English Literature I
Courses Degree in Humanities
Some of the fundamental works of the English Renaissance are approached in this curricular unit, taking into account their specific context, dominated by the emblematic, paradigmatic and inspiring figure of Elizabeth I.
English Literature I proposes: the study of such context; an approach to the reflection on Literature/Poetry developed by Sir Philip Sidney in An Apology for Poetry; an approach to the Renaissance fictional experimentalism, with the study of dramatic texts (by William Shakespeare) and of lyric texts (by Philip Sidney, Robert Sidney, Walter Raleigh, Edmund Spenser and Shakespeare).
Art
History
Society
English Culture
Museums
Identity
Representation
– to know the social, political, economic and cultural context of the English Renaissance;
– to identify and understand the multiple cultural traditions, subjacent to the literary works under study;
– to acknowledge the importance of the medieval tradition in the new Renaissance worldview and in the court rituals;
– to develop critical thinking;
– to elaborate textual analysis;
– to evidence capacity of synthesis, argumentation and selection.
CONTEXTS; BACKGROUND
1. Sea voyages
2. Religion and Power
3. Language and Culture
THE RENAISSCANCE REFLECTION ON POETRY/LITERATURE
An Apology for Poetry, by Sir Philip Sidney
DRAMATIC TEXTS OF THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE: THE POWER OF THE WORD AND THE IMPACT OF PERFORMANCE
1. The English Renaissance Drama (traditions; conditions of performance; the centrality of Shakespeare)
2. Comedy – As You Like It, by William Shakespeare
3. ‘Romantic’ tragedy– Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare
4. Tragedy – Othello, by William Shakespeare
CONVENTION AND INNOVATION IN ELIZABETHAN LYRIC POETRY
Sonnets and sonnet sequences (selected poems: Sir Philip Sidney; Sir Robert Sidney; Sir Walter Raleigh; Edmund Spenser; William Shakespeare)
Main contextualisation work:
Paiva Correia, Maria Helena de, et al. Literatura Inglesa I (Época Renascentista). Lisboa: U Aberta, 1996.
[available in the virtual classroom]
Primary bibliography:
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. Ed. Roma Gill. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009.
---. As You Like It.
http://www.folgerdigitaltexts.org/html/AYL.html
---. Othello. Ed. Ayanna Thompson and E.A.J. Honigmann. The Arden Shakespeare (rev. ed.). London and Oxford: Bloomsbury, 2016.
---. Othello.
http://www.folgerdigitaltexts.org/html/Oth.html
---. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Roma Gill. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009.
---. Romeo and Juliet.
http://www.folgerdigitaltexts.org/html/Rom.html
Sidney, Sir Philip Sidney. An Apology for Poetry or The Defence of Poetry. Ed. Geoffrey Shepherd. Rev. R.W. Maslen. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2002.
---. Uma Apologia da Poesia (1595). Trad. Mª Eduarda Ferraz de Abreu. Nota Prévia, Introd. e Notas Críticas Mª de Jesus C. Relvas. Revisão da Trad. Mª de Jesus C. Relvas e Mª Helena de Paiva Correia. Textos Chimaera. Lisboa: CEAUL/ULICES, 2015.
[available in the UAb library and in the virtual classroom]
SONNETS
The sonnets under study belong to lyric sequences by Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Robert Sidney, Sir Walter Raleigh, Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare; the sonnets will be available in the virtual classroom, with the bibliographic references of the adopted editions.
Other sources:
As You Like It. Dir. Kenneth Branagh, perf. Romola Garai, Bryce Dallas Howard, Kevin Kline, Adrian Lester, et al. Lionsgate, 2006.
Elizabeth, the Golden Age. Dir. Shekhar Kapur, perf. Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen et al. Universal Pictures, 2007.
Elizabeth. Dir. Shekhar Kapur, perf. Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston et al. Gramercy Pictures, 1998.
Hespèrion XX. Dir. Jordi Savall. Elizabethan Consort Music 1558-1603. Alia Vox, 1998.
Kirby, Emma, and Anthony Rooley. Elizabethan Songs. “The Lady Musick”. Editions de l’Oiseau–Lyre, 1990.
Music Treasury Series. Music of the Tudor Age. Sound Alive, 1993.
Othello. Dir. Orson Wells, perf. by Orson Wells, Micheál MacLiammóir, Suzanne Cloutier, Robert Coote. Marceau Films/United Artists, 1952 (versão restaurada).
Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Franco Zeffirelli, perf. Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, et al. Paramount Pictures, 1968.
Obra de referência [organização de trabalhos; organização de recursos consultados]:
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2016. [available online].
Reference style guide:
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2009. [available online]
E-learning
Assessment is preferentially the continuous evaluation. The students who cannot work according to this kind of assessment may choose to write a Final Exam at the end of the semester.
Continuous evaluation is constituted by the production of 2 works during the semester, named e-folios (40%), submitted in the virtual classroom, and by the production of a final work named Global e-Folio (60%).
The Final Exam is a single written test at the end of the semester.
Students are required to have: a good level of English; a basic knowledge of the historical/cultural context of Europe and England; access to a computer with Internet connection.
Students are recommended to attend to Literature course units, according to their sequence.
Language of instruction: Portuguese.