English Language and Literature (C1-C2)

Abstract

The course is suitable for students who already possess the language skills defined in level C1 of the Council of Europe Global Scale. The teaching units focus on the reading and discussion of literary texts, requiring active participation and commitment to the various forms of human experience displayed in the texts.

Objective

We shall read and discuss a selection of literary texts, such as poems, short stories and samples from classical and contemporary fiction, especially novels. A close and sensitive reading will sharpen our awareness of the author's intention and artistic devices to define the fascinating interplay between narrator, reader and literary work. With this purpose in mind we shall look at the verbal organisation of texts and its effects on meaning. We shall describe the relationship between form and content, trace symbols, metaphors and other rhetorical devices of the writer, look at style, syntax and vocabulary. Vocabulary study will include that of the individual texts but also the language we need to describe and discuss these texts.

Content

Topics: Since language can be compared to a window through which we regard fictional life, observe and criticise characters and their actions and the nature of their values, there will be ample opportunity for oral participation. Hence our topics will embrace "fictional character and action", "motive, action and consequence", "relationships and human values", "the reader's response", "rhetorical devices and figurative language" and many other aspects, as stimulated by the specific nature of the text. The ultimate goal of this course is to increase our understanding and appreciation of literary forms and to enhance our pleasure of reading. We shall read and discuss a selection of literary texts, such as poems, short stories and samples from classical and contemporary fiction, especially novels. A close and sensitive reading will sharpen our awareness of the author's intention and artistic devices to define the fascinating interplay between narrator, reader and literary work. With this purpose in mind we shall look at the verbal organisation of texts and its effects on meaning. We shall describe the relationship between form and content, trace symbols, metaphors and other rhetorical devices of the writer, look at style, syntax and vocabulary. Vocabulary study will include that of the individual texts but also the language we need to describe and discuss these texts.

Resources