Introduction to Literature: Course Outline

• The importance of Poetry
• Classification of Poetry -  According to Form; According to Content
• The Structure of a Poem - Form; Stanza Structure; Rhythm and Meter; Rhyme; Line Structure
• Elements of Poetry

• Definition of Drama
• Nature and characteristics of Drama
• Types of Drama - Tragedy, Comedy, Tragic Comedy, Melodrama, Verse Drama
• Elements of Drama:  Theme, Plot, Characters, Language/ Dialogue, Setting, Performance, Spectacle

• Defining characteristics of the genre of Novel
• How novel differs from other literary forms
• Earliest forms of novel
• Reasons for the novel's popularity
• Types of Novel

​​​​​​​What is Criticism?

• Nature and function of Criticism

• Different schools of Criticism

Quiz 1:

Topic: Poetry - Its Function, Types, Structure and Elements

Anglo Saxon/ Old English Period (670 - 1100)

• Anglo Saxon Conquest
• Anglo Saxon Prose - The works of Alfred the Great and Aelfric
• Anglo Saxon Poetry- Pagan Poetry; Religious Poetry

• Norman Conquest
• Characteristics of Anglo- Norman Literature
• Romance Cycles
• Poetry - Religious Poetry ; Secular Poetry
• Prominent Prose writers
• The Middle English Plays - The Miracle and Morality Plays

English Literature in the Age of Chaucer

English Literature in 15th Century

• Historical Background
• Major literary Characteristics of the Age
• Poetry in the Puritan Age
• Jacobean and Caroline Drama 

• Jacobean and Caroline Prose 

The Restoration Period (1660 - 1700)

• Historical Background
• Major Literary Characteristics of the Age
• Poetry, Prose and Drama in the Restoration Age

Assignment 2 Submission : Literary Essay

Topic: The Renaissance Literature

• Historical Background
• Major Literary Characteristics of the Age – realism and precision
• The Origin of Novel as a  Literary form
• The Age of Pope
• The Age of Johnson
• Eighteenth Century Drama

• Historical Background
• Major Literary Characteristics of the Age - The Romantic Revival
• Poetry, Prose and Novel in the Romantic Age

• Historical Background of the Age
• Major Literary Characteristics of the Age
• Poetry, Prose and Novel  in the Victorian Age

• Historical Background of the Age
• Literary characteristics of the Age – literary methods such as stream of consciousness, fragmentation and realism
• The 20^th Century English Drama – Women in modern drama, realism in theatre, absurdist drama or existentialist theatre

Modern Literature (1900-1961)

• Major poets, novelists and dramatists

Post-Modern and the Contemporary Literature (1939- Present)

• History of Post-Modernism
• Characteristics of Post-Modernism
• Themes and Techniques in Post- Modern Fiction
• The Novel in 1950’s and 60’s
• The Novel from 1970s

Final Project Submission