AJL04002 Introduction to Literature (lectures and seminars), spring semester 2020 Course coordinator: Dr. Martina Horáková, mhorakov@phil.muni.cz Seminar tutors: Mgr. Denisa Krásná, Mgr. Daniela Šmardová, Mgr. Tereza Šmilauerová, , Mgr. Lenka Žárská Course description: This course consists of alternating lectures and seminars that encourage students to engage in literary research and analysis. The lectures provide students with an introduction to literary histories, movements, contexts and approaches to literary texts. The seminars function as more practical insights into analyzing literary texts and writing critical research papers about them. They are based on discussions and group work. Course objectives: 1. To learn the methods of conducting library research and working with primary and secondary sources. 2. To acquire the techniques needed for literary analysis and writing academic essays. 3. To refine critical thinking about literature and achieve a deeper understanding of how literature affects us and how it enriches our perception of the world. Assessment: Students must attend and prepare for all classes. The assigned texts must be read before the seminars so that students can engage actively in discussions and other continuous assessment. Written assignments must be submitted in the correct format and on time. 1 credit (zápočet) is given at the end of the lecture series for passing a short written test at the end of the teaching period; 5 credits for the exam (an essay) at the end of the seminar series. Final mark: class performance 10%; 3x response papers 40%; final research paper 50%. Points out of 10/100; 60% pass/fail line. Evaluation scale: A 100-85; B 84-80; C-79-75; D-74-70; E 69-60; F (fail) 59-0. Readings: Primary texts: please see the syllabus—texts will be available in the ELF (poetry, short extracts), otherwise students must get their own copy from the library or a bookshop. Secondary materials: MLA Handbook, 8^th edition (ELF); for secondary essays complementing primary readings, see ELF. Attendance: Only one absence is allowed during the semester. Other missed classes (due to illness or family emergency) must be documented in the study department or communicated in advance with the respective teacher. Response papers: 2 double-spaced pages; MLA style; choose a narrow focus, include citations and paraphrases as textual evidence; correct format of in-text references and works cited; if it is relevant, quote/paraphrase from a secondary source. If a student fails to submit all 3 RPs by the end of the teaching period, they will NOT be able to take the exam (i.e. submit the final essay) and will have to repeat the course. Lectures: Mondays 16-17.40, C33 (aula) text(s) to be analyzed in the seminars Seminars: Mon / Wed Assignments/readings for seminars 1. British Modernism February 17 Dr. Stephen Hardy Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway 24.2./26.2. text analysis: features of modernist fiction; academic writing: paragraph development, transitions between paragraphs; writing a response paper/RP samples; -Ch 1 “Civilization and ‘My Civilisation’: Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Avant-Garde” from Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Avant-Garde by Christine Froula, pp.1-34 (Central Library-> ebrary) 2. American Modernism March 2 doc. Tomáš Pospíšil F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby 9.3./11.3. text analysis: features of American modernism; academic writing: when to use secondary sources, avoiding plagiarism; -Ch 8 “Pastoral Mode and Language in The Great Gatsby” by Janet Giltrow and David Stouck from F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Twenty-First Century ed. by Bryer et al., pp. 139-152. (Central Library->ebrary) Response paper 1 on Woolf or Fitzgerald (upload 2 pages as Echo-assignment to ELF by March 15) 3. Modernism and Irish Drama March 16 Dr. Stephen Hardy Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest 23.3./25.3. text analysis: features of modern drama; feedback to RPs 1 academic writing: citing vs. paraphrasing; introducing a citation/paraphrase; commenting on the citation/paraphrase - Ch 2 “Oscar Wilde—The Artist As Irishman” from Inventing Ireland by Declan Kiberd, pp. 33-50 (ELF) 4. Post-war Drama March 30 Dr. Tomáš Kačer Harold Pinter, The Birthday Party 6.4./8.4. text analysis: features of post-war drama; academic writing: the mechanics of writing (e.g. strong verbs, the passive, punctuation) -Martin Esslin, “The Significance of the Absurd”, The Theatre of the Absurd, Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1961, pp. 399-429. (ELF) Response paper 2 on Wilde or Pinter by April 15 5. Canadian Postmodernism April 27 Dr. Martina Horáková Margaret Atwood, Surfacing 4.5./6.5. text analysis: postmodern narrative strategies; feedback to RP 2; academic writing: literary present vs. past simple Linda Hutcheon, “Process, Product, and Politics: The Postmodernism of Margaret Atwood”, The Canadian Postmodern, pp. 138-159 (ELF) 6. Australian Postcolonial Novel May 11 Dr. Martina Horáková David Malouf, Remembering Babylon 18.5./20.5. text analysis: features of postcolonial fiction; academic writing: preparing a final research paper -Ch 2 “Unsettling the Settler Postcolony: Uncanny Pre-Occupations in David Malouf’s Remembering Babylon“, from Imagining Justice by Julie McGonegal (ebrary) Response paper 3 on Atwood or Malouf by May 24 Final research papers: 5 pages (excluding bibliography); min. 2 secondary sources; MLA style 8^th ed., Times New Roman, 12p. font, double-spaced; deadlines: June 8 (regular), June 22 (regular and 1^st resit), July 6 (only a resit), upload in ELF