The course “Literary Text Analysis” is part of the discipline “The Culture of Verbal Communication” (Êóëüòóðà ðå÷åâîãî îáùåíèÿ – ÊÐÎ). It includes eight modules covering 6th through 10th semesters.
This course has been based on two major approaches to literature: Genre and Period. The first module (MODULE A) is structured with a view to the genre the author employs. The students learn to recognise genres and the techniques that are specific to them.
The other modules are structured with a view to the period the author belongs to. They include the following periods: “From the Origins to the Middle Ages” (MODULE B), “The Renaissance” (MODULE C), “The Puritan, Restoration and Augustan Ages” (MODULE D), “The Romantic Age” (MODULE E), “The Victorian age” (MODULE F), “The Early Twentieth Century and Modernism” (MODULE G) and “The Contemporary Age” (MODULE H). The students have the opportunity to study some of the best fiction, poetry and drama of each period and deepen their knowledge by analysing the historical and literary background and the lives of the authors.
REQUIRED READING
D. Delaney, C. Ward, C. R. Fiorina. FIELDS OF VISION. Literature in the English Language. Harlow: Pearson Educaton Limited, 2006, volume 1, 2.
COURSE EVALUATION
The effectiveness of your work in the course will be checked at the oral exam in this disciplinå at the end of each semester and three two-page papers done during the semester.
To get ready for the exam you will have to complete the following:
· Regularly attend the classes and effectively participate in class work at every tutorial.
· Learn the list of literary terms (See: “Glossary of Literary Terms”).
· Learn the list of key concepts related to types of poetry, types of drama, types of fiction (See: “Genres”).
· Write papers on the topics suggested in the schedules (See: Writing Suggestions).
· Any missed classes will have to be accounted for in written form.
In the pages that follow there are plans of MODULES A, B and C that will be studied during SEMESTER 6 (January-June).
MODULE A SEMESTER 6 January–June
TOPIC: LITERARY GENRES
This teaching module is based on the genre approach. It gives you an overview of major genres and major literary techniques employed in these genres. You have the opportunity to study these literary techniques in some pieces of poetry, drama, and fiction and use this knowledge later in your independent analysis for each author and text.
OBJECTIVES
· To become familiar with major literary genres.
· To recognise some of the literary techniques that are specific to poetry, drama, and fiction.
· To reach an understanding of the contents of the texts and build up an appreciation of how form relates to content.
· To discuss some of the issues raised in the texts and express your opinion in class.
· To be ready to apply your knowledge of genres and techniques in an independent analysis of unfamiliar texts.
SCHEDULE FOR MODULE A
WEEK
GENRE
LITERARY TECHNIQUES
AUTHOR
TEXT
1.
2 hours
2 hours
Poetry
Figures of speech
S. Plath,
E. Dickinson
Introduction
What is Poetry?
Metaphors
Apparently with No Surprise
2.
2 hours
Poetry
Imagery
Symbols
V. Scannell
P. Meinke
Nettles
Advice to My Son
3.
2 hours
2 hours
Poetry
Rhyme
Types of poetry (at the end of the book)
Alliteration and Assonance
Onomatopoeia
O. Nash
Th. Hardy
S. Heaney
The Hunter
Last Week in October
The Cool that Came off Sheets
4.
2 hours
Poetry
Rhythm
Metrical Terms and Scansion
R. L. Stevenson
From a Railway Carriage
5.
2 hours
2 hours
Poetry
End-stopped Line and Run-on Line
Standard Poetic Forms: the Ballad, the Sonnet
Layout
W. Wordsworth
W. Wordsworth
Anonymous
W. Shakespeare
R. McGough
My Heart Leaps Up
Skating
Barbara Allen
Shall I Compare Thee
40-Love
6.
2 hours
Drama
What Is Drama?
Dialogue
B. Forsyth
Gregory’s Girl
7.
2 hours
2 hours
Drama
Soliloquy
Tone
W. Shakespeare
G. B. Shaw
Romeo and Juliet
Pygmalion
8.
2 hours
Drama
Irony
O. Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest
9.
2 hours
2 hours
Drama
Fiction
Stage Directions
Types of drama (at the end of the book)
What is fiction?
Setting
S. Beckett
Saki
Waiting for Godot
The Lumber Room
(Lines 1-136)
Comprehension questions 1-6
10.
2 hours
Paper #1 is due
Fiction
Setting
Saki
The Lumber Room (Up to the end)
Comprehension questions 7-9, Analysis
11.
2 hours
2 hours
Fiction
Character
Character
K. Mansfield
K. Mansfield
Miss Brill (Lines 1-94)
Comprehension questions 1-5
Miss Brill (Up to the end)
Comprehension questions 6-10, Analysis
12.
2 hours
Fiction
Plot
G. Greene
The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen
13.
2 hours
2 hours
Fiction
Narrators and Point of View
J. Joyce
The Boarding House (Lines 1-116)
Comprehension questions 1-6
The Boarding House (Up to the end)
Comprehension questions 7-12, Analysis
14.
2 hours
Paper #2 is
due
Fiction
Theme
E. Hemingway
Old Man at the Bridge
WRITING SUGGESTIONS for papers #1 and #2:
Analyse the role of dialogue in creating character in the drama of your choice.
Analyse the theme in the fiction of your choice as expressed through its form and content.
Note: For every one of your papers you are asked to choose one of the texts provided in this schedule.