Course Syllabus (2018/19)

AN22008(L)BA; AN 28004BA minor; AN3202OMA(L)

Modern British Literature and Culture 1

2nd year BA and minor course, 3 credits

Thurs2.00-3.40 p.m.; Rm 55

Thurs 6.00-7.40 p.m.; Rm 119

Fri 12.00-1.40 p.m.; Rm 106

Instructor: Gabriella Moise

Office hours:Thurs1.00-2.00p.m.,

Fri 2.00-3.00 p.m.; Rm. 116/4

Email:

The purpose of this seminar course is to introduce students to some aspects and features of British culture such as the concept of the empire, colonial patterns, major historical landmarks and their impact on society and culture (e. g. WWI and WWII, the interwar period, 1950s’ cold war and nuclear war threat) and gender. However, the seminar is primarily based on written cultural texts (with occasional visual illustrations and an emblematic film by Tony Richardson) representing a generic diversity (including novels: Heart of Darkness, Mrs. Dalloway, Lord of the Flies, The Magic Toyshop; Delaney’s play A Taste of Honey; Forster’s short fiction; and WWI poetry), they are read emphatically from a cultural perspective, focusing on the manner they reflect on various historical, social, technological, and artistic phenomena of the period concerned.

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’ll be granted, though, one chance to make up for the failure of these small tests as agreed with your course tutor.

Participation in classroom discussions: the student is expected to take part in classroom discussions, and this activity contributes to the final seminar grade by 20% of the overall achievement.

End-term test: an objective test on the works discussed during the term (35%). The test must be written at the time scheduled in the syllabus. Failing to do so will count as course failure, and only one re-sit test will be scheduled to make up for the failure.

NB #1: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.

NB #2:Students’ linguistic competence has a considerable impact on their final grade!

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 (35%). Students will get a list of topics to write on, but other titles can be invented by the students. This latter version is only allowed on condition of preliminaryconsultation with the instructor. Also, in case you write your essay on a text discussed in class by the time of essay submission, the topic of the essay must NOT coincide with what was already discussed in class.

The essay should meet the formal and academic requirements of a research paper. Secondary 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, EBSCOHost or ProQuest – in case of doubts consult your tutor) and scholarly documentation, conforming to the requirements of the MLA Style Sheet, are required. Sources that do not meet academic standards (e. g. Wikipedia, Gradesaver, Sparknotes etc.) CANNOT be used. Plagiarism and academic dishonesty will be penalised as described in the Academic Handbook of the Institute (excerpts see below). The essay is to be submittedby 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 and code of the course, the name of the tutor, 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.

Essay style-sheet (for other cases check the full MLA handbook or its longer style sheet abstract):

for simple page references use brackets in the body of the text;

use notes only if you mean to add information that would seem a deviation in the text;

sample references in brackets:

(Smith 65); if there are several works by the same author choose a key word of the title of the book: (Smith, Good 65), or if it is an article: (Smith, “Further” 65).

sample bibliography entry:

referring to books: Smith, John. Good Ideas. Place: Publisher, Year.

referring to articles, poems, etc.:

in volumes: Smith, John. “Further Good Ideas”. Editor of volume (if relevant). Volume Title. Place: Publisher, Year. pages

in journals: Smith, John. “Further Good Ideas”. Title of Journal 2.4 (1996): pages.

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;
  1. The essay submitted more than two weeks later than the deadline cannot be considered for course work, that part of the final grade is zero percent.
  2. The essay submitted in less than two weeksafter the deadline will be penalised by a reduction in the percentage (the extent of the reduction is defined below: see “Grading Policy”);
  3. 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.

GRADING POLICY

Course components / Research paper evaluation
small tests / 10 / Statement of thesis / 3
classroom participation / 20 / Quality of argument / 10
term essay / 35 / Coherence of structure / 10
objective test / 35 / Scholarly documentation / 5
Level of language / 7
Total / 100 / Total / 35
Essay late submission reduction / Grades
Delay (days) / Reduction / 87-100% / 5
1–2 / 2 / 75-86% / 4
3–5 / 5 / 63-74% / 3
6–9 / 10 / 51-62% / 2
10–14 / 15 / 0-50 % / 1
Week / Date /

Assignment

1 / 13/14
Sept / Orientation
(discussing the structure and requirements of the course)
2 / 20/21
Sept / Englishness
E. M. Forster, “The Road from Colonus” (1911)
in The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories downloadable from:

3 / 27/28 Sept / WWI
War Poets (selected poems to be uploaded on the instructor “Course Materials” site)
4 / 04/05
Oct /

Interwar Period

Virginia Woolf, “Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown” (an essay, available at the “Course Materials” site)
Mrs. Dalloway/1

read the first half of the novel, full e-text accessible at:

5 / 11/12 Oct /

Interwar Period

Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway/2
6 / 18/19 Oct / (Post)colonialism
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1899)
Full e-text at:

7 / 25/26
Oct / WWII
William Golding, Lord of the Flies
8 / 01/02 Nov / CONSULTATION WEEK(no class)
9 / 08/09
Nov / Gender I – Visual Representation of Women of the Post-War Era
Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop
Read Chapter 1 (pp 28)
10 / 15/16
Nov / Gender II
Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop
Read the rest of the novel
11 / 22/23
Nov / 1950s
Shelagh Delaney, A Taste of Honey (1959) (play)
ESSAY DEADLINE:
Week 11, time of the class
(both for the electronic version and the hard copy)
12 / 29/30 Nov /

Tony Richardson dir., A Taste of Honey (1961) (film)

(students are expected to watch the film individually at home, a small test is also applicable for the film adaptation; a copy is available at the departmental library)
13 / 06/07 Dec /

END-TERM

14 / 13/14 Dec /

Evaluation