Course Title & Code:
British Literary Seminar AN22004 BA-K3; AN1060 MA; AN 3200OMA
Course code: 02; Credits: 3
ANL1806MA (distance learning mode; course code 01)
Time and Place: Mon, 4.00-5.40 p.m.; Rm 54
Mon, 6.00-7.40; Rm 54
Office Hours:
Mon, 1.00-2.00 p.m., Tue, 10.00-11.00 a.m.;
Main Bldg, Rm 116/4
Instructor: Gabriella Moise
Email:
Course description: The aim of this course, which is a follow up seminar to British Literature to 1945, is to make students get acquainted with selected works (see weekly schedule below) and discuss them in a profound analytic manner from the period covered by the lecture course.
REQUIREMENTS:
Presence at classes: no more than three absences are allowed. In the case of a longer absence (either due to illness, or official leave), the tutor and the student will come to an agreement of how to solve the problem.
Assigned reading: The seminar format and the reading requirements suppose that the assigned texts are read for the classes. Tests on the assigned readings can be expected at each seminar (plot-related questions in the case of fiction and drama, vocabulary tests in the case of poetry). The result of these tests contributes to the seminar grade (“small tests”: 10). You must pass at least 66% of these tests, otherwise your seminar is a failure (the grade is a one). You will be granted, though, one chance to make up for the failure of these minor tests as agreed with your course tutor.
Reader’s journal: students are required to keep a reader’s journal in a separate notebook, recording opinions, impressions and raising questions. The journals are to be in class, and to be used for facilitating discussions. Prior to reading the assignments I will suggest some crucial thematic issues along which you can direct your reading process. The journals are subject to be collected at any time of the semester.
Participation in classroom discussions: students are expected to take part in classroom discussions, and this activity contributes to the final seminar grade by 20 points of the overall achievement. Do NOT come to class without either the hard copy or a digital version of the assigned reading material. The classroom discussion is predominantly based on a close reading of the texts without which you simply cannot follow the analysis.
End-term test: an objective test on the works discussed during the term (40). The test must be written at the time scheduled in the syllabus. Failing to do so or not achieving 50% of the total score will count as a course failure, and only one re-sit test will be scheduled to make up for the failure on condition of having a pass mark for the small tests!
NB: Out of all the course components, only one re-sit will be granted; in case you fail in more than one component, the course is a failure.
Term essay (research paper): a take-home essay of 1,800 to 2,000 words is to be written on any topic related to the themes of the course (30). Students will get a list of topics to select from, but other themes can be invented by the students. This latter version is only allowed on condition of preliminary consultation with the instructor. The essays cannot be based on topics discussed in detail in the frame of the seminars!
The essay should meet the formal and academic requirements of a research paper. Secondary (so the primary source, the chosen novel or poem, cannot be taken as one of the required sources) reading (the use of at least TWO academic sources proper, preferably printed or in case of a lack of the relevant secondary sources digital databases of academic sources can also be used such as JSTOR, ProQuest, EBSCOHost – in case of doubts consult your tutor) and scholarly documentation, conforming to the requirements of the MLA Style Sheet, are required. Sources not meeting the academic standards (e. g. Wikipedia, Gradesaver, Sparknotes etc.) on no condition can be used in the essays.
Plagiarism and academic dishonesty will be penalised as described in the Academic Handbook of the Institute (see below). The essay is to be submitted by the defined deadline, otherwise the grade will be lowered (see below). The essay will only be accepted in a word processed (typed) format.
The cover sheet of the essay must contain the title of the essay, the name of the student, the name of the tutor, the name and code of the course, the date of submission, and the following statement: “Hereby I certify that the essay conforms to the international copyright and plagiarism rules and regulations.” and also the signature of the student.
Plagiarism and its consequences
Students must be aware that plagiarism is a crime which has its due consequences.
The possible forms of plagiarism:
1. word by word quotes from a source used as if they were one’s own ideas, without quotation marks and without identifying the sources;
2. ideas taken from a source, paraphrased in the essay-writer’s own words and used as if they were his/her own ideas, without identifying and properly documenting the source.
