552.281 (21S) Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss

Sommersemester 2021

Registration deadline has expired.

First course session
09.03.2021 16:00 - 18:00 online Off Campus
... no further dates known

Overview

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be necessary to make changes to courses and examinations at short notice (e.g. cancellation of attendance-based courses and switching to online examinations).

For further information regarding teaching on campus, please visit: https://www.aau.at/en/corona.
Lecturer
LV Nummer Südostverbund ENL04002UL
Course title german Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss
Type Proseminar (continuous assessment course )
Course model Online course
Hours per Week 2.0
ECTS credits 3.0
Registrations 17 (25 max.)
Organisational unit
Language of instruction English
possible language(s) of the assessment English
Course begins on 09.03.2021
eLearning Go to Moodle course
Remarks (english)

Attendance of the first session on March 9 is MANDATORY

PLEASE NOTE: all class sessions will run for the whole 2 hours!


Time and place

Please note that the currently displayed dates may be subject to change due to COVID-19 measures.
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Course Information

Intended learning outcomes

In this class, students will learn to differentiate between different major depictions surrounding the themes of death, loss, and grief in contemporary U.S. American literature. In addition, they will be able to articulate some of the themes, motifs, and stylistics of Chicanx literary productions. They will gain a better understanding of how grief is understood as a social emotion and how influential a respective society can be when someone leaves this earth. Students will also further develop their skills of interpreting texts within specific socio-cultural and literary contexts and play close attentions to issues such as gender, class, sexuality, and ethnicity. 

Teaching methodology including the use of eLearning tools

Short lecture inputs, in-class discussion of assigned primary texts through close textual analysis, group discussion.

Course content

Death, a strong sense of sadness, loss, grief, and despair are not only common tropes in literature, they are unfortunately quite present during these times. In this class, however, we will look at different stages and depictions surrounding the ends of our lives. We will examine a broad range of U.S. American narratives that depict both positive and negative ‘sides’ of this topic. We will start out with watching Death Becomes Her (1992) and how humanity’s endless pursuits and hopes of eternal lives could be achieved. Next, we will turn our attention to Lisa Genova’s novel Still Alice (2007) in which we accompany the protagonist’s Alice’s struggles as she gradually loses herself as she suffers from early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Here, we will pay close attention to how the disease rapidly takes hold of the renowned professor at Harvard University, deconstructing Alice’s personality and identity and how it affects her family. Then, we will watch the 2014 adaption, allowing us to discuss differences between novel and film while we literally see Alice’s slow decay. In the second half of the semester, we will turn our attention to Chicanx literature and culture and its portrayals of the theme “Death”. First, we will read Luis Alberto Urrea’s The House of Broken Angels (2018). In this novel, the beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz summons his entire family clan for one last legendary birthday party knowing that his time on this earth is to end in the next few days. Finally, Cherríe Moraga’s memoir Native Country of the Heart(2019) gives voice to the voiceless. Watching her mother Elvira slowly succumb to Alzheimer’s and eventually die, we also get insight into what it means to be Mexican in the United States, and into an American story of cultural loss.

Curricular registration requirements

Introduction to Literary Studies II

Literature

Lisa Genova, Still Alice (any edition)

Luis Alberto Urrea, The House of Broken Angels (any edition)

Cherríe Moraga, Native Country of the Heart (any edition)

 

 All other texts will be made available by the course instructor.

Examination information

Im Fall von online durchgeführten Prüfungen sind die Standards zu beachten, die die technischen Geräte der Studierenden erfüllen müssen, um an diesen Prüfungen teilnehmen zu können.

Examination methodology

Mid-term response paper

PS-paper

Examination topic(s)

 

Assessment criteria / Standards of assessment for examinations

Final Grade:

25% - active participation 

25% - response paper 

50% - final paper

Grading scheme

Grade / Grade grading scheme

Position in the curriculum

  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Englisch (SKZ: 407, Version: 17W.2)
    • Subject: Anglophone Literary Studies II: Historical Surveys, Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (Compulsory subject)
      • ENL.004 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies ( 2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.281 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 7., 8. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Englisch (SKZ: 407, Version: 15W.2)
    • Subject: Anglophone Literary Studies II: Historical Surveys, Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (Compulsory subject)
      • ENL.004 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies, Lehrveranstaltung ( 2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.281 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 3., 4. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Englisch (SKZ: 407, Version: 19W.2)
    • Subject: Anglophone Literary Studies II: Historical Surveys, Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (Compulsory subject)
      • ENL.004 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies ( 2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.281 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 7., 8. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor's degree programme English and American Studies (SKZ: 612, Version: 15W.3)
    • Subject: Fachliches Grund- und Aufbaustudium Literature (Compulsory subject)
      • Module: Aufbaustudium Literature
        • 5.5 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies ( 0.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          • 552.281 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
            Absolvierung im 4. Semester empfohlen

Equivalent courses for counting the examination attempts

There is no equivalent course for the purpose of counting examination attempts.