Masters of British Literature, Volume A - Softcover

Damrosch, David; Baswell, Christopher; Carroll, Clare; Dettmar, Kevin J. H.; Henderson, Heather; Jordan, Constance; Manning, Peter J.; Schotter, Anne Howland; Sharpe, William Chapman; Sherman, Stuart; Wicke, Jennifer; Wolfson, Susan J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0321333993 ISBN 13: 9780321333995

Publisher: Longman, 2007

Synopsis

Written by an editorial team whose members are all actively engaged in teaching and in current scholarship, Masters of British Literature is a concise, yet comprehensive survey of the key writers whose classic works have shaped British literature.  Featuring major works by the most influential authors in the British literary tradition–Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Sidney, Donne, Milton, Behn, Swift, Pope, Johnson–this compact anthology offers comprehensive coverage of the enduring works of the British literary tradition from the Middle Ages through the Restoration and the eighteenth century. Core texts are complemented by contextual materials that help students understand the literary, historical, and cultural environments out which these texts arose, and within which they find their richest meaning.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

VOLUME A

 

Developed by a distinguished editorial team, this highly teachable anthology features comprehensive coverage of the enduring works of the British literary tradition from the Middle Ages through the Restoration and the eighteenth century.  Major works by the most influential authors --Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Sidney, Donne, Milton, Behn, Swift, Pope, Johnson--are offered alongside shorter pieces in contextual groupings that add insight to the work and its themes.

 

FEATURES

• Major prose works appear in their entirety, together with a wealth of poetry and drama--from Shakespeare's The Tempest  to a generous selection of poems from Sidney's Astrophil and Stella to Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
• Highly regarded translations of classic texts include Alan Sullivan and Tim Murphy's translation of Beowulf, J. R. R. Tolkien's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and a modern translation of Chaucer's General Prologue from The Canterbury Tales that appears alongside the Middle English translation.
• "Perspectives" sections shed light on the period as a whole and link with immediately surrounding works, providing a historical point of entry and reference to modern readers.  For example, "Perspectives:  Tracts on Women and Gender" in the Early Modern section contains pieces by Desiderius Erasmus, Thomas Campion, and Margaret Tyler.
• Shorter groupings in "...and Its Time" sections show major works in the context of their own era.  "Piers Plowman and Its Time:  The Rising of 1381" appears in the Medieval section with Three Poems on the Rising of 1381  and a section of John Gower's The Voice of One Crying.
•  "Responses" pairings demonstrate the influence of literary masterpieces on subsequent authors.  Pairings include a selection of John Gardiner's Grendel  to go with Beowulf and Sir Walter Raleight's "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" to accompany Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love."
• Numerous illustrations, both black-and-white and color plates, provide graphic examples and illustrations of literary texts.

Package a Voices of British Literature audio CD, a Longman Cultural Edition (www.ablongman.com/longmanculturaledition), or a selected Penguin work (www.ablongman.com/penguin) at no additional cost to your students. Contact your Longman representative for a special package ISBN via www.ablongman.com/replocater.

 

Visit www.ablongman.com/damrosch for additional resources, timelines, and a digital archive.

About the Author:

David Damrosch is a lecturer at Columbia University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Longman
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0321333993
• ISBN 13: 9780321333995
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1459