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

From Angl-Am
Revision as of 08:09, 18 September 2009 by Anna Auguscik (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search
page under construction

Please note: The BM1 (literature) and BM2 (culture) modules consists of a seminar and a tutorial. 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.


  • 3.02.011 Course A - Anton Kirchhofer
  • 3.02.012 Course B - Anna Auguscik
  • 3.02.013 Course C - Michaela Koch
  • 3.02.014 Course D - Michaela Koch
  • 3.02.015 Course E - Christian Lassen
  • 3.02.016 Research Methods -
  • 3.02.017 Research Methods -
  • 3.02.018 Research Methods -
  • 3.02.019 Research Methods -
  • 3.02.026 Research Methods -
  • 3.02.027 Research Methods -
  • 3.02.028 Research Methods -

The seminar part of the Basismodul 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. You will find information relating to your course under the individual course number and lecturer.

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.
  • James, Henry. Turn of the Screw [1898].


Course work: You will be asked to hand in three assignments (in session 5, 8 and 13 respectively) and produce a Research Paper Outline (Due: 12.03.2010). 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 as well as a short bibliography).

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


Two useful links for all assignments:


Session One, Oct 19-23: Literature and Education

Welcome

Texts

  1. Rudyard Kipling, "The White Man's Burden" (1899)
  2. Langston Hughes, "I, Too" (1925)
  3. Walt Whitman, "One's Self I Sing" (1867)
  4. John Donne: “Holy Sonnet XIV” (1633)
  5. John Milton: “Sonnet VII” (1645)
  6. John Milton: “Sonnet XIX” (1673)
  7. Stevie Smith: “The Galloping Cat”

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.

Session Three, Nov 02-06: Poetry 2

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 Four, Nov 09-13: Poetry 3

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).

     2008-09 BM1 Assignment 1: Poetry|Assignment I: Poetry (Due: xxx)

Session Five, Nov 16-20: Drama 1

Analytical Tools

Texts

  • Shakespeare, Hamlet [1603]

Skills and Activities

A speech from the Shakespeare play

Session Six, Nov 23-27: Drama 2

Analytical Tools

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

Handout: Analysing Dramatic Communication

Texts

  • Shakespeare, Hamlet [1603]

Skills and Activities

Dramatic Structures and Communication, Exposition [assignment 1 due]

Session Seven, Nov 30-Dec 04: Drama 3

Analytical Tools

Pfister 183 - 195

Texts

  • Shakespeare, Hamlet [1603]

Skills and Activities

Characters and Genre Aspects

Session Eight, Dec 07-11: Literary Theory

Analytical Tools

Texts

Skills and Activities

Postcolonial Studies

     2008-09 BM1 Assignment 2: Drama|Assignment II: Drama (Due: xxx)

Session Nine, Dec 14-18: Film Screening

Terry Gilliam (dir.), 12 Monkeys (1995 film)

  • Venue: tba
  • Time: tba

Session Ten, Jan 04-08: Film Analysis

Analytical Tools

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

Texts

  • erry Gilliam, 12 Monkeys (1995)
  • Essay on Apocalypse Now in: Moore, Gene M., Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness: a Casebook, place: publ., 183-196.

Skills and Activities

Spectacle, Narratives and Fiction. Film Analysis.

[assignment 2 due]

 Übungsblatt (practice sheet on research techniques) deadline: first session in January!

Session Eleven, Jan 11-15: Fiction 1

Analytical Tools

Rimmon-Kenan 72-86

Excerpt from Rimmon-Kenan

Handout: Narratology

Texts

  • Henry James, Turn of the Screw [1898]

Skills and Activities

Narration, Focalisation. [assignment 2 returned]

      2008-09 BM1 Assignment 3: Fiction|Assignment III: Fiction (Due: xxx)

Session Twelve, Jan 18-22: Fiction 2

Analytical Tools

Rimmon-Kenan 59-71

Handout: Narratology

Texts

  • Henry James, Turn of the Screw [1898]

Session Thirteen, Jan 25-29: Beyond the Literary Text or Recapitulation

Analytical Tools

Texts

Skills and Activities

Literary Analysis and non-literary materials,

[assignment 3 due]

Session Fourteen, Feb 01-05: Term Paper Projects

Skills and Activities

Brief Report on 'Work in Progress': Your Term Paper Projects [assignment 3 returned]

     Assignment 4: Term Paper Projects (Due: 12.03.2010)

Further Reading