modernism" in art, music, architecture, cinema, philosophy, and drama. This free course may be completed online at any time. See course site for detailed overview and learning outcomes. (English Literature 204) http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=620105 The period between the Renaissance and the Modern Era is referred to as the "long" 18th and 19th centuries, meaning that these centuries span from around 1680-1830 and 1775-1910 – a time in which so many literary movements and cultural changes took place. In this course, the student will examine these formative cultural and literary developments such as the Enlightenment, Restoration literature, the rise of the novel, Romanticism, and the Victorian period. The student will identify and contextualize the principal characteristics of each of these movements/developments by reading representative texts. This free course may be completed online at any time. See course site for detailed overview and learning outcomes. (English Literature 203) http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=620104 At the outset of the 16th century, Europeans tended to dismiss English literature as inferior to continental literary traditions; the educated Englishman was obliged to travel to the continent and speak in other languages in order to "culture" himself. By the end of the Renaissance, however, some of the greatest works in the English language—from Shakespeare's dramas to Thomas More's Utopia—had been written. In this course, the student will read and examine these works, situating them within their socio-historical and literary contexts, while attempting to determine how the art of English language and letters came into its own during this dynamic period. See course site for further details. (English Literature 202) http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=620116 In this course, the student will consider Dante's literature for its stylistic and thematic contributions to the body of Medieval and Italian literature, as well as for its inventive appraisal of Christianity. The student will examine the context of Dante's life and works before looking at some of Dante's shorter works. The majority of the course is devoted to the study of Dante's masterpiece, The Divine Comedy. This free course may be completed online at any time. See course site for detailed overview and learning outcomes. (English Literature 409) http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=620111 In this course, the student will examine the revolutionary energy, fascination with nature, desire to create art for the masses, and inward-facing focus of the Romantic period. First, the student will look at the broader socio-historical and literary context in which English Romantic poetry thrived, then examine the Romantic poet and the outer world, the Romantic poet and the inner world, and the poetry that bridges the gap between the two, attempting to understand what makes each poem "Romantic." This free course may be completed online at any time. See course site for detailed overview and learning outcomes. (English Literature 404) http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=759104 An online course devoted to the study of Faust: concentrating on works by Christopher Marlowe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas Mann, Friedrich Murnau, Jan Svankmajer and Randy Newman, the course encompasses literature, film, music, visual arts and the history of ideas. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=620102 This course introduces the history and practice of English as a scholarly discipline. After outlining basic approaches to the text, the course embarks upon a genre-study, devoting each of the four remaining units to a different genre of writing: poetry, the novel, drama, and rhetoric and the critical essay. This free course may be completed online at any time. See course site for detailed overview and learning outcomes. (English Literature 101) http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=620107 This course will introduce the field of literary theory by identifying and engaging the key problems and questions that animate theoretical discussion among literary scholars and critics, including issues pertaining to ideology, cultural value, the patriarchal and colonial bases of Western culture, and more. The student will be acquainted with the basic principles and preeminent texts that have defined many of the major critical debates of the 20th and 21st centuries. This free course may be completed online at any time. See course site for detailed overview and learning outcomes. (English Literature 301)