Dr. Elizabeth Tilley, Room 508, Floor 3, Tower 1

Discipline of English,

NationalUniversity of Ireland,

Galway

3BA/4BA

Course Outline

Booklet

2014 – 2015

Semester 1

Head of Third Year:

Dr. Elizabeth Tilley, Room 508, Floor 3, Tower 1

Third & Fourth Year Semester 1, 2014-2015

Students are required to choose between:

ENG304or EN383

And

ENG238 or ENG388

Plus ONE seminar course

ENG304 CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

This course will explore contemporary world literature through works of new and recent fiction. The course texts will comprise of a range of novels by writers from Britain, Canada, America, South Africa and Asia, and we shall explore how these current voices make sense of our complex contemporary global culture. We will examine contemporary narrative strategies, authorial identities, and the relationships between story-telling, memory, history and the self. We will focus on debates that we see as shaping our own world that emerge from the texts themselves, around national and individual identity, gender, community and the family, journeys, loss, conflict, repression and moral guilt. We will consider how to approach the study of fiction that has little or no literary history, and make use of key critical approaches, literary criticism and literary reviews.

Venue:Thursday 11-12 AM250 O’hEocha Theatre and Friday 1-2 AM150 O’Tnuathail Theatre

Lecturers:Dr. Richard Pearson and Dr. Val Nolan

Texts:Full set of texts to be confirmed, but will include

J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace (1999)

Ian McEwan, Atonement (2001)

Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (2005)

Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2006)

Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger (2008)

Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007)

Philip Roth,The Plot Against America (2004)

Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss (2006)

China Mieville, The City and the City (2009)

Kim Stanley Robinson, 2312 (2012)

Assessment:Mid-term Assessment (40%)

End-of-Semester Examination (60%)

EN383 LITERATURE & CULTURE: ROMANTICISM

Romanticism represents one of the most important periods of innovation in literary history. This course examines major figures in the movement, c. 1790-1820, including Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, Keats and Shelley, and critics and satirists such as Thomas Love Peacock and Jane Austen. The Romantics challenged inherited orthodoxies of subject matter and style in poetry and prose, emphasizing the value of imagination and the sublime, childhood, superstition, and taboo subjects of sexuality and violence.

Venue: Monday 4-5 O’Flaherty Theatre and Tuesday 5-6 IT250 IT Building

Lecturer:Prof. Daniel Carey and Dr. Muireann O’Cinneide

Texts:Course Reader:

Includes selected writings of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, Shelley, Keats, John Clare, and lesser-known writers, as well as extracts from political commentators such as Burke and Wollstonecraft. (The Course Reader will be available from Print That on Concourse)

Individual Texts:

Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility (1811)

Maria Edgeworth, Belinda (1801)

Thomas de Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium Eater (1821)

James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)

(These texts will be available from the College Bookshop.)

Assessment:Mid-term Assessment (40%)

End-of-Semester Examination (60%)

ENG238: NINETEENTH CENTURY BRITISH LITERATURE

This course investigates selected British Victorian prose, poetry, fiction, and drama, from 1832 until the turn of the century. It discusses how class conflict, gendered ideologies, religious controversies, scientific discoveries and imperial ambitions shaped (and were in turn shaped by) the literature of this tumultuous period.

Students wishing to read ahead should begin with Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton.

Venue: Wednesday 9-10 AM150 O’Tnuathail Theatre and Wednesday 2-3 IT250 IT Building

Lecturers:Dr. Muireann O’Cinneide and Dr. Elizabeth Tilley

Texts: Carol T. Christ and Catherine Robson, eds., The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume E, The Victorian Age (New York and London, 2012).

(Available in the Book Store. Make sure you purchase the right volume).

Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton (1848)

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations (1860)

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1902)

Assessment:Mid-term Assessment (40%)

End-of-Semester Examination (60%)

EN388 STUDIES IN MODERN IRISH LITERATURE

Twentieth Century Irish Drama

This course introduces students to the rich, diverse and innovative drama of Irish playwrights in the twentieth century. It charts the movement in Irish drama from the creation of the national theatre movement at the end of the 19th century to the present day. Plays ranging from the works of Lady Gregory and W.B. Yeats to those of Brian Friel and Marina Carr will introduce students to the social, political, and cultural tensions, complexities and motives inherent in the making of modern Irish theatre. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify, analyse and contrast a range of plays written in a variety of theatrical styles and will be able to relate these dramas to changing issues in Irish society, politics, and culture throughout the twentieth century.

