Download English Literature II

ENGLISH LITERATURE II
In the second year of the English Language Teaching program, the students will take two semesters of
English Literature. In the second semester, the English Literature course develops the students’
knowledge of modern contributions to the literary tradition by looking at selected literary works from
the 18th through the 20th centuries. The course develops the knowledge through cultural context and
interdisciplinary study of literature, art, and music. Each literary selection is treated according to
thematic content, character development, plot development against the background of social and
political issues which influence the creative production of the work. In this way, the student gains the
knowledge of the literary tradition along with the cultural context which produced it. The course
identifies cultural and literary trends that were in vogue at the time the work was written and the ways
in which these influences influenced the creative effort of the author. In the modern period of English
literature, we also identify literary works that became a historical record of social and political
development in the modern world. The stories often explore the themes of social injustice, social class,
and inequality.
Literary Selections
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations.
As a product of 19th century British Victorian society, Dicken’s work describes the relationship of
childhood friends and how their relationship changes in young adulthood under the pressures of social
values and social class conflict.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
In Fitzgerald’s most famous literary work, the author tells the story of American society of the 1920s
during the economic boom that made America an economic and political superpower. He traces the
events in the life of Jay Gatsby whose extraordinary wealth and social position inevitably lead to his
demise.
Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood’s End
As one of the most famous works in the genre of science fiction, Clarke’s novel explores the theme of
alien invasion and its effect on the human race. Clarke’s novel became a source for the alien invasion
films of the 1950s and the basis for a modern television series.