The course focuses on the particular contributions by selected Western Writers to the twentieth century Novel. The objective is to place the achievements of these writers within the broad spectrum of Modern Prose Fiction.

In a sweeping movement from the Greek classification to contemporary African literature, this course explores the theoretical, philosophical, historical and ideological foundations of literary criticism and practice. It considers such received principles as the immanent history of literature, the nature of art, concepts of beauty in art, and the creative process in literature. The course guides students to reflect on the practice of art and criticism by considering a selection of canonical texts from Aristotle and Achebe to Tolstoy and Woolf.

The course seeks to highlight the major landmarks in the history of the English language that have made English the most outstanding international language. The course therefore engages a chronology of the evolution of English Language by examining the following periods: the Germanic Period, the Old or Anglo-Saxon Period, Middle English,  and the Period of Modern English; the notion of Lingua Franca is also studied, and the course finally shows that today’s English is related to the phenomenon of Language Mixing because although Germanic by origin ( vocabulary and Grammar), todays’ English is comprises words borrowed from hundreds of other languages.

This course looks at a few of the important colonial writers – Williams Bradstreed, Wheatly - and follows the growth of American literature from independence in 1776 through the writing produced in the turbulence of the Civil Rights era. Attention is given to well-known American writers such as Dickinson, Whitman, Melville, Twain, and Ellison. Other authors include Toni Morrison, Walt Whitman and Richard Wright. The course also looks at the American vernacular, the effects of slavery, and the role of the individual on the formation of American literature