17302

WiSe 12/13: Ü-Working with Literary Texts - Introduction to Literary Studies

Jeff Thoss

Comments

This module consists of two two-hour (2 SWS) courses to be taken in parallel in the same semester. The two courses link theories of literature and methods of literary analysis with one another. Theoretical questions will be dealt with in 'Basic Questions, Concepts and Methods', while 'Working with Literary Texts' will give you a chance to apply these questions, methods and methodologies in a practical manner. Group work with models of literary criticism and literary texts will develop your skills in academic exchange. The reading list will include a manageable number of poems, a prose text and a drama. You will be expected to read these texts during the course of the semester! The course aims to give you the ability to understand a historically and generically diverse range of texts and to talk and write about them (in English!) in clear terms.

Our discussion will take in the following topics:

Literary terms and descriptive categories; communicative models and levels of analysis; rhetoric, stylistics, prosody; intertextuality, metatextuality
Models of literary communication: author-text-reader; oral and written culture; literature as a medium, literature in other media
Literary categories such as genres and epochs
How do literary and poetic texts 'communicate'?

The course 'Working with Literary Texts' will offer, in addition, an introduction to methods of academic writing (formatting; referencing, footnoting and bibliography; developing, structuring and signposting a line of argumentation; giving examples; oral presentation techniques). You will also receive an introduction to the use of the library and the internet, and to the bibliographies and reference works available there.

Both courses will be conducted in English!

Regular attendance, active participation and assiduous preparation and homework are compulsory.

Continuous assessment: a 90-minute final exam for the whole module (4 credits). close

16 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Thu, 10:00 - 12:00 16 Class schedule

Thu, 2012-10-18 10:00 - 12:00

Lecturers:
Dr. Jeff Thoss