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Guía de estudio de la signatura

Comentario de Textos Literarios en Lengua Inglesa (UNED)

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GUÍA DE ESTUDIO DE LA ASIGNATURA

GRADO
2ª PARTE | PLAN DE TRABAJO Y ORIENTACIONES PARA SU DESARROLLO

2015-2016

Isabel Castelao, Jesús Cora, Dídac Llorens

GRADO EN ESTUDIOS INGLESES

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COMENTARIO DE TEXTOS LITERARIOS EN LENGUA INGLESA

1.- WORK PLAN

Comentario de Textos Literarios en Lengua Inglesa (CTLLI) is divided into five STUDY UNITS (see
TABLE 1 below) each one lasting between two and three weeks, and a sixth unit devoted to revising (=
repasar) the course material and preparing for the final exam. This unit will cover approximately the last two
weeks of the course.

The Units follow a thematic rather than a chronological order and, where appropriate, will include more than
one critical practice (e.g. New Historicism and Cultural Studies). Successful completion of CTLLI will give
you 5 European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits or the equivalent of 125 study hours spread over.

Each Unit is provided with a Guía de Estudio (posted on line) and includes texts by literary and critical authors
as well as selected chapters from the course text book by Barry; all texts are explored through related
exercises or activities. These activities can be used in tutorials, group discussions (face-to-face or online)
or for the purposes of self-assessment (=autoevaluación), whose answers are also posted in the curso
virtual (c.v.).

Each Unit will be organized as follows:

• TEXTUAL COMMENTARY AND CRITICAL PRACTICE:

- Literary texts + self-assessment questions;
- Introduction to critical and literary theory (Barry) + self-assessment questions;

• CRITICAL AUTHORS:
- Extracts + self-assessment questions;

• ANSWERS.

2.- STUDY GUIDELINES AND TIME MANAGEMENT

TABLES 1 & 2 below give you a breakdown of activities and learning outcomes common to STUDY UNITS 1
– 5. UNIT 6 is devoted to exam revision. A suggested plan for distributing and managing your time is also
included. Study hours devoted to the various activities will necessarily vary depending on the length and
difficulty of the reading material, though you should aim to keep to the number of hours indicated for each
entire unit:

TABLE 1

UNIT LEAR NIN G OUTCOMES FINISH UNIT BY

COMMON TO UNITS 1 -5

1  General grasp of literary, critical

Week 3
Introduction to and cultural theory.

Critical Theory &  Familiarity with literary texts in

English.

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Poststructuralist  Ability to analyse critical texts

Theories. and answer questions on them
in English.
 Familiarity with extracts from
critical authors.
 Ability to read/analyse literary
texts in English from differing
critical and cultural
perspectives.
 Ability to write in English about
literary texts from differing
critical and cultural
perspectives.
 General familiarity with
concepts and vocabulary in
English associated with critical
reading and commentary.
 Ethical commitment to avoid
plagiarism and express original
ideas and arguments.

2
Week 5
Introduction to
New Historicism
and Cultural
Studies.

3
Week 7
Introduction to
Feminism.

4
Week 9
Introduction to
Gender and
Queer Studies.

5
Week 11
Introduction to
Ethnic and Post-
Colonial Studies.

6 • Preparation for a written exam

in English.
Exam • Revisión (=repasar). Week 12
Preparation Unit. individually or in groups.
• Sitting for a mock exam in
English.
• Taking a final exam in English.

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COMENTARIO DE TEXTOS LITERARIOS EN LENGUA INGLESA

TABLE 2

SECTIONS ACTIVITIES IN EA CH APPROX. STUDY

COMMON TO SECTION HOURS NEEDED
UNITS 1-5

A) Literary texts. • Reading and understanding literary 1-4 hours

texts.
B) Self-assessment • Literary analysis and textual 1-3 hours
exercises. commentary.

C) Introduction to • Reading and understanding selected 3-4 hours

critical and literary chapters from course text book
theory. (Barry).

D) Self-assessment • Analytical and comprehension 2-3 hours

exercises. exercises on Barry chapters.

