Admission requirements
BA diploma in a relevant field of study.
Description
“Hear you not the rushing sound of the coming tempest? Do you not behold the clouds open, and destruction lurid and dire pour down on the blasted earth? See you not the thunderbolt fall, and are defeated by the shout of heaven that follows its descent? Feel you not the earth quake and open with agonizing groans, while the air is pregnant with shrieks and wailings, – all announcing the last days of man?” If not, then this course is designed to make you feel as much. In the final months of 2011, students who sign up to “Imagining the End” will explore the Anglo-American apocalyptic imagination. While the course is designed as an overview study from Defoe to McCarthy, special attention will be paid to works from the seminal apocalyptic decades the 1950s and 1960s. Because this is an MA level course, students are expected to be able to independently research and write a literary-critical essay on a topic of their own choice and to be comfortable working with the MLA stylesheet.
Course objectives
At the end, students will have a thorough understanding of the structural, stylistic and thematic developments within the genre of apocalyptic fiction, as well as knowledge of the relevant British and American historical and theoretical contexts.
Timetable
The timetable will be available by June 1st at www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/engels.
Mode of instruction
The classes will be run as discussion seminars in which the tutor will present students with a general introduction each week placing the assigned text(s) or film(s) within its (their) relevant historical and theoretical contexts. MA students will be expected to have previous experience in the field of literary or cultural studies (a BA degree in a related field), and to actively take part in class discussion and to bring extensive notes and ideas to class that will facilitate discussion. The tutor will ask copies of preparation notes to be submitted, but they will not be marked. A set of study questions for each text will be designed and distributed during week 1, which students are expected to use for class preparation. A working bibliography with historical, theoretical and critical sources will also be provided and could be used as a reference with respect to secondary reading for particular weeks. A course reading shelf in the library will contain the most relevant secondary sources that may also be referred to during class discussion and which students may be asked to consult for class-preparation.
Assessment method
One mid-term essay of 2500 words (MLA Style) (40%). Deadline: the tutorial in week 7.
One end-of-term research essay of 5000 words (MLA Style) (60%). Deadline: early January (specific date will be announced before the end of the course).
Students must submit one hard copy of each essay by the stated deadline. One electronic copy of each essay must also be submitted via the specific Safe Assign button on the Blackboard site for safe keeping, and to be scanned for plagiarism.
Blackboard
This course is supported by Blackboard.
Reading list
J.G. Ballard, The Drowned World (Harper)
Harlan Ellison, The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World (E-Rights/E-Reads)Stephen King, The Mist (signet)
Cormac McCarthy, On the Road (Picador)
Richard Matheson, I am Legend (Gollancz SF Masterworks)
George Romero (dir), Land of the Dead (DVD)
Mary Shelley, The Last Man (Oxford World’s Classics)
Neville Shute, On the Beach (Vintage Classics)
Various directors, The Omen Trilogy (3 DVD set)
John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids (Penguin)
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
The reading for Week 1 will be made available on Blackboard site in due course. Make sure you start reading Shelley’s The Last Man before the course starts. It is the longest text on the course and will be discussed in week 2. It is the students responsibility to watch the films assigned before the date of the tutorials. There will be no screenings of the films.