BTAN22004BA & AN1060MA & AN3200OMA British Literary Seminar Spring Semester, 2016/2017 Seminar, 2hrs, graded, 3 credits 2nd year BA, required-optional Instructor: Gula Marianna Office hours: Mon 12.00-13.00 Mon 10.00-11.40 Main blg 109 Tue 10.00-11.00 Main Bldg Rm 108; Mon 14.00-15.40 Main blg 109 E-mail address: mariannagula@gmail.com Course description The purpose of this seminar course is to follow the lecture course on British literary history, and by reading key texts from the earliest periods of English literature to the twentieth century, the seminar aims to provide support to students in preparing for their end-of-the-term exam. Apart from this practical aspect, though, the seminar aims to give you the joy of reading some the greatest classics in English: the covered period incorporates medieval English literature (Chaucer), the English Renaissance (Shakespeare), metaphysical poetry (Donne and Marvell), Augustan fiction (Swift), Romantic poetry (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats and Shelley), Victorian fiction (Charlotte Brontë and Emily Brontë), Victorian poetry (Tennyson, Browning), and modernism (T.S. Eliot). In this way, this survey course in English literature aims at the impossible: to familiarise students with a literary heritage of 800 years, and, at the same time, provide the opportunity to discuss and express your opinion of these fascinating texts. Requirements Presence at classes: no more than three absences are allowed. In the case of a longer absence (either due to illness, or official leave), the tutor and the student will come to an agreement of how to solve the problem. Assigned reading: The seminar format and the reading requirements suppose that the assigned texts are read for the classes. Tests on the assigned readings can be expected at each seminar (plot-related questions in the case of novels, vocabulary tests in the case of poetry). The result of these tests contributes to the seminar grade. If you do not achieve 66% in these small tests, your seminar is a failure (the grade is a one). You ll be granted, though, one chance to make up for the failure of these minor tests as agreed with your course tutor. Reader s journal: the student is required to keep a reader s journal in a separate notebook, recording opinions, impressions and raising questions. The journals are to be in class, and to be used for facilitating discussions. Participation in classroom discussions: the student is expected to take part in classroom discussions, and this activity contributes to the final seminar grade. (The reader s journal can be of great help in this respect.) Endterm test: an objective test on the works discussed during the term. The test must be written at the time scheduled in the syllabus. Failing to do so or not achieving 50% of the total score will count as course failure, and only one re-sit test will be scheduled to make up for the failure. If you fail both the minor tests and end-term test, the grade is one as it is possible to rewrite only one of these. Term essay (research paper): a take-home essay of 1,800 to 2,000 words is to be written on any topic related to the themes of the course. See the list of suggested topics below, but students can also write on a topic devised by them. NB! This latter version is only allowed on condition of preliminary consultation with the instructor. The essay should meet the formal and academic requirements of a research paper. Secondary reading and scholarly documentation, conforming to the requirements of the MLA Style Sheet, are required (MLA style sheets and handbooks are available in the department library). In their research papers students are required to cite at least
TWO books, book chapters and/or journal articles of academic standard, that is, referenced secondary material should either be borrowed from the library or downloaded from an online database that meets scholarly requirements (such as JSTOR or EBSCO). Quotes taken from printed or online sources such as Wikipedia, Enotes, York Notes, etc. will NOT be accepted as relevant secondary material. Plagiarism and academic dishonesty will be penalised as described in the Academic Handbook of the Institute (see below). The essay is to be submitted by the defined deadline, otherwise the grade will be lowered (see below). The essay will only be accepted in a wordprocessed (typed) format. The cover sheet of the essay must contain the title of the essay, the name of the student, the name of the tutor, the name of the course, the date of submission, the following statement: Hereby, I certify that the essay conforms to international copyright and plagiarism rules and regulations, and also the signature of the student. Essay style-sheet (for other cases check the full MLA handbook or its longer style sheet abstract): for simple page references use brackets in the body of the text; use notes only if you mean to add information that would seem a deviation in the text; sample references in brackets: (Smith 65); if there are several works by the same author choose a key word of the title of the book: (Smith, Good 65), or if it is an article: (Smith, Further 65). sample bibliography entry: referring to books: Smith, John. Good Ideas. Place: Publisher, Year. referring to articles, poems, etc.: in volumes: Smith, John. Further Good Ideas. Editor of volume (if relevant). Volume Title. Place: Publisher, Year. Pages. in journals: Smith, John. Further Good Ideas. Title of Journal 2.4 (1996): pages. Plagiarism and its consequences Students must be aware that plagiarism is a crime which has its due consequences. The possible forms of plagiarism: 1. word by word quotes from a source used as if they were one s own ideas, without quotation marks and without identifying the sources; 2. ideas taken from a source, paraphrased in the essay-writer s own words and used as if they were his/her own ideas, without identifying and properly documenting the source. Plagiarism, depending on its seriousness and frequency, will be penalised in the following ways: 1. The percentage of the submitted paper will be reduced. 2. The essay will have to be rewritten and resubmitted. 3. In a serious case, this kind of academic dishonesty will result in a failure. 4. In a recurring, and serious case, the student will be expelled from the English major programme. Late submission policy 1. Deadlines must be observed and taken seriously; 2. The essay submitted more than two weeks later than the deadline cannot be considered for course work; 3. The essay submitted in less than two weeks after the deadline will be penalised by a reduction in the percentage (the extent of the reduction is defined below: see Grading Policy ); In exceptional and well-documented cases, the extension of deadlines can be requested of (negotiated with) the course tutor well in advance (definitely not after, or on the day of, the deadline).
