99919 - English Language - Stylistics of Literaty Texts (LM)

Learning outcomes

The aim of this course is to teach students the importance of style in relation to the meaning of a literature.

Course contents

This course will introduce students to the stylistic analysis of literature in English. In particolar, students will be introduced to the quantitative and qualitative analysis of literature. This course proposes a mixture of theory and practice with the final aim to teach how to provide close readings of  literary texts based on a stylistics approach

Readings/Bibliography

Primary Readings (for close readings)

Joyce James 1914 The Dubliners. Wordworth Classics

Conrad Joseph [1899-1902] 1973 Heart of Darkness. Penguin

Murray Les 1992 "Migratory" in Translations from the Natural World. Isabella Press

Primary Reading(for theory)

Gibbons and Whiteley, Contemporary Stylistics. Language, Cognition, Interpretation (2018)

Teaching methods

Lecture and reading groups

Assessment methods

The final exam will consist in one of the following

1. CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT - (during the course). Students present to the class a chapter taken from of the primary reading of the course. They also prepare a practical activity that consists in a close reading of two fragments of literary text that applies the theory they have illustrated. Studends answers questions from the class. Presentations last for 30 minutes followed by 10 minutes for question time.

2. A take home focused on the analysis of characters in "The Dubliners" by James Joyce that applies the system of transitivity. If you choose this option you should have attended the classes on the analysis of transitivity in "Eveline". Also you must be prepared to do independent research on transitivity. This type of assessment can be done in groups. Max 2/3 students. The final mark will be the same for all students in the group.

3.  a two hour written exam consisting of a close analysis of a literary text. The choice will be between a poem and a fragment of prose. To take this exam you have to read the main textbook for this course

Evaluation:

for option 1 students, oral and written presentations will be evaluated, this includes the organization of material, choice of material, oral and written presentation

for option 2 precision and thoroughness of analysis and quality of the comment will be evaluated

for option 3 precision and thoroughness of analysis and quality of the comment will be evaluated

Teaching tools

PPTpresentations for the illustration of theories and guided analysis of texts

SketchEngine for corpus-assisted analysis of texts

Office hours

See the website of Monica Turci