British Literature Suggestions

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Blondie Bear

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Hi, guys!

Next semester I will (hopefully) be teaching a Survey of British Literature class, and I've decided I want to focus on the fantastic in British Lit. So I'm compiling a list of books/poems/essays that my students should read. So far, I have:

Beowulf
"Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" - J.R.R. Tolkien
"The Faerie Queene" - Spencer
Dracula - Stoker
Frankenstein - Shelley
The Hobbit - Tolkien
The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis
Stardust - Neil Gaiman

Are there any other staples of British literature or fantasy literature that happened to be written in Britain that you guys think would be good for this class? I'm open to all (reasonable) suggestions. 🙂
 
I remember doing a lot of war literature reading in lit class... wish i had the reading list still... ive got a lot of the books still, ill have a route around
 
Peter Pan by JM Barrie or how about some Charles Dickens, they're always a great read.🙂
 
Ooh, Peter Pan . . . great suggestion.

The only fantastic thing I can think of that Dickens wrote was A Christmas Carol, and I don't think I'll subject them to that if I can avoid it. 😉 (I never liked Dickens.) But thanks for the suggestions!
 
I still love The Bard myself but particularly comparing his work with the contemporary movies that use his archetypes or are just flat out re-envisionings of his work, like Ten Things I Hate About You and The Lion King


I suggest King Lear and the Merchant of Venice
 
Kean
Kean
Two of my favourites:)
Blondie Bear said:
Nope. It's "Survey of," which means that it's Medieval to Now. 🙂
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What about some Swift? 'A Modest Proposal' is brilliant. I know it is a pamphlet but it is satire at it's best plus it would give the students a feel for the social and political situation in Britain/Ireland at the time.

Thomas Moore's Utopia?

Any and all of Donne's poetry.
 
B
Blondie Bear
Thanks! I'll look into those.
One of my co-workers just suggested Sir Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter. I've added that to my list, though it may get cut for time (we only have 14 weeks) cause it's kind of hard to read (though beautifully written).
 
Frankenstein and Dracula are both terrible.

George Orwell must be on there, Animal Farm, 1984, Homage to Catalonia, whatever.
Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
John Milton's Paradise Lost.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime Of The Ancient Mariner.
T.S. Eliot poetry, I prefer his free verse like The Waste Land, but all is good.
Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray.
The obligatory Shakespeare inclusion.
 
I am NOT making sophomores read Milton. Orwell is great, but I don't think he quite counts as fantasy (sci-fi, yes). I'm pretty sure Eliot is considered American lit (I know he considered himself American lit, even though he emigrated to Britain). The Canterbury Tales, also, technically, not fantasy, though I may have them read some of Chaucer's dream visions. Also not subjecting sophomores to Wilde. Though Coleridge is a good suggestion, and I'll probably have them read "Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan."
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Bored of the Dead said:
I haven't read the enture thread because, quite frankly can't be bothered BUT has anyone mentioned Harry Potter by JK Rowling?
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If we have time at the end of the semester, I might let them slack off and read that. 🙂
 
Kean
Kean
Just want to say, I think it's pretty cool that you are doing this. As a lit student I would be pretty impressed if my professors compiled our syllabus by asking what people thought would be fun to learn.
I pressume you want your students to enjoy the class? The Canterbury Tales is not the way to go, especially for sophmores.
 
B
Blondie Bear
Well, if you're not having fun, why read? :)
I'll have to get them to read some Middle English lit, but I don't think The Canterbury Tales counts as fantasy, anyway. 🙂
 
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