Themen dieses Kurses

  • Course Description




    INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY STUDIES SEMINAR

    SUMMER SEMESTER 2023/2024

    Daniela Theinová, PhD
    Tuesday 15: 50-17:25, Room 111
    Wednesday 17:30-19:05, Room P001


    Consultation hours: in person or online, by email appointment

    Email: daniela.theinova@ff.cuni.cz

    NB: Scroll below to access reading materials and questions/assignments for each upcoming class.

    Link to the Moodle site of prof. Pilnýs Introduction to Literary Studies lecture: https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=12354

    OBJECTIVES
    The general aim of the seminar is to improve students’ reading and interpreting skills. Students are provided with an opportunity to test out in practice some of the knowledge gained in the lecture and to discuss the critical terms with which they were acquainted. The seminar also includes several sessions focused on the use of some basic terms of poetics in an analysis of specific poems. Formal properties of the academic essay are applied in the students’ final written projects.

    SYLLABUS – SUMMER SEMESTER 2023/24

    THE SCHEDULE AND THE SELECTION OF READING MATERIALS IN THE SYLLABUS IS TENTATIVE; please scroll below to find an updated reading list and questions for each week.

    Week 1 – 20. & 21. 2. 2024
    Intertextuality & a discussion on AI in research and academic writing
    (leftovers from the winter semester)

    Week 2 – 27. & 28. 2. 2024
    Introduction Summer Semester: course requirements, assignments, prose and approaches to interpretation

    Week 3 – 5. & 6. 3. 2024
    Narrative: Plot, Story and Discourse I
    Texts:

    Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery”
    Clarice Lispector, “The Smallest Woman in the World”

    Week 4 – 12. & 13. 3. 2024
    Narrative: Plot, Story and Discourse II
    Texts:

    Guy de Maupassant, “The Necklace”
    Katherine Mansfield, “A Dill Pickle”

    Week 5 – 19. & 20. 3. 2024
    Narrative: Character
    Texts:
    Charles Dickens, Great Expectations Chapter 8
    James Joyce, “Clay” from Dubliners

    Week 6 – 26. & 27. 3. 2024 – NO CLASS

    Week 7 – 2. & 3. 4. 2024
    Narrative: Space, Time and Meaning
    Texts:

    E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Chapter 1
    Kate Atkinson, Life After Life (excerpt)

    Week 8 – 9. & 10. 4. 2024
    Narrators and Narrative Situation I
    Texts:

    Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible (extracts)
    Sinead Morrissey, “My Life According to You”

    Week 9 – 16. & 17. 4. 2024
    Narrators and Narrative Situation II (Focalization)
    Texts:

    Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 1
    Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, Chapter 1

    Week 10 – 23. & 24. 4. 2024
    Narrators and Narrative Situation III
    Texts:
    Rivka Galchen, “The Lost Order”
    Tessa Hadley, “Surrogate”

    Week 11 – 30. 4. & 1. 5. 2024 – NO CLASS
    Representation of Consciousness
    Texts:

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper”
    Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Prologue

    Week 12 – 7. & 8. 5. 2024
    NB
    : ESSAYS must be uploaded on the course site by 10 May. Essays must be typed (as a WORD DOC not a PDF) and uploaded on the course Moodle site. For further instructions see below.

    Week 13 – 14. & 15. 5. 2024
    Approaches to Text & Conclusions
    Text:
    Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” + critical essays posted on Moodle

     

    MATERIAL
    Recommended Reading:

    Aristotle. Poetics. 

    Cuddon, A.J. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (London: Penguin, 1992).

    Fludernik, M. An Introduction to Narratology (Abingdon: Routledge, 2009).

    Green, K. and J. LeBihan. Critical Theory and Practice (London: Routledge, 1996).

    Hobsbaum, P. Metre, Rhythm and Verse Form (Abingdon: Routledge, 1996).

    Montgomery, M. et al. Ways of Reading (London: Routledge, 1992).

    Pavis, P. Dictionary of the Theatre: Terms, Concepts, and Analysis (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998).

    Preminger, A. and T.V.F. Brogan. The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993).

