Introduction to Literature (lectures and seminars), spring semester 2015 Course coordinator: Martina Horáková, mhorakov@phil.muni.cz, office 3009 Tutors: Alžběta Zedníková (A), Velid Beganović (B), Eva Valentová (C), Eva Hrkalová (D), Alexandra Stachurová (E), Patrik Míša (F), Course description: This course consists of alternating lectures and seminars that encourage students to engage in literary research and analysis. The lectures provide students with an introduction to literary histories, movements, contexts and approaches to literary texts. The seminars function as more practical insights into analyzing literary texts and writing critical research papers about them. They are based on discussions and group work. Course objectives: 1. To learn the methods of conducting library research and working with primary and secondary sources. 2. To acquire the techniques needed for literary analysis and writing academic essays. 3. To refine critical thinking about literature and achieve a deeper understanding of how literature affects us and how it enriches our perception of the world. Assessment: Students must prepare for all classes, especially for the seminars. The assigned texts must be read before the class so that students can engage actively in discussions and other continuous assessment. Written assignments must be submitted in the required format and on time. 1 credit (zápočet) is given at the end of the lecture series, 2 credits for the exam at the end of the seminar series. Final mark: class performance 10%; response papers (3x) 40%; final research paper 50%. Points out of 10/100; 60% pass/fail line. Evaluation scale: A 100-85; B 84-80; C-79-75; D-74-70; E 69-60; F (fail) 59-0. Readings: Primary: please see the syllabus—texts will be available in the ELF (poetry, short extracts), otherwise you have to get a copy from the library or a bookshop. Secondary: MLA Handbook, 7^th edition. (ELF); for secondary essays complementing primary readings, see ELF. Attendance: The attendance of lectures will be noted in attendance sheets. Attendance in ALL seminars during the semester is compulsory. The only exception is illness, in which case students must present a doctor’s certificate in the study department. Failing to attend the seminars may result in failing the course. Response papers: 2 double-spaced pages; MLA style; choose a narrow focus, include citations and paraphrases as textual evidence; format in-text references and works cited correctly in the end; if it is relevant, quote/paraphrase from a secondary source. Lectures: Mondays 14.10-15.40, D22 text(s) to be analyzed in the seminars Seminars: Mondays and Wednesdays assignments 1. Feb 16: Modern Irish Drama Dr. Stephen Hardy Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest 23./24./25.2.: text analysis: features of modern drama; academic writing: paragraph development, transitions betw. paragraphs; writing a response paper/RP samples; -Ch 2 “Oscar Wilde – The Artist As Irishman” from Inventing Ireland by Declan Kiberd, pp. 33-50 (elf) 2. March 2: The Bloomsbury Group Dr. Bonita Rhoads Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway 9./10./11.3.: text analysis: features of modernist fiction; academic writing: citing vs. paraphrasing; introducing a citation/paraphrase; -Ch 1 “Civilization and ‘My Civilisation’: Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Avant-Garde” from Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Avant-Garde by Christine Froula, pp.1-34 (Central Library-> ebrary) -Response paper 1 on Wilde or Woolf (upload to ELF, deadline March 16; late submissions lose 2 points) 3. March 16: American Modernism Doc. Tomáš Pospíšil F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby 23./24./25.3.: text analysis: features of American modernism; feedback to RPs 1; academic writing: when to use secondary sources, avoiding plagiarism; -Ch 8 “Pastoral Mode and Language in The Great Gatsby” by Janet Giltrow and David Stouck from F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Twenty-First Century ed. by Bryer, Prigozy, and Stern, pp. 139-152. (Central Library->ebrary) 4. March 30: Post-war Drama Dr. Tomáš Kačer Harold Pinter, The Birthday Party 6./7./8.4. (Easter, reading week, no class) text analysis: features of post-war drama; academic writing: literary present vs. past simple -Martin Esslin, “The Significance of the Absurd”, The Theatre of the Absurd, Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1961, pp. 399-429. (elf) -Response paper 2 on Fitzgerald or Pinter (April 13) 5. April 13: Canadian Postmodernism Dr. Martina Horáková Margaret Atwood, Surfacing 20./21./22.4. text analysis: postmodern narrative strategies; feedback to RPs 2; academic writing: the mechanics of writing (e.g. strong verbs, the passive, punctuation) Linda Hutcheon, “Process, Product, and Politics: The Postmodernism of Margaret Atwood”, The Canadian Postmodern, pp. 138-159 (elf) 6. April 27: Australian Postcolonial Novel Dr. Martina Horáková David Malouf, Remembering Babylon 4./5./6. 5. text analysis: features of postcolonial fiction; academic writing: preparing a final research paper -Ch 2 “Unsettling the Settler Postcolony: Uncanny Pre-Occupations in David Malouf’s Remembering Babylon“, from Imagining Justice by Julie McGonegal (Central Library -> ebrary) -Response paper 3 on Atwood or Malouf (May 11) Final research papers: 5 pages (excluding bibliography); min. 2 secondary sources; MLA style; deadline: May 30, upload in ELF and IS (Odevzdavarna)