Venue: / Wednesday 9-10 Cairnes Theatre and Friday 9-10 AM250 Colm O’hEocha Theatre
Lecturers: / Dr. Ian R. Walsh and Dr. Miriam Haughton
Texts: / John Harrington (ed), Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama (Norton)
All other primary texts not in the Norton Anthology will be provided or are available through online databases.
Note: Students are urged only to buy the editions mentioned above, as cheaper editions often contain uncorrected errors that will impede your appreciation and understanding of the text.
Assessment / Mid-term Assessment (40%)
End-of-Semester Examination (60%)

LIST OF 3BA SEMINARS (SEMESTERS 1)

Choose ONE each semester

N.B.Seminars, Times and Venues are subject to change in both Semesters

STUDENTS MUST TAKE A DIFFERENT SEMINAR COURSE EACH SEMESTER. STUDENTS MAY NOT TAKE TWO SEMINARS WITH THE SAME COURSE TITLE EVEN IF THE COURSE CODE IS DIFFERENT.

Code / Seminar Title / Semester available / Venue
EN334 / AMERICANS ABROAD
Dr. Julia Carlson
This course looks at the United States in a global context, focusing on the figure of the American abroad in fiction and film. We study American travellers and expatriates in the broader context of travel writing, looking at how texts construct both America and the "foreign" country, and focus on the way in which the personal, national and sexual identity of American characters is represented by individual authors. Texts: Mark Twain, Selections from Innocents Abroad; Henry James, Daisy Miller; An American in Paris, directed by Vincente Minnelli; Mavis Gallant, ‘The Other Paris’; James Baldwin, Giovanni's Room; Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Copolla; Alice Greenway, White Ghost Girls. Assessment: Presentation and weekly writing exercises 30% and two essays at 35% each. / 1 and 2 / Tuesday 11-1
Room 306 Tower 1
EN336 / BECKETT ON PAGE & STAGE: PROSE, POETRY, DRAMA
Dr. David Clare
Samuel Beckett’s work is often described as ‘ahistorical’ and as being set ‘nowhere’. In keeping with a recent shift in Beckett criticism, however, this module seeks to place Beckett’s work in socio-historical context. Close analysis of the works is employed to reveal the depth of Beckett’s lifelong engagement with the landscape and culture of his native Ireland. Students will discover the degree to which Beckett’s early work is critical of Free State Ireland and narrow definitions of Irishness. They will learn that Beckett’s later work is often set in a ‘liminal space’, with Beckett superimposing the countries where he lived in later life (England and France) over the Ireland of his youth; Beckett does this in order to subtly explore the psychological effects of exile, which is itself a very ‘Irish’ preoccupation. Other topics covered in discussions include narrative and dramatic experiment, Beckett’s play with genres, and the developments in his style between the early 1930s and the 1980s. Assessment: 30% continuous assessment (class participation, one oral presentation and one, brief written assignment); 70% final essay. / 1 and 2 / Tuesday 3-5
Room 302 Tower 1
EN402 / HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Dr. Frances McCormack
We speak English fluently, but how often do we think about its origins, its evolution and its peculiarities? We rarely question why ‘cleave’ means ‘to join together’ and to ‘split’. Why don’t ‘enough’, ‘trough’ and ‘through’ rhyme? During the course of this seminar we’ll attempt to unravel (or ravel) some of these problems. We’ll examine the development of the English language through its rich and complex history, from its earliest origins to the kinds of English written and spoken today, and we’ll speculate on its future. We’ll also pay attention to English as it is spoken worldwide. Text:Stephan Gramley, The History of English. Assessment: Exercises 30% (5 assigned, best 3 will count at 10% each). Essays 70% (2 short essays worth 35% each). / 1 and 2 / Wednesday 1-3
Room 302 Tower 1
EN404 / CONTEMPORARY IRISH POETRY
Dr. Adrian Paterson
This course traces the enormous variety of streams and tributaries in Irish poetry after Yeats, with a particular emphasis on the poems and poets of mid-century and how they influenced later writers. Exploring local and contemporary contexts, the focus is carefully drawn on close readings of the most interesting poems. This allows for discussion of exciting work from a range of known and lesser-known authors, including Louis MacNeice, Samuel Beckett, Austin Clarke, Denis Devlin, Patrick Kavanagh, and John Hewitt, considering in detail their influences and after-effects. Text: Modern Irish Poetry: An Anthology, ed. Patrick Crotty (Blackstaff Press), Coursebook. Assessment will take into account the quality of class participation and two brief written assignments (30%), and a longer final essay (70%). / 1 and 2 / Thursday 1-3
