A Survey of English Literature 2

Course Syllabus

Course Title: A Survey of English Literature II

Number of Credits: 4
Number of Hours to Complete the Course: 64
Instructor’s Details:
Name: A. Movahhed
Phone Number: 3122 2364 Email: amovahhed@gmail.com
Note: If you need to visit me in the office or talk to me on the phone, just drop me an email to
make an appointment.

Course Description
Course Content
This course provides a short account of the development of English poetry from 1660 up to the
early 20th century. It explores a variety of poems produced in four periods of English literature: 1)
the Neoclassical Period (1660-1785), which consists of the Restoration Period (1660-1700) and the
Eighteenth Century; 2) the Romantic Period (1785-1830); 3) the Victorian Age (1830-1901); and 4)
the Twentieth Century, which includes the Modernist movement.
The course involves analysis of poems that, as far as possible, represent the variety of poetry
composed in these periods. While short poems will be analyzed in full detail, only short excerpts of
long poems will be discussed.

The following poems will be studied in the course:

❖ The Neoclassical Period

➢ The Restoration Period
o John Dryden: Absalom and Achitophel
➢ The Eighteenth Century
o Alexander Pope: The Rape of the Lock
o Samuel Johnson: The Vanity of Human Wishes

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 ❖ The Romantic Period
• William Blake
o Introduction (Songs of Innocence)
o The Lamb (Songs of Innocence)
o The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence)
o The Clod & the Pebble (Songs of Experience)
o The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Experience)
o The Sick Rose (Songs of Experience)
o The Tyger (Songs of Experience)
• William Wordsworth: Tintern Abbey
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• Percy Bysshe Shelley: Ode to the West Wind
• John Keats: Ode on a Grecian Urn

❖ The Victorian Age

• Alfred Lord Tennyson: Ulysses
• Robert Browning: My Last Duchess
• Mathew Arnold: Dover Beach

❖ The Twentieth Century

• Thomas Hardy: The Darkling Thrush
• William Butler Yeats: The Second Coming
• T. S. (Thomas Stearns) Eliot: Journey of the Magi

Learning Objectives
On successful completion of the course, students are expected
• to be familiar with the designations of different periods of English literary history up to the
early 20th century
• to have some general information regarding the social, political, economic and cultural
conditions that led to the appearance of certain literary forms or were reflected in poetic
content
• to gain knowledge of different sorts of poetry composed in each period
• to acquire a better practical knowledge various literary devices employed in poetry
• to gain some analytical skills for reading poetry

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Method of Assessment
Students will be evaluated based on written exams.

Grading policy:
You will be given three written examinations containing essay, multiple-choice and/or true-false
questions.
• First exam, on the Neoclassical Period: 4 points. Date: 26 Farvardin 1403
• Second Exam, on the Romantic Period: 8 points. Date: 30 Ordibehesht 1403
• Final Exam, on the Victorian Age and the Twentieth Century: 8 points.

Students’ Responsibilities
Students are expected
• to take full notes of the analysis provided in class
• to prepare for each class by reading the relevant parts of the textbook and other sources
introduced by the instructor
• to participate in the analysis of the poems by adding comments (obtained from the textbook
or other reliable sources introduced by the instructor) and asking relevant questions that
could help enrich the understanding of the works

Teaching Method
Teaching will be carried out mostly through lectures, but interactive learning will be encouraged.

Course Books
Dr. Amrollah Abjadian’s A Survey of English Literature, Vol. 2 (2nd edition) will be used for general
introductions to periods and poets’ styles as well as some short commentaries on the poems.
Chapters 1, 2, 3, 9, 11, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 38, and 39 of the book
will be studied. The texts of the poems discussed in this course are mostly taken from The Norton
Anthology of English Literature, 8th edition. A PDF copy of the poems will be available on the University
Learning Management System (LMS).

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