Chapter Ⅰ ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD

1． The Historical Background

2． “Beowulf” the National Epic of the Anglo-Saxons

3． Minor Anglo-Saxon Poetry： Caedmon and Cynewulf

4． Anglo-Saxon Prose： Bede； Alfred； “The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle”； Aelfric

Chapter Ⅱ ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

Section Ⅰ English Literature from the Mid-11th Century to the Mid-14th

1． The Background： Political and Social

2． Folk Literature and Religious Literature from the Mid-11th to the Mid-14th Century

3． Early Alliterative and Metrical Romances in the： 12th，13th and Early 14th Centuries

Section Ⅱ English Literature of the Second Half of the 14th Century

1． The Background： Political and Social

2． John Wycliffe； John Gower； William Langland

3． Geoffrey Chaucer

Section Ⅲ English Literature of the Fifteenth Century

1．The Background： Political and Social

2．The English and Scottish Popular Ballads： “Robin Hood Ballads”

3．Early English Drama： Folk Drama； The Mystery Plays； The Miracle Plays； The Morality Plays

4．The English Chaucerians； Early Scottish Poetry and the Scottish Chaucerians

5．English Prose of the 15th Century： Sir Thomas Malory and His “Le Morte d’Arthur”

Chapter Ⅲ ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE RENAISSANCE

Section Ⅰ The Historical Background： Economic， Politi-cal and Cultural

1．The Renaissance in Europe

2．Stages and Trends of English Literature of the Renais-sance．

Section Ⅱ English Literature of the Early 16th Century

1．The Oxford Reformers； Thomas More

2．Court Poetry： Skelton； Wyatt and Surrey

3．Morality Plays and Interludes of the 16th Century：David Lyndsay； John Heywood．

Section Ⅲ English Literature of the Second Half of the 16th Century

1．Court Poetry： Philip Sidney； Edmund Spenser

2．Prose Fiction： Lyly， Lodge， Greene， Sidney， Nashe，Deloney

3．Pre-Shakespearean Drama： English Drama under Classical Influence； University Wits： Lyly， Peele，Lodge， Nashe， Greene， Kyd and Marlowe

Section Ⅳ Shakespeare．

1．Shakespeare’s Life and Literary Career

2．Shakespeare’s Poems and Sonnets

3．Early Period of Shakespeare’s Plays： History Plays （“Richard Ⅲ”， “Henry Ⅳ”， Parts 1 and 2， “Henry Ⅴ”）； Early Tragedies （“Romeo and Juliet”， “Julius Caesar”）； Comedies （“The Merchant of Venice”，“Much Ado about Nothing”， “As You Like It”，“Twelfth Night”）

4．Mature Period of Shakespeare’s Plays．Tragedies （“Hamlet”， “Othello”， “King Lear”， “Macbeth”， “Antony and Cleopatra”， “Coriolanus”， “Timon of Athens”）， Tragi-Comedies （“Measure for Measure”， “All’s Well that Ends Well”， “Troilus and Cressida”）

5．Last Period of Shakespeare’s Dramatic Career： “Peri-cles”， “Cymbeline”， “The Winter’s Tale”， “The Tempest”， “Pericle”， “Henry Ⅷ”

6．General Comments on Shakespeare： Shakespeare’s Progressive Significance and Limitations； His Indebted-ness to the English Dramatic Tradition； His Character-Creations； His Plot Construction； His Mastery of Language； His Literary Influence

Section Ⅴ English Literature of the First Quarter of the 17th Century

1．Drama of Shakespeare’s Contemporaries： Ben Jonson，Chapman， Dekker， Thomas Heywood， Beaumont and Fletcher

2．The Decline of Drama in Early 17th-Century England up to the Closing of the Theatres in London in 1642：Marston， Tourneur， Webster， Ford， Middleton， Mass-inger， Shirley

3．Francis Bacon

4．The King James Bible and Other Prose in Early 17th Century

5．English Non-Dramatic Poetry in the First Thirty Years of the 17th Century： John Donne， Ben Jonson，the Spenserians

Chapter Ⅳ ENGLISH LITERATURE DURING THE ENGLISH BOURGEOIS REVOLUTION AND THE RESTORATION

Section Ⅰ The Historical Background： Political and Ideological

1．The Political Background from the Eve of the English Bourgeois Revolution to the Downfall of Stuart Absolutism （1625-1688）

2．The Ideological Background of English Literature in the 17th Century．

Section Ⅱ Minor Currents of English Literature from 1625 to 1660

1．Minor English Poets and Prose Writers of the Period

2．The Pamphlet Literature of the Levellers and the Diggers： John Lilburne and Gerrard Winstanley

Section Ⅲ John Milton

1．Milton’s Life and Literary Career

2．Milton’s Early Works

3．The Middle Period of Milton’s Literary Career： His Prose and His Sonnets

4．“Paradise Lost”， “Paradise Regained” and “Samson Agonistes”．

Section Ⅳ English Literature of the Restoration

1．John Bunyan．

2．John Dryden．

3．The English Drama of the Restoration

4．Minor English Poetry and Prose of the Restoration：Samuel Butler’s “Hudibras” and the Diaries of Samuel PePys and John Evelyn