552.266 (20S) Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation

Sommersemester 2020

Registration deadline has expired.

First course session
12.03.2020 08:00 - 12:00 HS 7 On Campus
... no further dates known

Overview

Lecturer
LV Nummer Südostverbund ENL03001UL
Course title german Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation
Type Lecture
Hours per Week 2.0
ECTS credits 3.0
Registrations 152
Organisational unit
Language of instruction English
Course begins on 12.03.2020
eLearning Go to Moodle course

Time and place

List of events is loading...

Course Information

Intended learning outcomes

Learn the essential terminology for your literary study programme at the department of English. Understand what it means to read texts academically and how central methodology is applied to analyse and to interpret literary works. Expand your understanding to different media formats, ranging from poetry and prose to film, videogames, and graphic novels. Practice your skills in discussions and application throughout the semester and explore the unique historical and sociocultural background of each discussed artwork.

At the end of the semester, you will possess an academic core vocabulary and foundational insights into the research methods of literature and culture studies to bolster yourself for subsequent courses.

Teaching methodology including the use of eLearning tools

Lecture sessions with in-class discussions andanalytical exercises.

Course content

This lecture gives students an overview of core texts and theories relevant to English and American literary studies. It focuses on the following cultural artefacts and the respective terminology necessary for their interpretation:


  • Poetry
  • Drama
  • Prose
  • Short Stories
  • Graphic Novels
  • Film
  • Episodic TV Formats
  • Videogames

On a theoretical level, it introduces the most important names and most important basics of:

  • Reading Strategies
  • Structuralism
  • The Birmingham School
  • Feminist Criticism
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Marxist Criticism
  • Modernism
  • The Frankfurt School
  • The Visual Turn
  • Poststructuralism
  • Postmodernism
  • Genre Theory
  • Post-Postmodernism

Literature

To provide grounds for analysis, the lecture draws its content and definitions from various core authors, texts and academic dictionaries. The primary works to be discussed will be selected to represent a broad array of fields that are culturally relevant to the seminar (i.e. of British, South African, US-American, or Canadian origin, or hold a relevant position in subaltern, migration-, or border-culture).

Shorter texts, such as poems, short stories, and secondary sources are provided on Moodle as necessary. However, certain artworks cannot be provided via Moodle and must either be purchased, retrieved from a library, or accessed in any other way. It is expected that students access these works and familiarise themselves with them:

Provided on Moodle:

  • Poetry:
    • Agard, John. Listen Mr. Oxford don.
    • Anzaldua, Gloria. Cultures.
    • Shakespeare, William. Sonnet 18.
    • Shakespeare, William. Sonnet 130.
  • Short Stories:
    • Atwood, Margaret. Happy Endings.
    • Poe, Edgar Allan. The Fall of the House of Usher.
    • Updike, John. A&P.
  • Graphic Novel: Watchmen
    • Attention: Only excerpts are provided. Students must access the full text in another fashion.

Not provided on Moodle:

  • Novel: Conrad, Joseph. The Heart of Darkness.
  • Drama: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet.
  • Film: Coppola, Francis Ford. Apocalypse Now: Redux.
  • TV: American Horror Story. Season 2, Episode 1. “Welcome to Briarcliff.” Directed by Bradley Buecker.
  • Videogame: Barlow, Sam. Her Story.

Students are expected to have read, watched, or played these primary works prior to their respective lecture session. They will be frequently referred to during their respective lecture sessions and be central to questions of the final exam, specifically the essay questions.

A full overview of all primary works and the dates of their respective lecture session is going to be provided via a syllabus on Moodle prior to the first session.

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

A 90-minute written exam at the end of the semester. The exam’s content is explained in exam topics.

Examination topic(s)

In the first half of the exam, students are expected to correctly recall, contextualise, and to elaborate on key terms and concepts that were explored during the lecture. In the second half of the exam, students are expected to show the capability to provide an independent, methodically sound interpretation of a cultural artefact in shape of an essay.

