English Literature
A Practical Course in Appreciation
Course Codes A. Lit. 3 (3 weeks) and A. Lit. 6 (6 weeks)
Advanced international course for students of English Philology and other suitable applicants, keen to enjoy, study, and talk and write about English literature in English. As well as being enjoyable, courses provide useful practice for examinations.Participating in discussions, individual presentations and essays will give you the opportunity of improving your English, both spoken and written, in the critical appreciation of English literary texts.
Particular stress will be put on revising and improving your command of the vocabulary of critical appreciation.
The material to be studied will consist of a selection of English Literature in several genres from Chaucer to the present day. Close reference will be made to the set books in the reading list. Students will be expected to have read in advance the longer works set for the course, particularly the novels and plays.
On the three-week course (A.Lit.3) we will manage only a selection of the items on the reading list. The final syllabus will be decided according to the priorities and interests of participants.
The final syllabus will be decided according to the priorities and interests of participants.
To encourage the active participation of all students in the study programme, students will be asked to prepare a short paper for presentation during one of the seminar classes. You will be free to choose a topic for presentation that is useful preparation for your university coursework or exams.
Literary critical activities may be supplemented by other topics where appropriate,for example vocabulary extension, grammar and usage, note taking and summary writing. Where suitable both video and sound recordings of the course material will be used to stimulate discussion.
This course seeks not only to enhance your appreciation of English literature and to give you confidence in using literary critical vocabulary but also self-assurance in formulating, putting forward and defending your own ideas in English.
Critical Appreciation Course Reading List
The works listed provide a wide range of texts for class study, individual presentations, and essays, with opportunities for comparative studies. The list includes likely combinations of text and links for which past students have expressed interest or enthusiasm.
Poetry* |
|
| Geoffrey Chaucer | The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale The Merchant's Tale |
| Edmund Spenser | |
| William Shakespeare | The Sonnets |
| The Metaphysical Poets: | Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, Henry Vaughn, John Donne |
| Alexander Pope | |
| William Blake | |
| The Romantic Poets: | William Wordswoth, S. T. Coleridge, John Keats, Lord Byron |
| 20th Century Poets: | W.B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, P. Larkin, Tony Harrison, Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney |
Satire |
|
| Jonathan Swift | A Modest Proposal |
Drama* |
|
| W. Shakespeare | Othello/The Merchant of Venice |
| John Webster | The Duchess of Malfi/The White Devil |
| W. Shakespeare | Measure for Measure/ Troilus and Cressida |
| G.B. Shaw/W. Russel | Pygmalion/Educating Rita - a comparison |
Fiction |
|
| Mary Shelley | Frankenstein |
| Emily Brontë | Wuthering Heights |
| Jane Austen | Pride and Prejudice |
| Charlotte Brontë | Jane Eyre* |
| Jean Rhys | Wide Sargasso Sea* |
| Daphne du Maurier | Rebecca* |
The three texts listed above will be studied both as individual and "linked" texts. |
| Virginia Woolf | To the Lighthouse |
| G. Orwell/M. Atwood | 1984/Handmaid's Tale |
| Ian McEwen | Enduring Love or Atonement |
| Modern British Short Stories (ed. M. Bradbury): a selection. | |
*Poetry:
Most selections will be from the Norton Anthology of Poetry 4th ed., Norton.
*Drama:
The selection of plays may be changed or added to when the summer theatre programmes are announced.
These are our suggestions for 2008. Applicants are invited to state their preferences. The final selection of texts and a minimum reading list will be sent to all participants.
Excursions
Where possible BELS will organise one or more theatre visits, including a sightseeing and theatre trip to Stratford-upon-Avon to see a Shakespeare performance.Set Books
The set books required on the course are not included in the school fees and not, we regret, available on loan. They can be bought through any good academic bookshop or the school office. For advice on which texts to read in preparation for your chosen course, please contact us.Dates:
A. Lit. 3 (3 weeks with 20 academic hours per week):
21.07.08–08.08.08
11.08.08–29.08.08
Tuition Fee: EUR 840
A. Lit. 6 (6 weeks with 20 academic hours per week):
21.07.08–29.08.08
Tuition Fee: EUR 1680
Accommodation charges:
Click here for more information about Accommodation & Welfare.
Single room in family with breakfast and main meal £ 120 per week.
Basic self-catering accommodation with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities (limited availability except in the summer) £ 75 per week.
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