Saint-Louis University - Bruxelles
English
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GERM1114 - English: analysis and explanation of literary texts I a



Credits : 3

Lecturer :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory.

Language of instruction :
The course is taught in English.

Learning outcomes :
Students are expected to master the basic concepts of literary analysis in English, apply them in relation to the various texts of the course syllabus and report their findings in short essays.


Prerequisites :
None

Co-requisites :
None

Course contents :
The course is devoted to the literary analysis of modern works of fiction or drama in English alternately (year A "The Short Story" and year B "Modern Drama") .

The 2014-15 course, ("The Short Story") starts off from an explanation of the basic literary terminology (plot, narrator, point-of-view, character, tone etc.) and some key notions of the genre's theory and history. Each weekly 2-hour class is devoted to the analyis and discussion of each of the following texts:
A Dog's Tale (Mark Twain), In Affection and Esteem (Mary Webb), The Dead (James Joyce), Kew Gardens (Virginia Woolf), The Fly (Katherine Mansfield), The Gardener (Rudyard Kipling), Indian Camp (Ernest Hemingway), Town and Country Lovers (Nadine Gordimer) and In Sight of the Lake (Alice Munro).
Some writing exercices prepare students for the written examination.
The course concludes with a critical reassessment of the genre's essential theoretical insights in the light of these texts.


Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
The course reader includes the texts above with a glossary and notes with possibly biographical documentaries or fill adaptations (DVDs).


Assessment methods and criteria :
Students are graded on the basis of a written examination, consisting in questions testing their critical understanding of the texts studied with regard to their biographical, artistic and socio-historical context.


Recommended or required reading :
Barry Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 3rd ed. Manchester UP, 2009.
Bowen, Elizabeth, ed. Introduction. The Faber Book of Modern Stories. 1936.
Grellet, Françoise. A Handbook of Literary Terms: Introduction au vocabulaire littéraire anglais. Hachette, 2009.
Hunter, Adrian. The Cambridge Introduction to the Short Story in English. Cambridge UP, 2007.
Scotfield, Martin. The Cambridge Introduction to the American Short Story. Cambridge UO, 2006.
The Norton Anthology of English Literature / M. H. Abrams, general, ed. [and] Steven Greenblatt, assoc. gen. ed. New York (N.Y.) : Norton, 2000 (7e édition)


Other information :
Syllabus, DVDs, recommended critical editions and personal course notes.