University of Virginia :: :: University of Virginia Library

To this class will be admitted such students as have finished the B. A. course
here, or have had such training here or elsewhere as to warrant the belief that
they would pursue the course with profit. But, because of the written work required
in each class, the professor strongly advises young men not to undertake
to pursue the B. A. and M. A. courses both during the same session.

M. A. COURSE.

In this course there will be occasional lectures, but in general the exercises of
the class will be conducted by questions, conversation, and conference. Readings
will be assigned, independent investigation insisted upon, and written reports required
from time to time. The students will be encouraged to form their own
judgments and to express them orally or in writing. References for each author,
period, or subject studied will be given, and the free use of the library in this
and all courses is cordially recommended.

COURSES HERETOFORE OFFERED.

I. Representative Writers of English Prose.
II. History of Lyric Poetry from 1560 to 1800.
III. British Essayists from Bacon to Burke.
IV. Victorian and American Poets.
V. Tennyson, the Representative Poet of the Nineteenth Century.
VI. The British Essay in the Nineteenth Century.
VII. Shakespeare, as a Dramatic Artist.

COURSES ANNOUNCED FOR 1898-99.

VII. Shakespeare, as a Dramatic Artist.

This course is intended (a) to trace the development of Shakespeare's literary
powers and (b) to inculcate a full and reverential appreciation of his mind and
art. His minor poems—particularly the Sonnets—will be studied in so far as
they throw light upon his development, reveal the influences active in his work,
or mark the stages of his progress, but the main effort of the class will be directed
to a careful analysis of the dramatic structure of the plays and to the full comprehension
and enjoyment of these masterpieces. All the plays will be either
examined in class or assigned for parallel reading.

Text-Books.—Barrett Wendell's William Shakspere; Globe edition of Shakspeare's
Complete Works (Macmillan & Co.); Kent's Shakspeare Note-Book. In
addition, for the plays studied in class single annotated volumes are strongly recommended.

VIII. Chief English Literary Tendencies in the Nineteenth Century.

Text-Book.—Saintsbury's Nineteenth Century Literature, used as an outline.

Essays and Dissertation.—As an essential part of this course there will be
required two critical essays and a dissertation. The essays, due October 22, and
December 15, respectively, will treat some literary theme, not necessarily growing
out of the class work, though to such theme preference will be given. The
dissertation must show independent and original investigation of some theme
selected with the professor's approval, and the subject of this dissertation must
be recorded by the professor on or before January 15, 1898. The dissertation
itself is due on or before May 15, 1898.

PH. D.

This course will be, in some measure, adapted to the needs of the students
desiring to pursue it. Its purposes will be to cultivate more fully the love of
letters, to encourage independent and scholarly research, and to further the art
of literary expression. It will include the study of some writer, or school of
writers, or of some period or movement of literature, and will take into consideration
the political, social and literary characteristics of the time under discussion.