This teaching module is based on the period approach. It is one of those modules that give you an overview of major historical periods in the development of literature in English.
This module gives you an overview of the literature that was being produced in the Victorian age (1837-1901). You have the opportunity to study some of the best fiction, poetry and drama of the period and major literary techniques employed in this period. To deepen your understanding of the texts the book also includes some information about the historical and literary background and the lives of the authors.
OBJECTIVES
· To become familiar with the works of some of the major writers of the period and reach an understanding of their contents.
· To get an insight into the historical and literary background of the period.
· To recognise some of the literary and stylistic techniques that are specific to this period and to 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 in an independent analysis of unfamiliar texts.
REQUIRED READING
D. Delaney, C. Ward, C. R. Fiorina. FIELDS OF VISION. Literature in the English Language. Harlow: Pearson Educaton Limited, 2005, volume 2.
COURSE EVALUATION
The course “Literary Text Analysis” is part of the discipline “The Culture of Verbal Communication” (Êóëüòóðà ðå÷åâîãî îáùåíèÿ – ÊÐÎ). The effectiveness of your work in the course is to be checked at every tutorial, the oral exam in this disciplinå at the end of the semester and three papers done during the semester.
To get ready for the exam you have to complete the following:
· Regularly attend the classes and effectively participate in class work at every tutorial.
· Learn the contents of the chapters “Historical and Social Background”, “The Literary Background”, and “Writer’s Gallery”.
· Write three two-page papers on the topics suggested in the schedule (See: Writing Suggestions).
· Any missed classes will have to be accounted for in written form.
SCHEDULE
WEEK
GENRE
LITERARY TECHNIQUES
AUTHOR
WORK
LINKS
1.
2 h
2 h
English fiction – novel of initiation
Extended metaphor
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
Text F1
Text F2
Historical and Social Background p. F124-126
The Literary Background p. F130-131
2.
2 h
2h
English fiction – novel
Revealing character through physical description
Charles Dickens
Hard Times
Text F3
Text F4
Writer’s Gallery p. F15-16
3.
2 h
2h
English fiction – romantic novel
Plot
Emily Brontë
Wuthering Heights
Text F5
Text F6
The Literary Background p. F131
Writer’s Gallery p. F32
4.
2 h
2h
English fiction – novel of initiation
Dialogue to reveal character
Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre Text F7
Text F8
Writer’s Gallery p. F32-33
5.
2 h
2h
English fiction – novel
Omniscient obtrusive narrator
George Eliot
Silas Marner
Text F9
Text F10
The Literary Background p. F131-132
Writer’s Gallery p. F40
6.
2 h
2h
English fiction – horror story
Doppelgänger
Robert L. Stevenson
The Strange Case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde
Text F11
Text F12
Writer’s Gallery p. F47
7.
2 h
2h
English fiction – aesthetic novel
Paradox
Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Text F13
Text F14
The Literary Background p. F132-134
Writer’s Gallery p. F54-55
8.
2 h
Paper#1 is due
2h
English fiction – regional novel
Symbolic setting
Thomas Hardy
Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Text F15
Text F16
The Literary Background p. F132
Writer’s Gallery p. F63-64
9.
2 h
2h
North American fiction – novel
Pathos
Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter
Text F17
Text F18
Historical and Social Background p. F127-129
The Literary Background p. F141
Writer’s Gallery p. F71
10.
2 h
2h
North American fiction – novel
Symbolic names
Herman Melville
Moby Dick
Text F19
Comprehension
Text F19 Analysis
The Literary Background p. F141
Writer’s Gallery p. F78
11.
2 h
2h
North American fiction – novel of initiation
The naive narrator
Mark Twain
Huckleberry Finn
Text F20
Text F21
The Literary Background p. F141-142
Writer’s Gallery p. F85
Writer’s Gallery p. F86
12.
2 h
Paper#2 is due
2h
English poetry – elegy
Punctuation
Lord Alfred Tennyson
Break, Break, Break
Text F22
Morte d’Arthur F23
The Literary Background p. F136
Writer’s Gallery p. F92
13.
2 h
2h
English poetry – dramatic monologue
Dramatic monologue
Robert Browning
My Last Duchess F24
F25 Home-Thoughts, from Abroad
The Literary Background p. F136
Writer’s Gallery p. F99
14.
2 h
2h
English poetry – dramatic monologue
Mood
Style
Matthew Arnold
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Dover Beach
Text F26
Pied Beauty
Text F27
The Literary Background p. F136
Writer’s Gallery p. F103
The Literary Background p. F137
Writer’s Gallery p. F106
15.
2 h
2h
North American poetry
North American poetry – free verse
Style
Free verse
Emily Dickinson
Walt Whitman
A Bird Came Down the Walk F28
Because I Could not Stop for Death F29
F30 When I Heard the Learned Astronomer
O Captain! My Captain! Text F31
The Literary Background p. F142-143
Writer’s Gallery p. F111
The Literary Background p. F142
Writer’s Gallery p. F116-117
16.
2 h
2h
Paper#3 is due
English drama – comedy of manners
Creating a character
Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest
Text F32 Comprehension
Text F32
Analysis
The Literary Background p. F138
Writer’s Gallery p. F54-55
17.
4 h
Non-Fictional Prose
Revision
Correction of papers
The Literary Background p. F139-140
WRITING SUGGESTIONS
1. Analyse one of the life contradictions reinforced in an English novel of the Victorian Age (the relationship between adults and children, submissiveness and rebellion, the power of money and the power of love, good and evil in man, youth and old age, beauty and degradation, ‘a pure woman’ dying for her ‘sins’, etc.). Consider the techniques employed.
2. Analyse the narrative technique (a third/first-person narrator) in a North American novel (Hawthorne, Melville, Twain). How does the narrator guide the reader’s interpretation of events and characters?
3. Express your opinion on what happens in the poem of your choice. Explain how the form is suitable for its content (Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Hopkins, Dickinson, Whitman).
Note: For every one of your papers you are asked to choose one of the texts provided in this schedule.