E) Critical authors. • Reading and understanding extracts. 1-3 hours

F) Self-assessment • Comprehension and analysis 2-3 hours

exercises. exercises of extracts.
Max. total: 20 hours

3.- STUDY PLAN AND COURSE PROGRAMME

3.1.- STUDY PLAN

CTLLI requires you to read closely, i.e. carefully in order to achieve the full understanding of the text and its
complexities as well as possibilities, a number of literary texts and critical extracts in English. Each text or
extract is further accompanied by a set of exercises based exclusively on the text in question. The Guía de
Estudio for each Unit will provide detailed study guidelines but below you will find an outline of the study plan:

LITERARY TEXTS

You will be required to:

- read and understand the text (literary reading comprehension);

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- write a summary of what you think the text is „about‟ (theme abstraction and identification);
- look up and provide definitions for certain words (command of the specific vocabulary);
- answer questions on the text‟s literary devices, figurative language, form, etc. (guided
commentary);

- where appropriate, carry out exercises taken from Barry (relate texts to theoretical concepts
and viceversa).
INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL AND LITERARY THEORY (Barry)

You will need to:

- read and understand an extract from a chapter or the chapter in full;

- answer questions on it;

- summarize the key points and arguments by relying on your own writing skills, not copying from
the handbook (copying from the handbooks is plagiarism and it is penalized).

CRITICAL AUTHORS

Here you will be asked to:

- read and understand the extract (specialized reading comprehension);

- provide definitions or explanations of a number of key words (learning of specific vocabulary);
- analyse the main ideas (analysis);
- provide a summary of the extract (abstraction of ideas).

WHAT YOU WILL NEED FOR YOUR STUDIES

- all the set texts;

- this Guía de Estudio;
- a good monolingual English dictionary;

- access to the internet and the curso virtual;

- a commitment to using your own words when completing the self-assessment exercises and in
the exam, and avoiding plagiarism, i.e. copying from the handbook or other materials;
- a minimum of an hour-and-a-half daily (including weekends!) when you know you won‟t be
interrupted by family, friends, colleagues, pets…

3.2.- COURSE PROGRAMME

Here is a detailed breakdown of the course programme:

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COMENTARIO DE TEXTOS LITERARIOS EN LENGUA INGLESA

STUDY UNITS

UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO POSTSTRUCTURALIST THEORIES

LITERARY TEXTS
Dylan Thomas‟ poem, “A refusal to mourn the death, by fire, of a child in London” (Barry, Appendix 2: pp.
275-276). Self-assessment exercises.

TEXTUAL COMMENTARY AND CRITICAL PRACTICE

INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL AND LITERARY THEORY
Readings from Barry, Chapter 3, “Post-structuralism and deconstruction”. Self-assessment exercises.

CRITICAL AUTHORS AND TEXTS

ROLAND BARTHES (1915-1968). Extract from “The Death of the Author” (1968). Self-assessment exercises.
JACQUES DERRIDA (1930-2004). Extract from Of Grammatology (1967). Self-assessment exercises.

Remember: spend approximately three weeks on this unit and between nine and ten hours study per
week. We recommend that you start reading the novels assigned from the beginning of the course.

UNIT 2: INTRODUCTION TO NEW HISTORICISM AND CULTURAL STUDIES

LITERARY TEXTS
Elizabeth Bishop‟s poem “Twelve O‟Clock News” (PDF document on the curso virtual). Self-assessment
exercises.

TEXTUAL COMMENTARY AND CRITICAL PRACTICE

Introduction to critical and literary theory
Readings from Barry, Chapter 9, “New historicism and cultural criticism”. Self-
assessment exercises.

CRITICAL AUTHORS AND TEXTS

HAYDEN WHITE (b. 1928). Extract from “The Historical Text as Literary Artifact” (1978). Self-assessment
exercises.
STEPHEN GREENBLATT (b. 1943). Extract from “Introduction to The Power of Forms in the English
Renaissance” (1988). Self-assessment exercises.

Remember: you should spend approximately two weeks on this unit and between nine and ten hours
study per week.

UNIT 3: INTRODUCTION TO FEMINISM

LITERARY TEXTS
Elizabeth Bishop‟s poem “Rooster” (PDF document on the c.v.). Self-assessment exercises.

TEXTUAL COMMENTARY AND CRITICAL PRACTICE

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Introduction to critical and literary theory
Readings from Barry, Chapter 6, “Feminist Criticism”. Self-assessment exercises.

CRITICAL AUTHORS AND TEXTS

SANDRA GILBERT (b. 1936) and SUSAN GUBAR (b. 1944). Extract from The Madwoman in the Attic
(1979). Self-assessment exercises.

Remember: you should spend approximately two weeks on this unit and between nine and ten hours
study per week.

UNIT 4: INTRODUCTION TO GENDER AND QUEER STUDIES

LITERARY TEXTS
Elizabeth Bishop‟s poem “In the Waiting Room” (PDF document on the c.v.). Self-assessment exercises.

TEXTUAL COMMENTARY AND CRITICAL PRACTICE

Introduction to critical and literary theory
Readings from Barry, Chapter 7, “Lesbian/Gay Criticism”. Self- assessment exercises.

