Admission requirements
None.
Description
In this course a number of English-language novels from the mid-eighteenth to the early twenty-first centuries, in which children play a major role, will be intensively discussed and analysed. Some of the questions that will be addressed are: how did views on children develop in the course of the last two-and-a-half centuries, and how is this reflected in the novels? What if any cultural differences between British and American novels can be observed ? In which literary sub-genres does this theme appear in the course of time? What does literary theory contribute to a better understanding of these texts?
Course objectives
Based on the assumption that participants have already acquired the basic skills for the analysis of literary texts, this course aims to extend these skills both in terms of textual analysis (close reading) and contextual approach (cultural-historical as well as theoretical). Students will be encouraged to share analytical and theoretical views on the assigned texts in class discussions, including short presentations, and to focus research skills on a relevant subject of their own choice within the parameters of the course in the form of a final research paper.
Timetable
The timetable will be available by June 1st at www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/engels.
Mode of instruction
Three-hour seminar per week.
Assessment method
Active participation in class (including the presentation of a weekly ‘reading report’) and a 5,000-word paper will contribute for 50% each toward the final mark.
Blackboard
This course is not supported by blackboard.
Reading list
Peter Barry, Beginning Theory, Manchester University Press, 3rd edn, 2009
Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield (1766)
Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop (1841)
Olive Schreiner, The Story of an African Farm (1883)
Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn (1884)
Henry James, What Maisie Knew(1897)
Rudyard Kipling, Kim (1901)
Richard Hughes, High Wind in Jamaica (1928)
Graham Greene, Brighton Rock (1938)
Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)
Steven Millhauser, Edwin Mullhouse (1972)
Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker (1980)
Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (2003)
Lloyd Jones, Mister Pip (2006)
Registration
Students should register through uSis.
Contact information
Departmental Office English Language and Culture, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102C. Tel. 071 5272144; mail: english@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Coordinator of Studies Master: Ms. K. van der Zeeuw-Filemon, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 103C.
Remarks
You can download the reader in .pdf-format here.