Introduction to Literary Studies
BBN-ANG-112/t
R5 315 Tue 15:00-16:30
Géza Maráczi
narratologic@gmail.com
Reading schedule:
9 September
I was unable to attend due to unforeseen obligations
16 Sept
Introduction; Jonathan Culler, ‘What Is Literature and Does It
Matter?’, in Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, pp. 18-41.
[CM] (= on the course material site)
(Short) Fiction:
23 Sept
‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe and ‘A Madman’s
Manuscript’ (1835) by Charles Dickens [CM]; research report
from Sarbu
30 Sept
‘The Signalman’ (1866) by Charles Dickens [CM]; Test 1 on
Baldick
7 October
‘Odour of Chrysanthemums’ (1911/1914) by D. H. Lawrence [CM]
14 Oct
‘The Dead’(from Dubliners, 1914) by James Joyce [CM]; research
report from Bradford
21 Oct
4 research reports on critical approaches to Joyce’s ‘The Dead’
4 November
‘Cat in the Rain’ (1924) and ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ (1927) by
Ernest Hemingway [CM]; Test 2 on Baldick
11 Nov
‘In the Company of Wolves’ (1979) by Angela Carter [CM]
Poetry:
18 Nov
‘The Second Coming’ (1919) and ‘Leda and the Swan’ (1924) by
William Butler Yeats; Mini-essay 1 due; research report from
Bradford
25 Nov
‘Musée des Beaux Arts’ (1938) by W. H. Auden and ‘Chruch Going’
and ‘Sad Steps’ (1974) by Philip Larkin [CM]
Drama:
2 December
‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ (1948) by Tennessee Williams [CM];
Mini-essay 2 due
9 Dec
Discussion of a British (or Irish), American or English-language
post-colonial (Commonwealth) poem, short story or (previously
Introduction to Literary Studies
BBN-ANG-112/t
R5 315 Tue 15:00-16:30
Géza Maráczi
narratologic@gmail.com
read) play, suggested and voted by you; Test 3 on Baldick;
research report from Bradford
Mini-essay 3 due 16 December
Set material: the primary texts listed above; a list of definitions from Baldick to be
memorised; handouts to go with topics, sent via e-mail; short readings in relevant
secondary literature, sent via e-mail (suited to the topic of your choice for the
mini-essays)
Requirements: short quizzes on the readings; participation in one of the eight research
reports and in all discussions; three tests on Baldick; a half-page long reader’s
journal on the text we discuss in a given class due on the class devoted to each
text; and three 2-page long mini-essays on one chosen work from each genre (MLA
style, with at least 2 scholarly references properly cited).
Assessment is based on: quizzes (getting 3 wrong results in gaining extra reading for 9
Dec); reader’s journals (missing the submission of 1 results in gaining extra
reading for 9 Dec or subtracts from the grade); tests on Baldick; mini-essays, AND
participation in discussions.
Note on requirements:
Note that you also have to submit a piece of your reader’s journal if you miss the
relevant class, I would ask you to send it to me in advance if you know that you would
be absent.
It would be useful to find one or two scholarly articles (from databases or
otherwise on-line) on the work you choose, as sources for your three mini-essays,
further to, or instead of, the ones I will be providing you with.
- References:
Chris Baldick (20012), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Oxford: OUP. (To
be had cheapest: Oxford University Bookshop, 1052 Bp., Gerlóczy u. 7.)
Bradford, Richard (1996) Introducing Literary Studies, pp. 1–58.
Sarbu, Aladár (2008): The Study of Literature: An Introduction for Hungarian Students of
English, Budapest: Akadémiai, pp. 21-39.
- Suggested secondary sources on the primary literature covered, for reading or for your
mini-essays, in addition to other scholarly book(-chapter)s (to be found in libraries or
on-line) or articles (to be found in databases or otherwise on-line) on the author or
work you choose; relevant chapters from: