Text Book Purchases

        The textbook required for English 211 is the Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th Edition, Volume 1 (2001).  When you're shopping, you might try the used book market where you can get it (with the audio CD) for between 30 and 50 dollars (vs. $62 at Barnes and Noble online).  Just avoid any of the cut-down versions Norton is marketing: the "period" editions or those with a volume that includes a letter (1A, 1B, 1C); the "Major Authors" version; the "Literature by Women" or "Poetry" anthologies, etc.  And of course, make sure you don't get Volume 2 by mistake!  That's for English 212. 

        I also am recommending Abrams' Glossary of Literary Terms, but it's also terribly expensive (c. $50 at B&N).  Unless paper texts are better for you, you might try some of the online guides available via this web page: http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng211/online_lit_theory_aids.htm  Henderson and Brown's site (U. Toronto) is covering many of the same terms that Abrams handles.

        When you see, and lift (!), the Norton, you will get some idea of the task ahead of us.  Please don't let it scare you.  I will not assign the entire thing.  However, there is one important thing you can do each time you read for English 211.  Click here for the single best piece of advice I can give to you.

        To put the cost of the Norton in perspective, consider what it replaces: a full library of 900+ years' literature.  That library exists, of course--it's called The Julia Rogers Library and all Goucher students have free use of it.  Please do not mistake the Norton's introductory fragment for the real thing.  It is an economic and logistical compromise, nothing more.  In fact, if you treat the Norton as the sum of "English Literature," you will be making a very important mistake about the process known as "canon formation," which is a major subject of critical discussion in English 211.