    COURSE REQUIREMENTS

    ATTENDANCE
    Students are expected to attend classes. YOU ARE PERMITTED A MAXIMUM OF TWO ABSENCES.

    PARTICIPATION
    Participation extends beyond mere attendance. Expect your instructor to keep track of how often you contribute, particularly during the class discussions of assigned readings and/or minor written assignments.

    MID-TERM ESSAY

    (see the PDF below for Essay Guidelines)

    Select ONE of the following texts:
    Jennifer Egan, “Sacred Heart”
    Flannery O’Connor, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”
    Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”
    Neil Jordan, “Night in Tunisia”

    AND address ONE of the following topics in relation to the text you have chosen:

    1. Identify narrative structures in the text. Discuss narrative structures in relation to the central elements of the text (e.g., how are narrative structures – as, for instance, narrative voice, point of view – used to develop the central concerns of the text?).

    2. What is the role of literary allusions in the text? To what extent are allusions central to the structural semantics of the text?

    3. Comment on the relationship between historical context and the formal/thematic features of the text.

    4. To what extent can the text be considered ‘political’ and in what sense could the language of the text be seen to function politically?

    NB: The minimum length for the essay is 1 500 words, the maximum length is 1550 words (the word limit includes the MAIN TEXT OF THE ESSAY AND FOOTNOTES; it excludes the BIBLIOGRAPHY). Essays must include full footnotes and bibliographical references for all works cited or paraphrased (in accordance with the UALK Chicago Guidelines). Emphasis will be placed on depth and sophistication of argument, and upon the component of original research. Students are advised not to use Internet sources in place of adequately researching texts available in print or via the Charles University eResources Portal. Essays must be presented with attention to correct spelling and stylistics. Plagiarism (including essays produced or partly produced by AI) will not be tolerated and may result in a fail grade.

    The DEADLINE for the submission of essays is 10 May 2024 (11:59 p.m.).

    Essays must be typed in WORD format (or an equivalent; NO PDFs) and uploaded on the course Moodle site. Contact me by e-mail (prior to the deadline) if you encounter difficulties uploading your paper.

    Extensions will only be granted on the basis of a consultation or written request accompanied by a doctor’s certificate. Students are advised that they may, at the lecturer’s discretion, be given the option of re-submission where essays have failed to achieve a satisfactory standard of argumentation. However, any rewrites must be submitted (by email to daniela.theinova@ff.cuni.cz) by 5 September 2024.

    FINAL TEST
    (Only for single-subject students; see below for details.)

    ASSESSMENT

    Double-subject Students
    WS (zápočet): Attendance (max. 2 unexplained absences) and active participation in class, mid-term essay: interpretation of poetry (1 500 words).
    SS (zápočet): Attendance (max. 2 unexplained absences) and active participation in class, mid-term essay: narrative analysis (1 500 words).
    Criteria of Assessment: All assignments will be awarded a letter grade. Credit (zápočet) for each semester will be given on the basis of receiving a pass grade (i.e., A to C-) for both essay and participation.

    Single-subject Students:
    WS (zápočet): Attendance (max. 2 unexplained absences) and active participation in class, mid-term essay: interpretation of poetry (1 500 words), final test on poetics and genre definitions.
    SS (zápočet, zkouška): Attendance (max. 2 unexplained absences) and active participation in class, mid-term essay: narrative analysis (1 500 words), final test on narrative strategies and approaches to text (literary theories).
    Criteria of Assessment: All assignments will be awarded a letter grade. Credit (zápočet) for each semester will be given on the basis of receiving a pass grade (i.e., A to C-) for essay, test and participation each. The final exam grade (after the summer semester) will be calculated from the results in the individual assignments.

