theundergraduateschoo ls - Wake Forest University

Advanced Language and Literature Courses
The prerequisite for all 300-level courses in English is any one of the courses in British and
American literature numbered 160, 165, 170 and 175, all of which are offered each semester.
300. Seminar in the Major. (3h) Selected topics in British and American literature. Intensive
practice in critical discourse, including discussion, oral reports, and short essays. Introduction
to literary scholarship and research methodology leading to a documented paper. Required for
all majors. May be repeated once.
301. Individual Authors. (1.5h) Study of selected work from an important American or British
author. May be repeated.
302. Ideas in Literature. (1.5h, 3h) Study of a significant literary theme in selected works. May
be repeated.
304. History of the English Language. (3h) Survey of the development of English syntax, morphology,
and phonology from Old English to the present, with attention to vocabulary growth.
305. Old English Language and Literature. (3h) Introduction to the Old English language and
a study of the historical and cultural background of Old English literature, including Anglo-
Saxon and Viking art, runes, and Scandinavian mythology. Readings from Beowulf and selected
poems and prose.
307. Dante I. (1.5h) Study of the Divine Comedy as epic, prophecy, autobiography, and poetic
innovation, relating it to antiquity, Christianity, Dante’s European present (the birth of the modern
languages and new intellectual and poetic forms), and Dante’s own afterlife in the West.
Also listed as HMN 361.
308. Dante II. (1.5h) The completion of the course on the Divine Comedy as epic, prophecy, autobiography,
and poetic innovation, relating it to antiquity, Christianity, Dante’s European present
(the birth of the modern languages and new intellectual and poetic forms), and Dante’s own
afterlife in the West. Also listed as HMN 362. P—ENG 307 or HMN 361, or POI.
310. The Medieval World. (3h) Examines theological, philosophical, and cultural assumptions of
the Middle Ages through the reading of primary texts. Topics may include Christian providential
history, drama, devotional literature, the Franciscan controversy, domestic life, and Arthurian
romance. (CD—Depending on topic covered.)
311. The Legend of Arthur. (3h) The origin and development of the Arthurian legend in France
and England, with emphasis on the works of Chrétien de Troyes and Sir Thomas Malory.
312. Medieval Poetry. (3h) The origin and development of poetic genres and lyric forms of medieval
vernacular poetry.
315. Chaucer. (3h) Emphasis on The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde, with some attention
to minor poems. Consideration of literary, social, religious, and philosophical background.
319. Virgil and His English Legacy. (3h) A study of Virgil’s Eclogues, Georgics, and selected passages
of the Aeneid, and their influence on English literature, using translations and original
works by writers of the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, including Spenser, Marlowe,
Milton, Dryden, and Pope. Knowledge of Latin is not required. Also listed as CLA 259.
E N G L I S H 126