URCE-5104                            ` Introduction to English Literature                                    3(3+0)

The course is designed to provide the familiarity and comprehension of English literary pieces. The students may not be familiar or well-versed in the various genres of literature prior to taking this course.  The course provides training and skills necessary to engage, understand, critically analyze, and enjoy the literary genres of literature: short story, poetry, novel and drama. The students will explore the basic concepts of literary technique, narrative, poetic, and dramatic structures and innovations to engage with the more advanced cognitive aspects of literature. In addition to these theoretical skills, students will also read below the surface of the texts for their historical, ethical, psychological, social, and philosophical value by developing insights in how literature gives us a window into both the experiences of others and wider appreciation for the human condition. The course explores literary production in English against local context in particular, by emphasizing shifts in thought as well as genre innovation, i.e. medieval to modern. It provides an introduction to key texts, authors and literary periods, exploring the relationship of texts to their contexts and considering multiple perspectives in the different literary genres.

Contents

1. Poems, Milton: Book 9, lines 897 – 959
2. Shakespeare: All the World is a Stage.
3. Browning: My Last Duchess
4. Wordsworth: The Leech gatherer
5. Keats: Ode to Autumn
6. Walter De La Mare: Tartary
7. Short Stories, The Necklace
8. The woman who had imagination
9. Shadow in the rose garden
10. Essays, My tailor
11. Whistling of the birds
12. One Act Play, Riders to the sea
13. Novel, Animal Farm

Recommended Texts

1. Kennedy, X.J. & Gioia, D. (2014). Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing. Boston: Pearson.
2. Mays, K. J. (2014). The Norton introduction to literature. New York: Norton.

Suggested Readings

1. Bausch, R & Cassill, R.V. (2006). The norton anthology of short fiction. New York: Norton & Company.
2. Gardner, J. E., Lawn, B., Ridl, J., & Schakel, p. (2016). Literature: A portable anthology. Boston: Bedford St. Martins.