English Literature for Advanced Students (2020/2021 - 2.Sem.)

Description:

English is studied through works of literature, short stories, poetry and plays.

Shakespeare is popular and we have already read six of his works (Merchant of Venice, Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet and Othello) and several sonnets.  We watch theatre and film performances of the plays.

The short story lends itself to this kind of class (James Joyce, Somerset Maugham, Ernest Hemingway, William Trevor).  Plays have included “A Man for All Seasons” by Robert Bolt, Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, Brian Friel’s "Dancing at Lughnasa” and Dylan Thomas’ “Under Milk Wood”.  Last year we read Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Bryson’s “Notes from a Small Island”; this year we have read Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men".

Two well-known Luxembourgish authors who write through the medium of the English language, Anne-Marie Reuter and Percy Lallemang, addressed us last year and we read some stories from Anne-Marie's book "On the Edge". We are planning literary evenings featuring these authors.

We are currently reading poems from Seamus Heaney's "Death of a Naturalist" (introduced to us by European School teacher Sinéad O'Donovan) and short stories from the "Penguin Book of the British Short Story".

We shall continue these in February We have just started a study of "The Quiet American" by Graham Greene. Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is on the agenda for this semester.

We are a "democratic" group and if there is anything you wish to study, we would take your request very seriously!