Assessment of the Research Papers The essays must have a clear statement of theme, preferably in the form of a thesis paragraph, and all the further statements must be related to this central topic or question. The text (arguments, agreements and disagreements) must be organised coherently so that the point you make and your flow of thoughts must be clear for the reader. The essays must, naturally, be finished with a well articulated conclusion which is supposed to be the culmination of your proposed arguments. The essays will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria: the articulateness of the thesis of the paper; the use and integration of your secondary sources into the essay; the clarity of the position you take; the coherence of the structure; the quality of the arguments; scholarly documentation; the level of your language. The essays will not be evaluated on the basis of what your tutor s position is in a certain issue, so feel free to elaborate your own ideas but do it in a sophisticated way. NB! Please note that each and every course component above is obligatory: the failure to meet any of these requirements (class attendance, small tests, home essay/research paper, endterm test) will jeopardise the completion of the course. Out of three course components - small tests, research paper/essay submission, end-term test - only one re-sit or re-submission will be granted; failure to meet more than one requirement will automatically result in overall failure. Please also note that there is no make-up for insufficient class attendance or in case you fail to submit your research paper (term essay) by the defined deadline. Grading Policy Course components Classroom presence 19% and discussion minor tests 11% term essay 35% objective test 35% total 100% Essay late submission reduction Delay (days) Reduction 1 2 2 3 5 5 6 9 10 10 14 15 Research paper evaluation Statement of thesis 3 Quality of argument 8 Coherence of structure 8 Scholarly documentation 4 Level of language 7 Total 30 Grades 87-100% 5 75-86% 4 63-74% 3 51-62% 2 0-50 % 1 SCHEDULE Week Date Topic 1. 20 Feb The Medieval period: Chaucer: The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales (either borrow the book from the institute library or download electronic version: http://www.penguin.com/ajax/books/excerpt/9780140424386 Homework to be done before class: when reading the Prologue at home select one of the characters you find intriguing and note down as many characteristics as you can so that you can describe the character in
class and your fellow students can guess which character you have in mind (you can perform as well, but you do not have to). 2. 27 Feb Renaissance: Shakespeare, Hamlet 3. 6 Mar The metaphysical poets: John Donne, The Flea, The Sun Rising ; Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress * Pre-Romantic Poetry: William Blake, The Lamb, The Tyger, London 4. 13 Mar 18 th century prose (satire): Jonathan Swift, Gulliver s Travels 5. 20 Mar The first generation of Romantic poets: William Wordsworth, Composed upon Westminster Bridge Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kubla Khan 6. 27 Mar The second generation of Romantic poets: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias, Ode to the West Wind ; John Keats, On First Looking into Chapman s Homer, La Belle Dame sans Merci, Ode on a Grecian Urn, Ode to a Nightingale NB! Also watch before class the film Bright Star (2009, dir. Jane Campion) 7. 3 Apr Victorian fiction: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre 8. 10 Apr CONSULTATION WEEK (NO CLASS) 9. 17 Apr EASTER MONDAY (NO CLASS) 10. 24 Apr Victorian fiction: Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights 11. 1 May INTERNATIONAL HOLIDAY (NO CLASS) 12. 8 May Victorian poetry: Alfred Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott Robert Browning, My Last Duchess NB! Also listen to Loreena McKenitt s musical setting of The Lady of Shalott accompanied mostly by Pre-Raphaelite paintings at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0rvnqw1dqm&feature=related 13. 15 May Modernist poetry: T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, and Tradition and the Individual Talent (essay) ESSAY DEADLINE 14. 22 May End term test TEXTS: available in the Institute Library or on the internet. In either case, though, students must have the pertaining texts with them in classes. Topics suggested for the home-essay: 1. Hamlet and Shakespeare s sonnets. 2. The portrayal of love and time in (some of) Shakespeare s sonnets and To his Coy Mistress. 3. The portrayal of (love and) death in Hamlet and To his Coy Mistress. 4. Comic elements and incongruity in Hamlet. 5. The role of the Mousetrap within Hamlet. 6. Compare and contrast the significance of madness in Hamlet and King Lear. 7. The representation of women in Hamlet or Gulliver s Travels. 8. Compare and contrast the role of irony in the general prologue to The Canterbury Tales and Gullivers s Travels.
9. Compare and contrast the representation of the body in the general prologue to The Canterbury Tales and Gullivers s Travels. 10. Explore the function of nature and landscape in Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. 11. Shelley once remarked that We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts have their root in Greece. Comment on this on the basis of your reading experience of 19th century English literature. 12. Explore the Christian symbolism in Coleridge s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. 13. Compare and contrast the role of books in two of the following novels: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights or Great Expectations. 14. Compare and contrast names and naming in Wuthering Heights and Great Expectations. 15. Examine the role of the theatre in Jane Eyre or Great Expectations. 16. Examine the role of painting in Jane Eyre. 17. Explore the use of images of mirrors and water in The Lady of Shalott and/or Great Expectations. 18. Examine the portrayal of religious attitudes in Tess of the D Urdervilles. 19. Explore the representation of the idea of progress in Gulliver s Travels or Great Expectations.