Elizabethtown College English Department

Do you enjoy reading works from well-known British authors? Do you have an appreciation for poetry, and prose? Or maybe you like historical pieces?  All English majors sample one course that satisfies these cravings.

Major British Writers exposes students to several different literary eras. The course teaching critical reading skills valuable to all students.

Digging into Beloved Literature

Major British Writers is taught by two different faculty members, depending on the semester.  Kimberly Adams and Suzanne Webster rotate through this course, which fulfills a requirement for all three English department concentrations.

In the past, the course has covered the poetry of William Wordsworth, Elizabeth

Barrett Browning, Wilfred Owen, and Seamus Heaney, to offer just a sampling of the “Major British Writers” that might be included.

British Literature can seem daunting to students, but not to James Moyer, an English literature major at Elizabethtown College. He is currently enrolled in the class and has nothing but positive words for anyone interested in enrolling as well.

Moyer explains that the major objective is to instill an understanding of the nine authors assigned for the semester by studying “many elements of the pieces and of their authors’ lives.” The class includes discussion and close reading.

When reading a poem, the class takes a look at its structure (including versification) and its content, as well as “the biographical and historical contexts ‘setting the scene’ around the works’ compositions.”

Moyer said he can “appreciate any piece with which we [the class] work.” He specifically mentions enjoying William Wordsworth’s “Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.”

Moyer says he would recommend this course to other students “because it provides such an exhaustive view of the authors’ lives, works, and periods, and because, if nothing else, the discussions are immersive and engaging.”

Author Bio:

Megan Finnegan will graduate with a degree in English, professional writing in 2017.

Tags: Dr. Adams, Dr. Webster, literature