CRITICAL AUTHORS AND TEXTS

ADRIENNE RICH (b. 1929). Extract from “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Continuum” (1980). Self-
assessment exercises.
BARBARA SMITH (b. 1946). Extract from “Toward a Black Feminist Criticism” (1977). Self-assessment
exercises.

Remember: you should spend approximately two weeks on this unit and between nine and ten hours
study per week.

UNIT 5: INTRODUCTION TO ETHNIC AND POST-COLONIAL STUDIES

LITERARY TEXTS
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1899, 1902). Self-assessment exercises.
Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (1970). Self-assessment exercises.

.TEXTUAL COMMENTARY AND CRITICAL PRACTICE

Introduction to critical and literary theory
Readings from Barry, Chapter 10, “Postcolonial criticism”.
Self-assessment exercises.

CRITICAL AUTHORS AND TEXTS

CHINUA ACHEBE (b. 1930). Extract from “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad‟s Heart of Darkness”
(1975). Self-assessment exercises.
EDWARD SAID (1935-2003). Extract from Orientalism (1978). Self-assessment exercises

Remember: you should spend approximately three weeks on this unit and between nine and ten
hours study per week.

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COMENTARIO DE TEXTOS LITERARIOS EN LENGUA INGLESA

UNIT 6: EXAM PREPARATION UNIT

This unit comprises the following activities:

• revising (=repasar) contents of course units,

• revising glossary;

• discussing queries (=dudas) in tutorials and/or through the c.v.;

• taking the mock exam in final tutorial or on line;

• accessing and reading the online feedback to the mock exam;

• accessing and reading the sample exam and the corresponding feedback.

Remember: you should spend approximately two weeks on this unit and between nine and ten
hours study per week.

3.3.-EVALUATION

You will be guided and assessed in various ways by your local tutor or course supervisor throughout the
course. This continuous guidance and assessment will be based on:

- participation in tutorials;
- participation in online discussions and activities;

- one Pruebas de Evaluación Continua (PEC) to be uploaded via the curso virtual on ALF before
the end of November 2014.
- a mock exam immediately prior to the end-of-course exam.
and the final evaluation in the form of a written exam or prueba presencial that you will take in your local
Centro Asociado (C.A.) on the dates indicated in the official UNED exams calendar in January or February
and September (this is a first-term subject, so there are no May-June exams).

PEC is worth 20% and the exam is worth 80% of the final mark. The PEC will be marked/puntuada OUT OF
10/SOBRE 10 but a computer formula will be applied to it to count only as the 20% of your final mark if you
decide to do the PEC. The exam will be marked/puntuado OUT OF 10 but a computer formula will be
applied to it to count only as the 80% of your final mark. Your final mark/calificación is based on the sum of
the PEC and the exam, but you need to pass the exam (minimum 5) in order to get the extra 20% of the
PEC mark. Now, let's imagine that you get 2 full marks/puntos in the PEC and 3 in the exam. This means that
you have failed/suspendido the subject because you didn‟t get the required minimum of 5 marks/puntos in the
exam, so your exam+PEC marks will not be summed. PEC is not compulsory, but you must be aware that if
you decide to take just the final exam your final mark will be of a maximum of 8 points.

You will also be able to assess yourself (but you will not get marks for this) through:

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- self-assessment exercises; the answers will be provided in the Guía de Estudio;
- written feedback to the PEC and the final exam;
- a mock exam given at your last tutorial before the exam as well as online through t he curso
virtual;

The format of both the PEC and the Final Exam will be different to previous years. They will contain
two parts: Part A (Multiple-choice questions) and Part B (Text analysis). Part A will consist of 12
multiple-choice questions (a,b,c,d) about any aspect related to the course, from literary criticism,
critical authors, study guides, text book, to literary readings. This part will be marked up to 6 points
(0’5 each question). You will need to have 7 questions correct for your “Text analysis” part to be
graded, since this will show you have acquired the minimum knowledge required in relation to the
subject by having read in detail the course texts and guides. Part B (4 points) will consist of a guided
analysis of a literary text included in the course, with a limit of length. This will necessarily cover
contextual and formal aspects as well as critical approaches to the text (i.e. “Context”,
“Form/Content” and “Criticism” sections). Throughout the course, practical exercises will be provided
by the Course Team in the virtual course to train students in order to be able to develop a basic and
guided text analysis of a literary work.

CTLLI students are expected to have the ability to express themselves correctly in English and have
the minimum skills to write in basic academic register. The Course Team will take into consideration
the correctness of argumentation and writing and a proper English usage.

4. GLOSSARY

The selected glossary of terms is posted on the Curso Virtual.

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