View source for BM1 Introduction to Literature, Aims and Requirements

==Basiscurriculum — English and American Literature (Kirchhofer 06 / 07)==

Introduction to the Critical and Scholarly Discussion of Literature

===Aim===
To prepare students for participation in the critical and scholarly debate on literature by
*developing an understanding of the issues and questions dealt with in literary studies.
*acquiring and consolidating the basic knowledge and skills necessary for such an understanding.
*beginning to apply their knowledge and skills in order to address scholarly and critical issues.
===Knowledge===
At the level of requisite knowledge, students will obtain an initial familiarity with
*different conceptions and definitions of ‘literature’
*the tradition of the debate about literature
*the spectrum of genres and periods in literary history
*literary schools and movements
*critical schools and movements
*changing historical conditions of performance, as well as of book production and circulation
===Skills===
The range of skills required for understanding issues and participating in the scholarly and critical discussion of literature includes study skills …
*finding information (library and reference skills),
*processing information (selecting and making excerpts of primary and secondary material; using secondary material for discussion)
*presenting information (orally and in writing)
… as well as critical skills and reading strategies:
*recognising and describing the specific character of narrative, dramatic and poetic communication.
*describing techniques of generating meaning through characterisation, figurative speech and performance.
*beginning to identify markers of genre and / or historicity in texts.
===Requirements===
*Regular participation.
*A Portfolio consisting of six distinct assignments to be completed in the course of the entire academic year. All six assignments are obligatory. They will be rated as follows:

{|
!bgcolor=#D5D5FF|Portfolio component
!bgcolor=#D5D5FF|date due
!bgcolor=#D5D5FF|rating in Portfolio
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Practice Sheet
|bgcolor=#efefef|21 Nov 2006
|bgcolor=#efefef|no mark
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Written Test
|bgcolor=#efefef|23 Jan 2007
|bgcolor=#efefef|mark counts double
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|3 Exercises in Textual Analysis (on poetry, fiction and drama)
|bgcolor=#efefef|around Week 4, Week 7/8 and Week 10/11 of the summer term
|bgcolor=#efefef|three marks: the two highest count 
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Research paper project (title, bibliography, outline, summary of argument)
|bgcolor=#efefef|Aug. 15, 2007
|bgcolor=#efefef|mark counts
|}