    Composition of Final Exam Grade for Single Subject Students

    Participation winter semester

    10%

    Participation summer semester

    10%

    Essay winter semester

    25%

    Essay summer semester

    25%

    Test winter semester

    15%

    Test summer semester

    15%

     

    Value of Individual Letter Grades Awarded for Assignments

     

    10%

    15%

    25%

    A

    10

    15

    25

    A-

    9

    13.5

    22.5

    B+

    8.7

    13

    21.75

    B

    8.5

    12.75

    21.25

    B-

    8

    12

    20

    C+

    7.7

    11.5

    19.25

    C

    7.5

    11.25

    18.75

    C-

    7

    10.5

    17.5

     

    Conversion of Grades to a Final FFUK Exam Grade

    FFUK Grade

    Letter Grade

    Percent (%)

    Generally Accepted Meaning

    1

          A

    96-100

    Outstanding work

          A-

    90-95

    2

          B+

    87-89

    Good work, distinctly above average

          B

    83-86

          B-

    80-82

    3

          C+

    77-79

    Acceptable work

          C

    73-76

          C-

    70-72

    F

          F

    0-69

    Work that does not meet minimum standards for passing the course

     

    Example:
    A student’s performance has been graded as follows:
    Participation winter semester                      A-      = 9
    Participation summer semester                   B       = 8.5
    Essay winter semester                                A-      = 22.5
    Essay summer semester                             C       = 18.75
    Test winter semester                                   C      = 11.25
    Test summer semester                                B      = 12.75
    The final exam grade is                            2 (B-) = 82.75%

     

  • 20&21 Feb - "Leftovers" from the Winter Semester - Intertextuality/AI/Elegy

    Our main focus in the Summer Semester will be narratology. Nonetheless, we will dedicate the first session in February to "leftovers" from the previous semester and discuss intertextuality and the role of AI in literary criticism.

    For our discussion on the use of AI systems in research, come up with 

    • 2 points in which you think it can be useful and enhance the field
    • 2 points on its pitfalls and possible detrimental effects
    • DO NOT ASK THE BOT to provide you with these ideas - or only after you've done your own thinking/research - and then compare your arguments with those proposed by the system.

     Find out about the method of "distant reading" - you can read the NY Times article that I've shared below. How are Moretti's and his Standford Literary Lab's ideas relevant for this discussion?

    The Dictionary.com Word of the Year is hallucinate.

    https://content.dictionary.com/word-of-the-year-2023/?utm_campaign=woty2023&utm_medium=video&utm_source=anyclip


    Nigel Sussman. 2023.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    INTERTEXTUALILTY AND ALLUSION

    READING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

    GENERAL DISCUSSION

    ·        Think about the possible uses of intertextuality and allusion in literature.

    ·        Think about how intertextuality and genre might be interconnected.

    ·        Think of two examples from your reading experience in which allusions are a marked (structurally important) feature.

    Towards the end of the session, we will explore a book-length elegy by contemporary Northern-Irish poet Stephen Sexton, If All the World and Love Were Young, based on the world(s) of a Nintendo game (Super Mario). We'll focus on the text's intertextuality and its interdisciplinary features, but we'll talk as well about elegy as a genre.


  • Week 1 SS - Introduction: Prose and Approaches to Interpretation (27&28 Feb)

    We will briefly go back to our discussion about AI Chatbots and talk about Stanford Literary Lab's "distant reading" model of processing literary texts. Read the articles from New York Times that have been uploaded in the above section (the week of 20 & 21 Feb). Please focus on the article on "Distant Reading" and the one about authors suing OpenAI. If you have time, glimpse through the one ond Chatbots hallucinating.

    For the ensuing discussion on prose, think about how you would define the term. We will talk about the development of the genre and the relevant literary forms, and introduce oursleves to the basics of narratology.


  • Week 2 SS - Story, Plot, Discourse I (5&6 Mar)

    Narrative: Plot, Story and Discourse I

    Texts:

    ·        Shirley Jackson “The Lottery”
    ·       
    Clarice Lispector “The Smallest Woman in the World”

    Assignment:

    1.      Research and assemble definitions of the following terms:
    Story, Plot, Discourse, Fabula, Sjuzhet.
    2.      Read the short stories and consider how the terms might be used to analyse them (particularly, write down a fabula and sjuzhet for each of the two stories).
    3.      We will discuss how plot structure is applied in the stories. Are they linear narratives? Do they contain the four basic components of a plot: exposition, complication (conflict), climax and resolution (denouement)?


  • Week 3 SS - Story, Plot, Discourse II (12&13 Mar)

    Read ‘The Necklace’ by Guy de Maupassant and ‘A Dill Pickle’ by Katherine Mansfield. (Bring the two stories form last week to the class, too.)