For this essay, students may freely choose from a selection of three topics. Each topic provides an excerpt, derived from one of the lecture’s primary works and a guiding question, derived from one of the lecture’s theory topic fields. Any theory topic field may be assessed in connection to any of the primary texts.

When composing the essay, students are expected to analyse the excerpt and to interpret it along the given guiding question. Students are expected to work with proper terminology as provided by the lecture, to apply all the knowledge they have about the primary text (i.e. refer to other passages from the text as they see fit), and to follow the very basic rules of essay writing (provide an introduction, a main body of arguments, and a conclusion).

Assessment criteria / Standards of assessment for examinations

The written exam tests the following key competences of students:


  • Multiple Choice (10%): Students ought to recall important key terms from the lecture.
  • Matching (20%): Students ought to contextualise central theorists, authors and artists discussed in the lecture with their respective terminology.
  • Short Answer (20%): Students ought to elaborate on general concepts of the lecture in questions that should be answered with 3-5 sentences.
  • Essay (50%): Students ought to independently interpret a short paragraph, passage, or otherwise limited work of art in a concise essay of 3-5 paragraphs. The essay ought to reflect a student’s ability to apply key concepts, terms, and methods discussed in the lecture in new contexts.

Students are expected to write in readable handwriting. Unreadable answers cannot be considered for evaluation.

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.003 Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation ( 2.0h VO / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.266 Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h VO / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 3., 4., 5., 6. 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.003 Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation ( 2.0h VO / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.266 Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h VO / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 7., 8. 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.003 Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation ( 2.0h VO, FA / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.266 Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h VO / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 3., 4., 5., 6. Semester empfohlen
  • Teacher training programme English (Secondary School Teacher Accreditation) (SKZ: 344, Version: 04W.7)
    • Stage one
      • Subject: Introduction to English and American Studies (Compulsory subject)
        • Introduction to English Linguistics I ( 2.0h PS / 4.0 ECTS)
          • 552.266 Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h VO / 4.0 ECTS)
  • Bachelor's degree programme English and American Studies (SKZ: 612, Version: 15W.3)
    • Subject: Fachliches Grund- und Aufbaustudium Literature (Compulsory subject)
      • Module: Grundstudium Literature
        • 5.2 Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation ( 0.0h VO / 3.0 ECTS)
          • 552.266 Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h VO / 3.0 ECTS)
            Absolvierung im 2. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor's degree programme English and American Studies (SKZ: 612, Version: 10W.3) part of STEOP (Introductory & Orientation Period)
    • Subject: Studieneingangs- und Orientierungsphase (ab 11W) (Compulsory subject)
      • Introduction to English Studies ( 2.0h VO / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.266 Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h VO / 3.0 ECTS)
  • Master's degree programme Game Studies and Engineering (SKZ: 992, Version: 17W.2)
    • Subject: Cultural and Media Skills (Compulsory subject)
      • Literary Terminology and the Practice of Interpretation for Game Studies and Engineering ( 0.0h VO / 4.0 ECTS)
        • 552.266 Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h VO / 4.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 1. Semester empfohlen

Equivalent courses for counting the examination attempts

Sommersemester 2024
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2023/24
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Sommersemester 2023
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2022/23
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Sommersemester 2022
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2021/22
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Sommersemester 2021
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2020/21
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2019/20
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 4.0ECTS)
Sommersemester 2019
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2018/19
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 4.0ECTS)
Sommersemester 2018
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2017/18
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Sommersemester 2017
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2016/17
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Sommersemester 2016
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2015/16
  • 552.266 VO Literary Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2013/14
  • 551.161 KU Integrated Language Skills (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Sommersemester 2013
  • 551.161 KU Integrated Language Skills (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2012/13
  • 551.161 KU Integrated Language Skills a (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)
Wintersemester 2011/12
  • 551.161 KU Integrated Language Skills a (2.0h / 3.0ECTS)