INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE
Code: BBNAN00100
Instructor: Barcsák János (barcsak.janos@btk.ppke.hu)
Requirements:
regular attendance (missing more than 3 classes automatically results in failing the course)
participation in class discussion
familiarity with the material covered on previous classes (quizzes will be given to test this)
familiarity with reading assignments (this will also be regularly tested)
two home essays (see below) and 3 written responses (note form)
Assessment will be based on the quizzes (60%) and on the home essays and responses (40%). Failure to write an
acceptable home essay or to average 3 on the quizzes will automatically result in failing the course.
Schedule (may be subject to change)
Date
Topic
Task
17 Sep.
‘Is there a text in this class?’
rhymes
Write a response (note form) to ‘Infant Sorrow’.
24 Sep.
William Blake: ‘Infant Sorrow’ – structural
analysis (Roman Jakobson’s analysis of the
poem)
Exercises (rhymes); read Robert Browning’s
poem ‘The Lost Mistress’ and write a response
(note form); prepare for the first quiz (on rhyme
and related figures)
1 Oct.
assonance, consonance, alliteration,
rhyme patterns
Robert Browning: ‘The Lost Mistress’
write a brief analysis of Robert Browning’s poem
‘The Lost Mistress’ (min. 500 words)
read William Blake’s poem ‘The Tyger’
exercises
8 Oct.
Robert Browning: ‘The Lost Mistress’
the rhythm of English poetry; accentual
syllabic verse
William Blake: ‘The Tyger’
Write a response (note form) to Blake’s poem
‘The Tyger’
Exercises;
William Blake: ‘The Tyger’
accentual verse, the ballad stanza,
analysing a prose text
Exercises (scansion);
15 Oct.
Blake: ‘The Tyger’ continued
Figures of meaning: allegory, symbol,
metaphor, metonymy
Exercises;
read Shirley Jackson’s story ‘The Lottery’
Shirley Jackson: ‘The Lottery’
read ‘The Lottery’ again (answer the questions
given in class);
‘The Lottery’ continued
read William Faulkner’s story ‘A Rose for Emily’
William Faulkner: ‘A Rose for Emily’
Write a brief analysis of ‘A Rose for Emily’
(~1,000 words)
‘A Rose for Emily’ continued
Read the first act of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for
Godot
22 Oct.
5 Nov.
12 Nov.
19 Nov.
26 Nov.
3 Dec.
Drama and the theatre
Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot
10 Dec.
Waiting for Godot continued
Conclusion, assessment, grading
Read the second act of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting
for Godot