    Read the chapter by H. Porter Abbott on ‘Story, Plot, and Narration’ in The Cambridge Companion (only the first part, pp. 39-45), make notes.

    QUESTIONS
    (refer to Abbott’s arguments, wherever applicable, and study the handouts for Week 2 before answering the questions below – make notes):

    ·        What’s the fabula of each of the two new stories and how does it differ from its rendering (what are the methods of defamiliarisation used in the two narratives)?

    ·        What would the plot summary of each of the stories be (use as few words as you can)?

    ·        Are they simple or complex narratives?

    ·        Consider the stories in terms of the linear narrative structure. Are they closed narratives (is there a resolution)?

    ·        How does the title of both texts relate to the stories they tell?

    ·        What are the secondary / ‘secret’ stories in these short stories (see the handout on Piglias 'Theses').

    ·        What are the constitutive events and what are the supplementary events in the two new short stories (see Porter Abbott's chapter for an explanation of the terms).

    ·        What are the gaps that the narrative opens and closes (see Porter Abbott pp. 44-5)? If Iser writes that ‘[i]t’s only through its omissions that a story gains its dynamism’, what are the omissions in the two stories? Could this gap be perceived as similar to Ricardo Piglia’s ‘secret story’ in his theses on short story?

    (We’ll also consider the two stories from last week in these terms.)

  • Week 4 SS - Character - 19&20 March

    ·        Study the handout for Week 4.
    ·        Read Chapter 8 form Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations and ‘Clay’ from James Joyce’s Dubliners.
    ·        Make notes when answering the questions below!

    Answer these questions using the terminology and methodologies explained in the handout. Conduct any necessary research on your own to be able to provide the answers:

    1.      How many distinguishable individuals are there in Joyce’s ‘Clay’? Name them.

    2.      Which of these are minor and which are major characters?

    3.      Which of the characters are described implicitly and which of them explicitly in Joyce’s ‘Clay’?

    4.      Find (and mark/copy) examples of block characterisation in each of the texts (Dickens and Joyce).

    5.      Find an example of self-characterisation in either of the texts. Indicate the passage and explain whether the character can be considered to be a reliable source of information about themselves. Write down the answer.

    6.      In which of the texts do we learn more about the inner life of the protagonist? Explain your opinion. Write down your answer.


  • No classes on 26&27 March!!

    Highlighted

    Oed' und leer das Meer. (T. S. Eliot)

    Oed' und leer das Meer. (T. S. Eliot)

  • Week 5 SS - Character II

    ASSIGNMENT for WEEK 5 – CHARACTERISATION II

    ·        Read ‘Real Estate’ by Rivka Galchen and ‘Surrogate’ by Tessa Hadley

    ·        Make notes on the questions below

    ·        Read the section entitled ‘Identity’ in the chapter on ‘Character’ by Uri Margolin  (pp. 72-75; The Cambridge Companion to Narrative). If you have the time, I recommend that you read the entire essay. 

    Read the two new short stories and pay attention to the following points, making notes as you read. In many cases, the same or similar questions were asked about the texts assigned for week 4. 

    1.      Find examples of implicit and explicit characterisation in both Galchen and Hadley. Does one of the two methods prevail in any of the two short stories?

    2.      Does block characterisation play an important role in either of the two texts?

    3.      Identify any distinguishable individuals that you can find in both texts (see Margolin on ‘identity’ and ‘qualitatively different individuals’ on pp. 72-74).

    4.      Make a list of major and minor characters for each of the texts.

    5.      If there are examples of self-characterisation, can the character be considered a reliable source of information about themselves?

    6.      What kind of narrator do we encounter in each of the texts? Would you consider them a reliable narrator? Why?

    7.      Does space play an important role in characterisation in either of the text?

    8.      Can any of the characters in either of the texts be described as a confidants or ‘foils’? Explain their function in the narrative.

    9.      How would you describe the characters you have identified in question 3? Are there any ‘types’ / round / flat characters among them? How about the protagonists? Would you describe them as static/dynamic/mono-/multi-dimensional

    10.   Are there any examples of ‘dramatic characterisation’ to be found in either of the short stories?