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Literature in English (I)
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:06:30
Abstract
Introduction to the literary genres of poetry, short story and novel. Critical evaluation of selected poems by various 18th and 19th cenury authors. Detailed discussion of short stories and a novel by major 20th century writers.
Objective
The main objective is to increase our appreciation and understanding of literary texts expressing human experience, with particular emphasis on form and content, meaning and value.
Content
This course offers an introduction to the methods used in literary study to analyse the structure and functioning of poems, short stories, and novels. Such analysis is intended to help us understand how and why we enjoy books and to give us a language with which we can discuss them. The topics treated will include: How do writers represent reality in works of fiction? Why does a writer choose a specific literary form - the novel, a short story, or lyric poetry? How does the writer control point-of-view, the reader's uptake, meaning and value? We shall discuss these and other questions with specific examples on handouts. In addition, the following texts will be studied in detail: William Blake, "Songs of Innocence and Experience"; a selection of short stories by James Joyce and Katherine Mansfield, and a novel by the contemporary English writer Susan Fletcher.
Resources
Lecture Notes
No script.
Literature
Recommended reading: John Lennard, "The Poetry Handbook", OUP, 1996; H. Porter Abbott, "The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative", CUP, 2002; Wayne C. Booth, "The Rhetoric of Fiction", The University of Chicago Press, 1961.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- DS
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- end-of-semester examination
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture |
Literature in English (I)
siehe separaten Anschlag
|
|
2 h weekly |
Offered In
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Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (In order to be awarded credits, please register under "Pflichtwahlfach GESS"!. The language courses are offered by the ETH and University of Zurich Language Center.)
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