An introduction to the earliest poetry, prose and drama in English, considered in chronological order and in historical context. Examine important literary works as the old English epic Beowulf, Chaucer's entertaining collection Canterbury Tales, the Arthurian romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the devotional autobiography The Book of Margery Kempe, the sermon in dramatic form Everyman, Edmund's Spenser's chivalric saga The Faerie Queen and the sonnets of Philip Sidney and William Shakespeare.

Students will discuss novels, plays, poems, and essays that address the difficult issues of national rebuilding, the temptations of a new consumer culture, the devastations of numerous wars fought overseas, and encounters with European, Jewish, Latin American, and Asian immigrants. Whether comparing nineteenth-century Huckleberry Finn with twentieth-century Beloved or making sense of modern and postmodern literary playfulness, students will become thoughtful readers and writers.

Writing fiction asks us to say: who am I? What's happening in the world around me? Awakening to the story in your life, and thus to your own imagination, will change your life. Repeatedly, we see fiction writers find their power as creative people. You might become the head of a major corporation! You might just write a great novel or short story. Or just be happier. Join us: write stories, change your life.

Writing poetry is training for life - its practice deepens both the liveliness and rigor of the mind. This course is run in a workshop/discussion format - it uses innovative exercises, guided prompts, language games, and readings that teach the basics of craft, while showing you how to think like a writer, opening up to the pleasures and surprises of the creative process. No prior experience necessary.