2007 BM1 Introduction to Literature, Part 2

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The second part of our Basismodule focuses on techniques of textual analysis in the context of discussing literature. We are offering seven parallel courses (supported by tutorials). Please make sure that you are registered in Stud.IP both for the main page of the module and for your individual course. All parallel courses have a common structure, but each course may differ in emphasis. You will find information relating to all the courses on this page, and the pages for the individual courses for information on your course:


The texts for our courses will come from a common pool, though each course may have a different choice. You should make sure to read at least those texts that are dealt with in your course.

The "analytical tools" will be presented by the lectures (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.

Both the texts and the other materials will be made accessible to you electronically (cf. the links below) and as a master copy at Wersig. In addition you will need to purchase the Shakespeare play read in your course in an Arden Edition (ca. 14 EUR at the CvO bookshop).

Course work: You will be asked to hand in three assignments (in week 4, 7 and 10 respectively) and produce a Research Paper Outline (due August 15 2007). The assignments are limited to a max. of 2-3 pages of text, 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 that describes your problem and your goal, and presenting a tentative table of contents and a short bibliography).

Tutorials will help you to practise your analysis skills and support you in doing your assignments and Research Paper Outline.

A Poem

Texts

William Blake, Jerusalem.

Skills and Activities

Group work with presentations:

  1. What is poetic about this poem?
  2. What are the Themes of the poem?
  3. What historical contexts?
  4. What is its cultural significance (then and later/now)?

Seminar discussion: What discourses did you employ? What traditions do they belong to? How does this relate back to the lecture of the Winter Term? Survey of the coming Term.

Poetry and Poetics

Analytical Tools Handout: Analysing Poetry 1

Culler 161-178, Ludwig, 42-43

Texts

Astrophil, Percy, Christina Rossetti

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

Poetry and Poetics: Speaking about Beautiful/Artful Language

Analytical Tools

Ludwig 55-65; G. Leech, 147-157

Texts

George Herbert, "The Deniall", Emily Dickinson

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 1 given]

Rhetoric

Analytical Tools

Plett 3-22, 102-105

Texts

One of the three Shakespeare plays

Skills and Activities

A speech from the Shakespeare play of the next four sessions [assignment 1 due]

Dramatic Structures, Dramatic Communication

Analytical Tools

Pfister 49 - 57, 86 - 94, 126 - 147

Texts

One of the three Shakespeare plays

Skills and Activities

Exposition

Drama: Characters and Genre Aspects

Analytical Tools

Pfister 183 - 195

Texts

One of the three Shakespeare plays

Skills and Activities

Distinguish modes of characterisation [assignment 2 given]

Drama and Fiction

Analytical Tools

Texts

  • Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown
  • Coover, Magic Poker

Skills and Activities

An understanding of genres in the context of traditional poetics, and of the

Fiction 1

Analytical Tools

Rimmon-Kenan

Texts

  • Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown
  • Catherine Mansfield, The Voyage
  • Coover, Magic Poker

Skills and Activities

Narration, Focalisation. [assignment 2 returned]

Fiction 2

Analytical Tools

Rimmon-Kenan

Texts

  • Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown
  • Catherine Mansfield, The Voyage
  • Coover, Magic Poker

Skills and Activities

Plot and Characters. [assignment 3 given]

Film

Analytical Tools


Texts

Pulp Fiction

Skills and Activities

Narratives and Fiction. Film Analysis. [assignment 3 due]

Beyond the Canon 1

Analytical Tools

Texts

John Mandeville, Voyages [c. 1360] (1705)

Skills and Activities

Literary Analysis and non-literary materials, [assignment 3 returned]

Beyond the Canon 2

Analytical Tools


Texts

Orientalist GEO, Time Life, Palestine, India etc.

Skills and Activities

Literary Analysis and non-literary materials

Term Paper Projects

Skills and Activities

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