2020-2021 Academic Catalog 
    
    Mar 29, 2024  
2020-2021 Academic Catalog [Archived Catalog]

ENGL 455 - Modern Fantasy Literature


Credits: Three (3)
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.
General Education Area: Literature
Cross-listed: ENGL-255
Prerequisite: ENGL-101; Minimum grade C-