2009-10 BM1 Introduction to the Critical and Scholarly Discussion of Literature

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Please note: The BM1 (literature) and BM2 (culture) modules consist of a seminar and a tutorial each. All students beginning in the winter term 2009/10 need to enroll for one of the tutorials called "Reasearch Methods". Additionally, you will choose between a seminar under BM 1 (literature) or BM 2 (culture) for the winter term and then study the other one in the summer term. In the summer term you will enroll for the second tutorial, "Exploring History and Theory".

  • 3.02.016, Freitag, 16:00-18:00, Sören Niewint
  • 3.02.017, Freitag, 12:00-14:00, Britta Simon
  • 3.02.018, Mittwoch, 16:00-18:00, Fabian Nattkämper
  • 3.02.019, Dienstag, 14:00-16:00, Sharif Bitar
  • 3.02.026, Dienstag, 14:00-16:00, Alice Gorel
  • 3.02.027, Montag, 08:00-10:00, Katharina Kaschel
  • 3.02.028, Dienstag, 18:00-20:00, Lea Brenningmeyer

The seminar part of the Basismodul 1 focuses on techniques of textual analysis in the context of discussing literature. We are offering five parallel courses. Please make sure that you are registered under ONE of these in Stud.IP and open a wiki account which will enable you to participate in online discussions.

All parallel courses have a common structure. The texts for our courses will come from a common pool, though each course may have a different choice.

The "analytical tools" will be presented by the lecturers (on a handout) in each meeting. The additional reading from which these 'tools' are taken is not obligatory, and it can be done either before or after each session.

Both the texts and the other materials will be made accessible to you electronically (cf. the links below). In addition you will need to purchase two books.

Courses A-E:

  • William Shakespeare. Hamlet. 1603. Eds. Neil Taylor and Ann Thompson. London: Arden (3rd Series), 2000.
  • Henry James. Turn of the Screw. 1898. Eds. Deborah Esch and Jonathan Warren. New York, London: Norton, [2] 1999.

Course work: You will be asked to hand in three assignments (max. 3 pages, in session 4, 7 and 12 respectively) and produce a Research Paper Outline (2 pages, due: 28.02.2010). The assignments are to be formatted according to the style sheet, and will require you to analyse poetry, drama and fiction respectively. For the Research Paper Outline you will need to find your own topic to work on and document the preliminary work (this includes finding an appropriate title, writing a paragraph on the state of the art of your problem and one that describes your problem and your goal, and presenting a tentative table of contents as well as a short bibliography).

Two useful links for all assignments:


Session One, Oct 19-23: Literature and Education

Welcome

Texts

  1. Sir Philip Sidney, "Loving in Truth" from Astrophil and Stella (1591)
  2. Sir Philip Sidney, "Not at first sight" from Astrophil and Stella (1591)
  3. William Percy, "Sonnet II" from Sonnets to the Fairest Coelia (1594)
  4. William Shakespeare, "Sonnet CXXX" from The Sonnets (1609)
  5. George Herbert, "The Deniall" (1633)
  6. William Wordsworth, "Scorn Not the Sonnet" (1827)
  7. Walt Whitman, "One's Self I Sing" (1867)
  8. Christina Rossetti, "I wish I could remember" from A Pageant and Other Poems (1881)
  9. Langston Hughes, "I, Too" (1925)
  10. e.e. Cummings, "Pity This Busy Monster, Manunkind" (1944)

Skills and Activities

Preliminaries for seminar communication.

Session Two, Oct 26-30: Poetry 1

Analytical Tools

Texts

  • Poetry Reader

Skills and Activities

Structural approach to poetry: communicative situation, themes, metrics and language. Acquire a basic checklist of what to look (first) for in a poem. Recapitulate the basics of metrics and rhyme patterns. Recognise the features of a particular genre and genre conventions: the sonnet.

Session Three, Nov 02-06: Poetry 2

Analytical Tools

Texts

  • Poetry Reader

Skills and Activities

Figurative language, interplay. Spot metaphors, similes, etc. the metric pattern and valorise the points where it is broken. Reinforce basic checklist of previous week. Analyse particular features of poetic language (figures of speech, metrical effects). 

     Assignment I: Poetry (distributed on 6 Nov, due on 13 Nov)

Session Four, Nov 09-13: Rhetoric

Analytical Tools

Texts

  • Shakespeare, Hamlet [1603], esp. I.5.1-91.

Skills and Activities

A speech from the Shakespeare play [assignment 1 due]

Session Five, Nov 16-20: Drama 1

Analytical Tools

Texts

  • Shakespeare, Hamlet [1603]

Skills and Activities

Dramatic Structures and Communication; Exposition. [assignment 1 returned]

Session Six, Nov 23-27: Drama 2

Analytical Tools

Texts

  • Shakespeare, Hamlet [1603]

Skills and Activities

Characters and Genre Aspects. 

     NOTE: Distribution of assignment 2 postponed to Dec 4th!

Session Seven, Nov 30-Dec 04: Drama 3

  • Additional session on Shakespeare, Hamlet [1603] 
   Assignment II: Drama (distributed on 4 Dec, due on 11 Dec)

Session Eight, Dec 7-11: Critical Debate and Literary Theory 1 & Dec 9: Film Screening

History and Variety of Editions of Shakespeare's Hamlet, History of scholarly and public interest in Shakespeare as a person and an author Postmodern conceptions of text and authorship

Material

Texts

  • Michel Foucault, "What is an Author?". -- In Foucault's essay, concentrate on pages 108 - 113, where the four characteristics of the author function are discussed, and look especially at the third characteristic which is described on pages 110 and 111.

Skills and Activities 

  Film Screening: Terry Gilliam (dir.), 12 Monkeys  (1995 film), 
  Venue: HS G, Time: Wed, 9 Dec, 19.45-22.15

[assignment 2 due, Dec 11, 12 o'clock]

Session Nine, Dec 14-18: Film Analysis

Analytical Tools

  • Handout: Film Analysis
  • Sources: David Bordwell et al.; Korte, Einführung in die Systematische Filmanalyse (2000)

Texts

Skills and Activities

Spectacle, Narratives and Fiction. Film Analysis. [Fiction worksheet] [assignment 2 returned]

Session Ten, Jan 04-08: Fiction 1

Analytical Tools

Texts

  • Henry James, Turn of the Screw [1898]

Skills and Activities

Narration, Focalization.

Session Eleven, Jan 11-15: Fiction 2

Analytical Tools

Texts

  • Henry James, Turn of the Screw [1898]


Characterization. 

       Assignment III: Fiction (distributed on 15 Jan, due on 22 Jan)

Session Twelve, Jan 18-22: Critical Debate and Literary Theory 2

Material

Texts

Skills and Activities Skills and Activities

[assignment 3 due]

Session Thirteen, Jan 25-29: Look Back and Look Ahead: Textual Analysis and Wider Research Debates

Skills and Activities

Picking up loose ends (Hamlet, Turn of the Screw, Ghosts etc.) How to write a Research Paper Project. [assignment 3 returned]

Session Fourteen, Feb 01-05: Term Paper Projects

Skills and Activities

Brief Report on 'Work in Progress': Your Term Paper Projects 

     Assignment 4: Term Paper Projects (Due: 28.02.2010)

Discussing Term Paper Projects, Feb 16

On Tuesday, Feb 16, at 16.45, there will be an opportunity to discuss further questions about term paper projects with students and myself (Anton Kirchhofer). We can meet in my office (A6 2-210). If more than 5 students come, we can move to A6 2-212. Just come along or enter you name here:



Further Reading

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