Room 302 Tower 1
EN3109 / POETRY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Ms. Kirry O’Brien
This seminar engages with the poetry of World War 1, a poetry written by men and women, combatants and non-combatants, at home and at the front. It examines how literature helped prepare people for war and sustained them through it. It also looks at the production of mythologies which still inform our understanding of the Great War. Assessment: 15% class presentation write up, 15% for mid-term review/close reading of a poem or poster from the period and 70% final essay. / 1 and 2 / Monday 11-1
Room 306 Tower 1
EN3110 / POETRY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Ms. Kirry O’Brien
This seminar engages with the poetry of World War 1, a poetry written by men and women, combatants and non-combatants, at home and at the front. It examines how literature helped prepare people for war and sustained them through it. It also looks at the production of mythologies which still inform our understanding of the Great War. Assessment: 15% class presentation write up, 15% for mid-term review/close reading of a poem or poster from the period and 70% final essay. / 1 and 2 / Wednesday 11-1
Room 302 Tower 1
EN410 / JANE AUSTEN
Dr. Val Nolan
This seminar centres on the contextual study of four of Jane Austen’s novels. Students will explore the circulation and reception of Austen’s fiction within its original literary and publishing contexts. Discussion will consider the relationship of her writing to its socio-cultural milieu with particular focus on contemporaneous issues of class, gender roles, and societal conventions.Additionally, the writer’s legacy and her continuing popularity today will be explored via modern screen adaptations and Janeite fandom culture.
Texts:Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Emma (1816), and Persuasion (1818).
Assessment:30% continuous assessment (short commentary: 5%; oral presentation: 10%; midterm essay: 15%) and 70% final essay. / 1 and 2 / Wednesday 3-5
Room 302 Tower 1
(Sem 1)
Tuesday 11-1
Room 302 Tower 1
(Sem 2)
EN426 / AMERICAN WAY OF DEATH
Prof. Daniel Carey
The seminar focuses on factual and fictionalised accounts of murder in America, asking why violence is a central part of American culture and the literary imagination. Texts include Truman Capote, In Cold Blood, Norman Mailer, The Executioner’s Song, Mikal Gilmore, Shot in the Heart, William Maxwell, So Long, See You Tomorrow.
Assessment: One presentation and commentary (30%) and 70%: two essays at 35% each. / 1 and 2 / Wednesday 5-7
Room 302 Tower 1
EN434 / STUDIES IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY FICTION
James Joyce's Early Fiction
Dr. Irina Ruppo
This course will examine James Joyce’s first novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and some of his short stories. We shall consider various conflicting approaches to the texts and develop new interpretations through class discussions and debates. Texts: James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; ‘Araby’;‘The Dead’; ‘An Encounter’. Assessment: 10% participation, 20% two short written assignments and 70% for final essay. / 1 and 2 / Friday 1-3
Room 302 Tower 1
EN435 / TWENTIETH CENTURY POETRY
Dr. Val Nolan
This seminar explores the idea of poetry as a reflection of violent, social and historical change throughout the twentieth century. Close reading will take place on the political, psychological and cultural resonances of a wide variety of work, including First and Second World War poetry, mid-century Anglo-American writing (including Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath) as well as contemporary poetry from British and the US. Students will discuss their analysis in dialogue with the interpretations of their peers.
Texts: Course booklet and additional readings.
Assessment: 30% continuous assessment (short commentary: 5%; oral presentation: 10%; midterm essay: 15%) and 70% final essay. / 1 only / Monday 1-3
Room 306 Tower 1
(Sem 1)
EN439 / CINEMA/MEDIA STUDIES
Introduction to Film Studies
Dr. Fiona Bateman
This seminar is an introduction to studying film in an academic context. During the semester students will develop new ways of watching and thinking about films; they will learn how to ‘read’ a film. Issues including genre, intertextuality, narrative and narration will be discussed in class. The films (texts) which students will view and analyse for the course are all Irish, chosen because they share certain thematic characteristics but differ in significant ways. The films are: Flight of the Doves (1971), Into the West (1992), Mickybo and Me (2006) and Kisses (2008). As we will be focussing on Irish films, this seminar will also address representations of Ireland and Irishness on screen.
