Literary interpretation of text - OPNA3A008C

• Title: Literární interpretace textu
• Guaranteed by: Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury (41-KAJL)
• Faculty: Faculty of Education
• Actual: from 2023
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 3
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:0/1, C [HT]
• Extent per academic year: 0 [hours]
• Capacity: unknown / 20 (unknown)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: yes / unlimited
• Key competences: critical thinking
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Additional information: https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=2475
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment; priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
• Guarantor: Mgr. Jakub Ženíšek, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): Mgr. Jakub Ženíšek, Ph.D.

Annotation

Last update: Mgr. Jakub Ženíšek, Ph.D. (25.02.2024)

Jedná se o kurz zaměřený na četbu a analýzu anglofonní literatury, především prózy. Až na několik výjimek se jedná o kratší prózy. Mezi rozhodující kritéria při výběru seminárních materiálů patří jak obsah, tak i rozsah a jazyk daného díla, neboť hlavní náplní seminářů je tzv. “close reading” (detailní četba vybraných textů). Analýza textů vychází jak z tradičních kritických postupů, tak z pragmatičtěji zaměřených metod, jejichž cílem je především rozvíjení kritického myšlení a jazykových dovedností studentů. Jedná se jmenovitě o metody RWCT (Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking), tedy “Čtením a psaním ke kritickému myšlení”.

Aim of the course

Last update: Mgr. Jakub Ženíšek, Ph.D. (25.02.2024)

This course aims to familiarise students with various close-reading techniques, applied to selected samples of Anglo-American prose. It aims at nurturing RWCT techniques (Reading and writing for critical thinking).

Literature

Last update: Mgr. Jakub Ženíšek, Ph.D. (25.02.2024)

ABRAMS, Meyer H. The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition, London: Oxford University Press, 1971. ISBN-10: 9780195014716.

BARNET, Sylvan, BEDAU Hugo, and John O'Hara. Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing: A Brief Guide to Argument, Bedford: St. Martin's Press, 2016. ISBN-10: 1319035450

CUDDON, J. A., and HABIB, M. A. R., The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, London: Penguin, 2014. ISBN: 9780141047157.

DI YANNI, Robert. Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, 2nd Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. ISBN-10: 0073124451.

DI YANNI, Robert. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama, New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0077293741.

EAGLETON, Terry. How to Read Literature. Yale University Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-0300205305.

HARMON, William. A Handbook to Literature, 12th Edition, London: Pearson, 2011. ISBN-10: 9780205024018.

HERMAN, Daid. Basic Elements of Narrative. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. ISBN-13: 978-1405141543.

KRAVIS, Judy, (ed.). Teaching Literature: Writers and Teachers Talking. Cork: Cork UP, 1995, ISBN-10: 1859180256.

PARKER, Robert. D. How To Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies (3^rd Edition). Oxford: OUP, 2014. ISBN: 978-0199331161.

ROBERTS, Edgar V., and Henry E. Jacobs. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 8th Edition, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2006. ISBN-10: 0131732781.

SHRODES LATE, Caroline F., SHUGRUE Michael F.,  MATUSCHEK Christian, and  Marc F. Di Paolo. The Conscious Reader, 12th Edition, London: Pearson, 2011. ISBN-10: 0205803288.

 

Syllabus

Last update: Mgr. Jakub Ženíšek, Ph.D. (25.02.2024)

Tematické celky:
1. Úvod: Analogie a kontrasty
Benjamin Zephaniah: Miss World
William Shakespeare: Sonnet 130
Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice (úryvek z románu)

2. Struktura vyprávění
Roald Dahl: “Edward the Conqueror”
Focus: narrative structure and plausibility

3. Variace mravokárného příběhu
Somerset Maugham: “The Verger”
Charles Johnson: Oxherding Tale (úryvek z románu)
Focus: a cautionary tale

4. Funkce vypravěče I
Julian Barnes: The Visitors (A History of the World in 10½ Chapters)
Focus: full and limited omniscience

5-6. Funkce vypravěče II
Kurt Vonnegut: “Who Am I This Time”
Andre Dubus: “The Fat Girl”
Focus: narrative authority

7-8. Literární elipsa
Bernard Malamud: “The Magic Barrel”
Thelma Forshaw: “The Mateship Syndrome”
Focus: eliptical narrative

9. Katafora a předznamenávání
John Steinbeck: “The Murder”
Focus: foreshadowing, cataphora, ambiguity, Melting Pot vs Salad Bowl

10. Symbolismus a epifanie
Kate Chopin: “The Story of an Hour”
C. B. Divakaruni: “Clothes”
Focus: generic formulas in writing, symbolism, epiphany

11. Hyperbola a alegorie
Charles Dickens: “A Christmas Carol”
Mark Twain: “The Story of the Bad Boy Who Didn’t Come to Grief”
Focus: cautionary tale, parable, hyperbole, allegory, narrative crescendo

12. Roztříštěná chronologická kompozice
Alice Munro: “Child’s Play”
Focus: cathartic memoir, jumbled chronology, Modern Gothic

Course completion requirements

Last update: Mgr. Jakub Ženíšek, Ph.D. (25.02.2024)

80% attendance (2 unexplained absences are permissible)

A very short reflective handwritten essay (300 words is the bare minimum) written against the clock at the end of the term. For more info pls. scroll down and read the final section. Time allotment for the handwritten essay: 70 minutes. The student may pick any of the listed topics. "Eveline" by James Joyce is not included, given its fairly extensive treatment in British literature classes.

Feedback will be provided either immediately after the handwritten session or within 2 days.

Class participation: Please note that a passing grade (credit) can also be awarded for class participation alone, based on the student´s active approach, erudition and  English proficiency. In such cases as these, there will be no need to write the essay.