INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE
INSTRUCTOR: ILDIKÓ LIMPÁR
EMAIL: limparildiko@gmail.com
Date
Sept.13
2
Sept. 20
Texts to be read
Introduction
Poetry: Figurative Language
Sylvia Plath: “Metaphors”; Emily Dickinson:
“Because I could not stop for Death”;
Adrienne Rich: “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers”
No class is held
3
Sept. 27
4
The Drama:
Oct. 4
Plot, Character, Setting, Symbol, Theme
Susan Glaspell: Trifles
5
The Short Story:
Oct. 11 Plot, Character, Setting, Theme
Katherine Mansfield: “Miss Brille”
6
Oct. 18.
The Short Story:
Point of View, Theme, Style, Setting
Edgar Allen Poe: “The Cask of Amontillado”
7
Oct. 25
Speaking of Issues; Structure
Daniel Orozco: “Orientation”
Jamaica Kincaid: “Girl”
8
Nov. 01
9
Nov. 08
10
Nov. 15
AUTUMN BREAK
11
Nov. 22
12
Nov. 29
13
Dec. 06
14
Dec. 13
Homework assignments
Choose one or two lines from ANY of the given poems,
and explain what significance you attach to the chosen
words. Write cc. 200 words about it.
What is the significance of the dead bird in the drama?
Write an essay of cc. 200 words about it.
Explain the importance of two chosen objects that
suggest important features of the character that owns or
uses it. Write an essay of cc. 200 words about it.
Much of the story takes place in a catacomb. What is the
significance of this place in the story? What is its role /
function? How does it support the content / theme of the
story? Write an essay of cc. 200 words about it.
Observe how one piece of information follows the other
in the texts. Comment on the order of the narrator’s
statements in one of the texts. What effect does it have?
Discuss this topic briefly in an essay of cc. 200 words,
with examples from the text to support your opinion.
Mid-term Test in class
The Novel
John Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men
Characterize Lennie and George's relationship in an
essay of cc. 400 words.
Poetry: Form
Shakespearean Sonnets
Edna St. Vincent Millay: “Love Is Not All: It
Is Not Meat nor Drink”
William Butler Yeats: “Leda and the Swan”
Langston Hughes: “Harlem”
1. Check the definition of the sonnet in a lexicon of
literary terms. Write down the definition(s). (No need to
hand in your notes but bring them to class.)
2. In what ways is “Leda and the Swan” a traditional
sonnet? In what ways is “Leda and the Swan” not a
traditional sonnet? Express your opinion on this issue in
an essay of cc. 300 words.
The Historical Sense
T.S. Eliot: “Tradition and the Individual
Talent” (essay); excerpt from “The Waste
Land” (on handout); “The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufock”;
William Butler Yeats: “Leda and the Swan”
End-term Test in class
Evaluation
Hand in a short (one-page-long) outline of T.S. Eliot’s
“Tradition and the Individual Talent.” Highlight (or
underline) in your outline what you identify as the most
important points.
ASSIGNMENTS:
 Reading the assigned texts at home, get prepared for discussion;
 Coming to class with the texts and your notes; three absences are tolerated;
 Active participation in class;
 Writing occasional quizzes at the beginning of the classes;
 Handing in all the homework before the classes they are due. If you may not be present in
the class where we discuss the piece you have written about, you may hand in your written
homework the next time you turn up, without any negative consequences. Not writing a
homework assignment results in obtaining a “0” for that assignment (that is, worse than
“1”). You needn’t use secondary sources for your homework; but if you use any, cite them
properly or else you will be penalized for plagiarism..
 Writing two in-class tests. (Not writing the mid-term test results in obtaining a “1” for a
test.)
ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ACTS IS PENALIZED BY ONE GRADE MINUS IN THE FINAL EVALUATION OF
THE COURSE:
1. four absences;
2. the use of not precisely marked sources your homework for the first time
THE STUDENT AUTOMATICALLY FAILS THE COURSE IN THE FOLLOWING CASES:
 more than four absences
 not writing the end-term test
 not writing at least three of the homework assignments
 if plagiarism is detected for a second time
If you have any questions or problems, feel free to talk to me personally or to contact me via email.
I wish all of you a pleasant and useful semester.