An Introduction to British and American Literature

This is a study of literature from the 16th century to the 20th century covering drama, poetry, short stories, and novels.

Who wrote the first English novel? How did Napoleon in France change the way literature was written in England? What is the difference between British literature and American literature? Who is the father of the detective novel (and it isn't Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!)? How do major wars and conflicts affect literature? What is stream-of-consciousness, and how did it change the way literature has been written?

These are just a few questions that this introduction to literature attempts to answer. This class attempts to make connections between literary periods, writers, and history.  The goal of this class is to put history, biography, and literature together into a suitable whole. It would be impossible to cover every single work and history behind it, but I have attempted to cover the major periods and major writers of the time and to show how the history surrounding them has influenced their life and works.