Difference between revisions of "2018-19 Introduction to the Critical and Scholarly Discussion of Literature"

Latest revision as of 12:59, 29 October 2020

Please note: The ang070 module consists of

• a seminar (S/Ü "Introduction to the Critical and Scholarly Discussion of Literature", offered in the current winter term),
• a tutorial (TUT "Introduction to the Critical and Scholarly Discussion of Literature" [aka "Research Methods"], offered in the current winter term),
• a seminar (S/Ü "Key Concepts in Cultural Studies", offered in the following summer term), and
• a lecture (VL "Historical Background and Critical Concepts", offered in the following summer term).

All students beginning in the winter term 2018/19 need to enroll in one of the tutorials called TUT "Introduction to the Critical and Scholarly Discussion of Literature" (aka "Reasearch Methods"), AND in a seminar S/Ü "Introduction to the Critical and Scholarly Discussion of Literature" in ang070. Registration is via Stud.IP.

On this page you will find detailed information on the ten courses of our seminar S/Ü "Introduction to the Critical and Scholarly Discussion of Literature".

This seminar is part of the Basismodul ang070 and focuses on techniques of textual analysis in the context of discussing literature. We are offering ten parallel courses. Please make sure that you are registered under ONE of these in Stud.IP.

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:

• Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. E.A.J. Honigmann. Arden Shakespeare, third series. London: Bloomsbury, 1997.
• Melville, Herman. "Benito Cereno." Melville's Short Novels. Ed. Dan McCall. New York and London: Norton, 2002.

Course work: You will be asked to write three ungraded exercise assignments (max. 3 pages) and produce a Research Paper Outline 'Plus' (RPOplus), consisting of a research paper outline and a problem-oriented sample analysis (6 pages, due on February 28). The assignments are to be formatted according to the style sheet, and will require you to analyse poetry, drama and fiction respectively. For the RPOplus you will need to find your own topic to work on, 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) and write up a formal and genre-specific analysis of a passage that fits in with the research question and thesis statement put forward in your RPO.

Two useful links for all assignments:

• Useful Hints for Assignments
• Literary Studies:Writing academic texts - esp. for the research paper outline

Session One, October 18/19: Introduction

Welcome

• Introduction to the ang070 Curriculum, Aims and Goals
• Introduction to the ang070 Course Outline

Analytical Tools

• Handout Literature & Representation

Texts

• Poetry Reader

Skills and Activities

Preliminaries for seminar communication.

Session Two, October 25/26: Analysing Poetry I: Poetic Conventions, Rhyme and Metre

Analytical Tools

• Handout Analysing Poetry
• Sources: Culler 161-178; Ludwig, 31-33; Cambridge Companion to Literatures in English

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, November 01/02: Analysing Poetry II: Figurative Speech

Analytical Tools

• Handout: Figurative Speech
• Sources: Ludwig, 47-60; Leech, 147-157

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).

Session Four, November 08/09: Analysing Poetry III: From Close Reading to Problem-Oriented Textual Analysis

Analytical Tools

• Handout: Figurative Speech; Analysing Poetry
• Sources: Ludwig, 47-60; Leech, 147-157

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

    Sample Solution Assignment I: Poetry

Session Five, November 15/16: Analysing Drama I: Rhetoric

Analytical Tools

• Handout: Rhetoric
• Sources: Plett 3-22, 102-105

Texts

• William Shakespeare, Othello

Skills and Activities

A speech from the Shakespeare play

Session Six, November 22/23: Analysing Drama II: Dramatic Communication and Plot Structure

Analytical Tools

• Handout: Analysing Dramatic Communication
• Sources: Pfister 49 - 57, 86 - 94, 126 - 147

Texts

• William Shakespeare, Othello

Skills and Activities

Dramatic Structures and Communication; Exposition.

Session Seven, November 29/30: Analysing Drama III: Characterisation

Analytical Tools

• Handout: Analysing Dramatic Communication
• Sources: Pfister 183 - 195

Texts

• William Shakespeare, Othello

Skills and Activities

Characters and Genre Aspects.

[Assignment II: Drama]

[Sample solution assignment II: Drama]

Session Eight, December 06/07: Critical Debate and Literary Theory I

Material

• Handout: Author Function
• Handout: Editing Shakespeare

Texts

• Foucault, Michel. "What Is an Author?"The Foucault Reader. Ed. Paul Rabinow. New York, Pantheon, 1984. 101-20. Print.

Skills and Activities

Theory and Critical Discussion. Secondary Material.

Session Nine, December 13/14: Analysing Fiction I: Narration and Focalisation

Analytical Tools

• Handout: Narratology
• Sources: Rimmon-Kenan, Chapter 6, 72-86

Texts

• Herman Melville, "Benito Cereno"

Skills and Activities

Narration, Focalization.

Session Ten, December 20/21: Analysing Fiction II: Characterisation

Analytical Tools

• Handout: Narratology
• Sources: Rimmon-Kenan, Chapter 5, 59-71

Texts

• Herman Melville, "Benito Cereno"

Skills and Activities

Characterisation.

Session Eleven, January 10/11: Analysing Fiction III: From Close Reading to Problem-Oriented Textual Analysis

Analytical Tools

• Handout: Narratology
• Sources: Rimmon-Kenan, Chapter 5, 59-71 and Chapter 6, 72-86

Texts

• Herman Melville, "Benito Cereno"

Skills and Activities

Close Reading

  [Assignment III: Fiction]

  [Sample Solution Assignment III: Fiction]

Session Twelve, January 17/18: Critical Debate and Literary Theory II

Material

• Brief Overview of Theoretical Approaches and Movements

Texts

• Nixon, Nicola. "Men and Coats; Or, The Politics of the Dandiacal Body in Melville's 'Benito Cereno.'" PMLA 114.3 (1999): 359-72. Print.

Homework

• What kind of RPO+ would precede this kind of secondary text? While reading the text, deduce and reconstruct the parts relevant to an RPO+: (1) research problem, (2) thesis statement, (3) state of research, (4) argumentative structure.

Skills and Activities

Theory and Critical Discussion. Secondary Material.

Session Thirteen, January 24/25: Recap

Assignments Poetry, Drama, Fiction

• Handout: RPOplus
• Sample: RPOplus

Session Fourteen, January 31/February 01: RPO Projects

Skills and Activities

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

• Handout: RPOplus
• Sample: RPOplus

     Assignment IV: RPOplus