Susana Paula de Magalhães Oliveira

Humanism / Renaissance / Elizabethan Age
Cultural Traditions
Sir Philip Sidney / William Shakespeare
Drama / Lyric Poetry

• To get familiar with English Renaissance social, political, economic, cultural and religious contexts.
• To identify the cultural traditions underlying the literary works under consideration.
• To develop critical reading.
• To develop literary analysis skills.

I. The Renaissance reflection on Poetry/Literature. The debate on the primacy of the arts.
II. Dramatic texts of the English Renaissance – the power of the word and the impact of representation.
III. Sonnets and sonnet sequences – convention and innovation in the Elizabethan lyric poetry.

• Obra Principal de Enquadramento:

Paiva Correia, Maria Helena de, et al. Literatura Inglesa I (Época Renascentista). Lisboa: U Aberta, 1996.

• Bibliografia Primária:

Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. Ed. Roma Gill. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009.

---. Othello. Ed. Roma Gill. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009.

---. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Roma Gill. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009.

Sidney, Sir Philip Sidney. An Apology for Poetry or The Defence of Poetry. Ed. Geoffrey Shepherd. Rev. R.W. Maslen. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2002.

Sonnets.*

* The sonnets to be studied, integrating lyric sequences by Edmund Spenser, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Robert Sidney and William Shakespeare, will be made available in the online classroom of this course unit.

E-learning

Continuous assessment is privileged: 2 or 3 digital written documents (e-folios) during the semester (40%) and a presence-based final exam (p-folio) in the end of the semester (60%). In due time, students can alternatively choose to perform one final presence-based exam (100%).

Students are required to have good knowledge/command of English and a basic knowledge of the historical/cultural heritage of Europe and England during the Middle Ages and the period in question. Students are recommended to attend to Literature course units respecting their sequence.