ELIT 2151
Literature in English: Early Texts and Contexts
How did what we now call English literature emerge? How did such literary activity reflect the world, and how did the world shape this writing? How can literature help us understand the history of art, race, religious identity and sectarian conflict, nations and empires, gender, sexuality, and class? We will address these questions by studying the early history of literature in English, from the Middle Ages through the late 18th century, as well as the tools, vocabularies, and critical practices of contemporary literary studies. We will learn about the material forms of English literature (manuscript, print, and performance traditions) as well as major poetry and prose forms (e.g., sonnet, epic, blank verse, romance, letter, slave narrative). In addition to Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, John Milton, and Ignatius Sancho or Olaudah Equiano, the syllabus may include authors and texts such as Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Julian of Norwich, Edmund Spenser, Margaret Cavendish, Aphra Behn, Daniel Defoe, and Eliza Haywood. Note: This course satisfies one of the two 200-level requirements for the English major.
Instructors
Amy Pawl, Anupam Basu, Bernadette Myers, Claire Sommers, David Lawton, Jennifer Arch, Jessica Rosenfeld, Victoria Thomas, Wolfram Schmidgen
Reviews
Dr Sommers is an extremely kind professor who will go out of her way to help you succeed in her class. She makes standards very clear. She also has a strong passion for the subject and texts we read.
12/19/2025
(**I took Drama 1104 Shakespeare- it won't let me enter it) Dr. Sommers is wonderful! She cares a lot about her students and getting personal with them. She was by far my favorite professor this semester. She's always down to yap about Shakespeare with me, which I absolutely loved.
1/9/2025
2 or less hrs/week
Dr. Sommers is the BEST professor ever. She's so fun and engaging, cares a lot about her students, and has very realistic expectations. Class discussions are always vibrant and entertaining, she makes old texts interesting and relates them to modern culture/a younger audience. Just get your papers in on time, be clear and original, and you'll do just fine.
5/28/2024
4-6 hrs/week
Normal reading-based course with very chill class discussions. Rosenfeld is a great prof for leading these discussions and she's approachable if you need essay help
5/21/2024
The sweetest professor with a clear love for what she teaches. Essays are graded fairly and with positive feedback as well as criticism. Incredibly understanding about circumstances outside of class, and I genuinely enjoyed coming to class each day. Highly recommend both her as a professor and her early texts and contexts class.
4/23/2024
Absolutely love Dr. Pawl. She is the sweetest prof I've had at WashU, she genuinely cares and is incredibly knowledgeable about the material, and I cannot wait to take more classes with her in the future!
8/24/2023
The words I have for this woman are invariably good! Dr. Sommers is an amazing professor who really does care about her students. Her classes are so interesting and disscussion is mandatory, but as long as you have done the readings you'll be fine. Assignments are relatively easy as well! For reference I had her for an Ampersand program.
12/23/2022
Super sweet, lovely person. Her lectures were not the most engaging I have ever had, but she also didn't grade too harshly and was pretty accommodating whenever I needed something. Passionate about her subject!
2/28/2022
Prof. Arch is the best professor I have encountered at WashU. She is kind, caring, and intelligent. She gives wonderful, passionate lectures and is always willing to hear students' thoughts on course material. She is an exceptional teacher and is readily available outside of class. It is evident that Prof. Arch cares about her students' well-being.
12/23/2021
Dr. Pawl was amazing! The reading assignments are manageable and class is entirely discussion-based, but she moves through topics very well and makes English Literature really enjoyable, even if you aren't necessarily interested in all of the texts. Her feedback on papers is extremely thorough. Even if you're not an English major, take her class
5/13/2020
Class I took was required for english major so nobody rly wanted to be there, but Basu was still rly passionate and engaging. he def helps make old, distant-seeming literature relatable and interesting; plus, tells lots of fun stories tangentially related to class material. downside: super slow to return graded papers (w sorta minimal comments)
12/31/2018
Professor Lawton is one of a kind. He is smart, funny, and genuinely cares about his students. If you put effort in (speaking up in class, seeing him outside of class) you will get a B+ to an A. If you have an opportunity, take a class with him. No matter what the subject is he will make it fun.
12/12/2016