Students will examine a variety of texts and genres, including novel, essay, drama, and poetry, together with contemporary approaches to reading them. We will explore issues of language, style and form as well as connections between literary practice, history, society and culture. The selection aims to develop awareness and appreciation of the particularities and diversity of different literary genres. We will follow a rough chronological order, beginning with Enlightenment Poetry written by women to 20th century drama by the Nobel laureate Harold Pinter. We will read literary works in relation to their form and content along with the intellectual, social and aesthetic contexts in which they were composed. The course will explore literary production against socio-historical British contexts, emphasizing shifts in thought as well as genre invention, adaptation, and innovation. We will progress from close readings of literary texts in a variety of genres to analyses that introduce broader contexts, culminating in an independent, documented Final Essay.