Course Schedule

Week 1: Intro
-Discussion of upcoming semester -Homework: Read Roland Barthes: “Death of the Author,” and “Borges and I”

Week 2: Author, Reader, Narrator
-Essay guidelines test
-Authorship vs. narration; discussion of Barthes and Borges -Presentations: briefly revise strategies for effective public speaking -Homework: Read Samuel Beckett: “Text for Nothing 9”

Week 3: Dealing with Ambiguity
-Discussion of minimalism, absurdity and ambiguity in Beckett -Finding a subject in a long or difficult text and making it an argument -Discussion of mock exam

Week 4: Mock Exam
-Students will be given the opportunity to sit Section B of the English Skills exam, which they will be graded on. This task will count for credit for ALL students. -Homework: Read Joyce Carol Oates: “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and find a critical essay on the text. Write a 500-word summary of the essay, identifying its thesis and discussing its merits or failings

Week 5: Fiction, Criticism and Reality
-Discussion of Oates. How much to use from “real life’’ when researching -Homework: Read David Lodge, The Art of Fiction

Week 6: The Art of Fiction
-Discussion of David Lodge
-Discussion of the final essay -Thesis statements revisited; time management -Homework: Prepare topic of the final essay, read I. A. Richards, Principles of Literary Criticism

Week 7: Weighing up the evidence; reading sources critically
-Discussion of final essay topics  -Discussion of Richards
-Homework: Read Cixous, write abstract of final essay

Week 8: Open-ended Criticism
-Discussion of Cixous -Presentation of abstracts -Homework: Prepare presentations, continue work on final essay

Week 9: Student presentations
-Students present a critical essay they will use as a source for their final essay -Homework: Read “That Crafty Feeling” by Zadie Smith; write first draft of the final essay

Week 10: Craft
-Remainder of student presentations -Discussion of Smith’s essay and approach to craft -First draft of final essay due -Homework: Continue development of final essay

Week 11: Consultations
-Students receive individual feedback on the first draft of their essays. -Homework: Complete second draft of final essay

Week 12: Editing
-Second draft of final essay due -Peer editing, troubleshooting the final essay

Week 13: Conclusions
-Wrap up -Final essays are due one week after the final class