Assessment: 3 short assignments (10% each) and 1 essay (70%). / 1 and 2 / Thursday 9-11
Bubble 1, Huston Schoolof Film & Media
(Sem 1)
Thursday 10-12
W1,
Woodquay Court, Woodquay
(Sem 2)
EN442 / VICTORIAN LITERATURE
Dr. Muireann O’Cinneide
This seminar will consider the extent to which Victorian literature (1832-1901) can be considered as ‘imperial literature’, shaped by the power relations of the British Empire. It will discuss the processes of representation and dynamics of colonial power and authority that underlay encounters with ‘foreignness’ (in and out of England) in novels, poetry and travel writing. Main Texts:Elleke Boehmer, ed. Empire Writing: An Anthology of Colonial Literature1870-1918; Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone;Rudyard Kipling, Kim. Assessment: 30% continuous assessment (15% class presentation; 10% written assignment; 5% participation); 70% final essay. / 1 and 2 / Tuesday 1-3
Room 302 Tower 1
EN448 / STORIES TOLD AND RE-TOLD
Dr. Irina Ruppo
The course examines authors’ use and adaptation of folkloric and mythological material in their works. The course examines a variety of early modernist and contemporary texts alongside earlier materials alluded in or explored by those texts. Straddling the perceived divide between popular fiction and classic literary works, the course considers the writing of W. B. Yeats, minor authors of the Irish Revival, J.R.R. Tolkien, James Joyce, John Updike, and Douglas Adams. The course enables students to query the nature of literary production and reception across different time periods. It allows them to explore why authors choose to underpin their works by references to well known narratives, and, conversely, why authors choose to revive forgotten legends. Assessment: 10%: class participation; 20%: two short assignments; 70%: final paper (2500 words). / 1 and 2 / Tuesday 1-3
Room 306 Tower 1
EN459 / CONTEMPORARY IRISH WRITING
The Fantastic in Irish Writing
Dr. Irina Ruppo
The course will consider the use of the fantastic mode in Irish writing across a variety of genres.It will explore the novels of John Banville and Clare Boylan, the drama of Marina Carr, and the short fiction of Neil Jordan and Éilís Ní Dhuibhne and ask the questions how these writers use the fantastic mode to explore contemporary social issues and to engage with and challenge the Irish literary tradition. Texts: A number of short stories by Éilís Ní Dhuibhne and poems by Matthew Sweeney, Pat Boran, and others will be distributed in class. Longer texts are Clare Boylan, Black Baby (1988), Marina Carr, By the Bog of Cats (1998), John Banville, The Sea (2005) and Neil Jordan, Sunrise with Sea Monster (1994). Assessment: participation 10%, 2 written assignments 20%, and final essay 70%. / 1 and 2 / Thursday 11-1
Room 302 Tower 1
(Sem 1)
Friday 11-1
Room 302 Tower 1
(Sem 2)
EN464 / NEGOTIATING IDENTITIES
Dr. Leo Keohane and Ms. Aingeal Ní Chualáin
This course provides an introduction to twentieth-century Irish writing and considers how writers in Irish and in English have participated in the negotiation of modern and contemporary Irish identities. Through a close critical reading of key selected texts in Irish and in English, it will investigate the ways in which writers have imagined and re-imagined Ireland and Irishness from the literary and cultural revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through to the new millennium. Issues to be addressed will include Ireland’s transition from a traditional to a modern society, language, gender, and the connections between literary production and the imagined ‘nation’.A knowledge of Irish is not necessary for this course.Assessment: 30% continuous assessment: class participation, oral presentation and abstract for final essay. 70% for 2 essays; one (25%) and the final essay (45%). / 1 and 2 / Friday 11-1
Seminar Room, Centre for Irish Studies
EN470 / OLD ENGLISH I – INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE AND READING
Dr. Frances McCormack
Old English is an exciting and beautiful language. Apart from being an invaluable object of study to those with an interest in etymology, it is the vehicle for some of the most challenging and captivating literature you will ever read. This course will provide you with a thorough introduction to learning to read Old English without painful memorisation! We’ll think about many important theoretical issues related to engagement with the language and its texts, and we’ll explore the culture of the Anglo-Saxon people.Texts: Robert Hasenfratz and Thomas Jambeck’s Reading Old English.Assessment: Weekly assignments 30% (five assigned, best three chosen); Essays 70% (two short essays assigned, worth 35% each). / 1 and 2 / Monday 1-3