Plagiarism, depending on its seriousness and frequency, will be penalised in the following ways:
1. The percentage of the submitted paper will be reduced.
2. The essay will have to be rewritten and resubmitted.
3. In a serious case, this kind of academic dishonesty will result in a failure.
4. In a recurring, and serious case, the student will be expelled from the English major programme.
Late submission policy
1. Deadlines must be observed and taken seriously;
2. The essay submitted more than one week later than the deadline cannot be considered for course work, that part of the final grade is zero percent.
3. The essay submitted within the one week tolerance period after the deadline will be penalised by a reduction in the percentage (the extent of the reduction is defined below: see “Late submission policy”);
4. In exceptional and well-documented cases, the extension of deadlines can be requested of (negotiated with) the course tutor well in advance (definitely not after, or on the day of, the deadline).
Assessment of the Research Papers
The essays must have a clear statement of theme, preferably in the form of a thesis paragraph, and all the further statements must be related to this central topic or question. The text (arguments, agreements, and disagreements) must be organised coherently so that the point you make and your flow of thoughts must be clear for the reader. The essays must, naturally, be finished with a well articulated conclusion which is supposed to be the culmination of your proposed arguments.
The essays will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:
· the articulateness of the thesis of the paper;
· the clarity of the position you take;
· the quality of the arguments;
· the use and integration of your secondary sources into the essay;
· the coherence of the structure;
· scholarly documentation;
· the level of your language.
The essays will not be evaluated on the basis of what your tutor’s position is in a certain issue, so feel free to elaborate your own ideas—but do it in a sophisticated way.
NB. Please note that each and every course component above is obligatory: the failure to meet any of these requirements (class attendance, small tests, home essay/research paper, end-term test) will jeopardise the completion of the course. Out of three course components—small tests, research paper/essay submission, end-term test—only one re-sit or re-submission will be granted; failure to meet more than one requirement will automatically result in overall failure. Please also note that there is no make-up for insufficient class attendance or in case you fail to submit your research paper (term essay) by the defined deadline.
Grading Policy
Course components / Research paper evaluationsmall tests / 10 / Statement of thesis / 3
classroom participation / 20 / Quality of argument / 9
term essay / 30 / Coherence of structure / 8
objective test / 40 / Scholarly documentation / 4
Level of language / 6
Total / 100 / Total / 30
Grades
Essay late submission reduction / 87-100% / 5
Delay (days) / Reduction / 75-86% / 4
1–2 / 2 / 63-74% / 3
3–4 / 4 / 51-62% / 2
5-7 / 7 / 0-50 % / 1
Weekly schedule
Week / Date /Assignment
(Texts are available in the Institute’s library!)
1 / 20 Feb /A Social Cross-Section of the Medieval Period
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, “The Prologue”
(digital copy available on the “Course Materials” site of the instructor)
2 / 27 Feb / The Renaissance WorldviewWilliam Shakespeare, Hamlet
3 / 6 March / Metaphysical PoetryJohn Donne, “The Good Morrow,” “The Flea, ”The Sun Rising”
4 / 13
March / 18th century—the Novel as the Mirror of the Era
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
5 / 20
March / Romantic Poetry I (1st generation)
William Wordsworth, “The Daffodils,” “Composed upon Westminster Bridge”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan”
6 / 27
March / Romantic Poetry II (2nd generation)
Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ozymandias,” “Ode to the West Wind”
John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” “Ode to a Nightingale”
7 / 03 Apr /
Nature vs Human Nature
Emily Brontё, Wuthering Heights
8 / 10 Apr / CONSULTATION WEEK9 / 17 Apr / National Holiday (Easter Monday)
No class!
10 / 24 Apr / Victorian Poetry—The Significance of Aesthetics
Alfred Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott”
Robert Browning, “My Last Duchess”
NB: Essay deadline is due at Week 12!
11 / 01 May / National holiday
No class!
12 / 08 May / The Corruption of Rural Beauty
Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles
ESSAY DEADLINE
(both the digital copy and the print-out are due at the time of the class)
13 / 15 May / The Poetic Voice of Modernism
T. S. Eliot, “Tradition and the Individual Talent” (an essay)
(digital copy available on the instructor’s “Course Materials” site)
T. S. Eliot,“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (available in the institute library in Course Packet)
14 / 22 May / END-TERM TEST