2017-2018 Academic Catalog 
    
    Apr 24, 2024  
2017-2018 Academic Catalog [Archived Catalog]

ENGL 255 - Modern Fantasy Literature


Credits: Three (3)
Prerequisite: ENGL-101; Minimum grade C-
The fantastic has been around in literature as early as the medieval and Renaissance periods and even earlier (Beowulf, the King Arthur legends, The Faerie Queene, A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Many people actually believed in trolls, elves and dragons. But why does Fantasy persist, even thrive, in the modern period? How do we define Fantasy as a genre? We will ask such questions as we adventure in the worlds of William Morris, George MacDonald, Lord Dunsany, E. R. Eddison, Robert E. Howard, J. R. R. Tolkien and Stephen R. Donaldson. We will investigate our need for quests, explore the unknown and unusual, and encounter characters that defy the categories of being.
Cross-listed: ENGL-455