How to Use this OER Text

This educational resource is provided free to ENGL 2322* students, in lieu of a traditional course textbook. It contains readings for the first half of a two-course British literature survey, as well as discussion and research questions designed to help you probe the selections more deeply. Your instructor may supplement these readings with additional texts and resources.

To get the most out of this virtual text, you should take notes as you read each selection. You can do this using a word-processing program (like Microsoft Word or Google Docs), or with an old-fashioned pen-and-paper notebook by your laptop or tablet. Write down characters (if applicable), settings, major ideas, and your personal responses to what you’re reading. You should also keep a list of unfamiliar words, people, places, or historical references, to research/define. This will help you better understand what the author is saying, as well as the world in which the author and audience lived.

You may use the discussion and research questions as a jumping-off point for personal journaling or discussions with your classmates. Your instructor may also supplement these questions with additional prompts, activities, and materials of their own.

The readings themselves are organized into three sections:

• The Middle Ages – The Middle Ages is a portion of British history that encompasses the fifth through the 14th centuries. While we tend to associate this time period with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, it covers nearly a thousand years, with many historic developments and changes. Your readings will be centuries apart, in some cases!
• The Early Modern Period – This section of the electronic textbook covers the English Renaissance/Elizabethan Era and continues on through the English Civil War and Interregnum. Political and religious tension (particularly between Catholics and Protestants) is evident in a number of our readings, and the resulting turmoil shaped British history in myriad ways.
• The Restoration – This period begins with the restoration of the Stuart monarchy to England, Ireland, and Scotland. In these readings, you will encounter increased interest in transnational affairs, culminating with the letters of a diplomat’s wife while abroad.

Good luck, and welcome to the first half of your British literature survey!

* Note: ENGL 2322 is the Texas common course number for an undergraduate survey of the development of British literature from the Anglo-Saxon period to the Eighteenth Century, under Texas Education Code 61.832. If you are taking a literature course in another state or country, your course numbering may vary from this.