Un iv e r z i t a P . J . Ša fá r i ka v Ko š i c i a ch F i l o zo f i c ká f a ku l t a

Code: KAa-AJ/ULV/ 06

Course title: Introduction to Literary Studies

Specialisation: BASb Department: English and American Studies

Guaranteed by: Doc. PhDr. Stanislav Kolář, Dr.

Lecturer: Doc. PhDr. Stanislav Kolář, Dr.

Year, semester: 1

Form: lecture, seminar Number of teaching hours: Per week: 1/1 Total per semester: 12/12

Credits: 5

Prerequisites: -

Assessment and evaluation: Continuous assessment: literary analysis Final assessment: test

Aims and objectives: The course deals with literary theory with respect to British and American literature. Students are introduced to various literary terms whose knowledge will be useful for them in their courses of British and American literature. Special attention will be paid to the theory of prose, poetry, and drama. The purpose of the course is improvement of students' abilities of literary analysis. Course content: Concept of literature and its functions. Literary studies. Basic elements of fiction. Narrative genres. Basic elements of poetry. Denotation and connotation. Figurative language. Figures of speech. Major genres. Basic elements of drama. Dramatic genres. Non-fiction. Essayistic writing. Literary criticism. Literary canon.

C OU RS E DE SC RI PT I O N

Recommended texts: Culler, J. Literary Theory. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Franko, Š. Theory of Anglophonic Literatures. Prešov: Slovacontact, 1994. Wellek, R., and A. Warren. Theory of Literature (new revised ed.). London: Penguin, 1993. Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory: Introduction. Minneapolis, MN: U of Minnesota P, 1996. Peprník, M. Směry literární interpretace XX. století. Texty, komentáře. Olomouc: UP, 2000. Rawling, P. American Theorists of the Novel. London: Routledge, 2006. Rivkin, J., M. Ryan, ed. Literary Theory: An Anthology. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998. Language of instruction: English

Date of last revision: Signature: Stanislav Kolář, 18 Sept.,2007

LECTURES - DESCRIPTION

1.The concept of literature. What is literature. Functions of literature. Analysis of literary work. Literary studies. (Fiction, non-fiction, cognitive function, aesthetic f., ethic f., mimesis, literary theory, history, criticism). 2. The basic elements of fiction (plot, character, setting, point of view, theme) 3. Narrative genres - I (long fiction - novel) 4. Narrative genres II (intermediate fiction - novella, short story, fabliau, exemplum, legend; minor fiction - parable, bestiary, fairy tale, anecdote). 5.The basic elements of poetry. What is poetry. Figurative language. Denotation and connotation (figures of speech - simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, apostrophe, hyperbole, understatement). 6. Poetry: symbol, allegory, allusion, speaker, tone (speaker, tone). 7. Poetry: repetition, rhythm, rhyme (refrain, alliteration, assonance, consonance, anaphora, epiphora). 8. Poetry: basic stanza forms (couplet, heroic couplet, tercet, terza rima, quatrain, rhyme royal, ottava rima, Spenserian stanza, sonnet, blank verse, free verse 9. The basic elements of drama (monologue, dialogue, conflict, tragedy, comedy, dramatic generes according to the historical development). 10. Non-fiction (faction). Essays (objectivity, subjectivityk, facts, “imagination of facts”) 11. Literary criticism - I: (formalism, New Criticism, psychoanalytic theory, phenomenology, hermeneutics, reception theory). 12. Literary criticism - II: (archetypal critism, American mythological criticism, feminist and Marxist criticism, minority discourse, queer theory, post-structuralism, deconstruction, new historicism). 13. Literary canon (development of literary canon, national canon, literary value)

S E M I N A R S - D E S C R I P T I O N

1. Function of literature. Distinction between fiction and non-fiction Texts: Wendy Cope: “English Weather” (poem) K. Veselý: ”The English Speaking Countries (extract) Salman Rushdie: How Literature Can Transform information into Gold“ 2. The basic elements of fiction Texts: E. Hemingway: “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” (interpretation) 3. Narrative genres An analysis of the theme of Hemingway’s story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” Exercise: distinction of point of view Text: Jerome K. Jerome: Three Men in a Boat 4. Literary interpretation of fiction: an analysis of short story Text: James Joyce: “Araby” (complex analysis) 5. The basic elements of poetry Texts: Archibald MacLeish: “Ars Poetica” Robert Burns: “A Red, Red Rose” 6. Figurative Language: Figures of Speech. Texts: Sylvia Plath: “Metaphors” Carl Sandburg: “Fog” Nikki Giovanni: “Woman” (identification of the figures of speech) 7. Symbol, allegory, allusion, speaker, tone. Texts: Robert Browning: “My Star” Ezra Pound: “Ancient Music” George Herbert: “Love” William Blake: “The Tiger” Exercise: Identification of the literal or figurative meaning of the quotations 8. Repetition, rhythm, rhyme Texts: Edgar A. Poe: “The Raven” Allen Ginsberg: “Hymmnn” E. A. Housman: “When I Was One-And-Twenty” Exercise - poetics 9. Basic stanza forms Texts: Percy B. Shelley: “Ode to the West Wind” William Shakespeare: “Sonnet 130” Elizabeth B. Browning: “Sonnet from the Portuguese, XLIII” Edna St. Vincent Millay: “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, and Where, and Why” Walt Whitman: “Song of Myself” Kenneth Patchen: “An Easy Decision” W. H. Auden: “The Unknown Citizen” 10. The Basic elements of drama Texts: Arthur Miller: Incident at Vichy (extract) 11. Reception of literature. Literary canon. Text: Stanislav Kolář: “Canon of American Literature - the Problem of Exclusion or

Inclusion” 12. Non-fiction (faction). Essays. Literary Criticism Texts: M. Suarez: “El Hoyo” George Orwell: “Shooting an Elephant” E. A. Poe: “The Philosophy of Composition” Selected texts from M. Peprník’s book Směry literární interpretace XX. století. Texty, komentáře

P R OJ E CT S , P RE S EN T ATI O NS, E SS A Y S Weekly readings of the assigned texts Class participation - Student‘s participation in class discussions, based on close reading of texts, is encouraged. The frequency and quality of student’s participation in class discussions will be reflected in assessment

A S S E S S M E N T A N D E V A L U A T I O N

CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT (tests, projects, presentations)

Deadline (week)

Max. mark %

Pass mark

Analysis of J. Joyce’s story “Araby” 4 100

60

FINAL ASSESSMENT Form (exam test, essay, oral exam…):

Max. mark %

Pass mark

test

60 p. 36 p. (60%)

FINAL EVALUATION (total of continuous + final assessment mark):