Introduction to Literature

NEPTUNE CODES: BTANN201ALM; BTANN207ALM; BTANN208ALM (BA)

COURSE TYPE: Lectures and seminars
PROGRAMME: Full-time / part-time / minor
HOMEPAGE: http://www.mfi.uni-miskolc.hu/dosa/btann207.htm
TUTOR: Dr. Attila Dósa
CONTACT: Office: A/6 Room 1. Office Hours: as advertised on my door or by appointment.
Phone: 46/565-111 2285. E-mail: a_dosa@hotmail.com .

Course Description: This module introduces you to the general approach and method of studying
literature. By the end of the course you will have gained knowledge of the main literary genres, the
most important periods and movements, and you will be introduced to the basic literary terms.
Finally, through the discussion of a selection of poems, plays, essays and prose works, you will have
an opportunity to acquire various strategies of interpretation necessary to the critical analysis of a
literary work.

Assessment: will be based on a mid-term and an end-term paper and weekly written assignments
in the seminars; and on regular tests in the lectures. Please note that only word-processed or
typed submissions are acceptable and late submissions will not be considered. More than three
missed classes means no signature; failure to pass the above assignments means a failure of this
course.

Schedule (tentative):
WEEK 1: Introduction: What is Literature?
WEEK 2: Visit to the library
WEEK 3: Reading poetry: Genres
WEEK 4: Reading poetry: Versification
WEEK 5: Reading poetry: Figures of Speech
WEEK 6: Literary essays
WEEK 7: Mid-term paper
WEEK 8: Reading short fiction
WEEK 9: Reading short fiction
WEEK 10: Reading Drama
WEEK 11: Reading Drama
WEEK 12: Basic research tools
WEEK 13: End-term Paper
WEEK 14: Conclusions and evaluation

Readings. Readings and a booklet of lecture notes can be downloaded from the course homepage
(password protected).

Recommended reading. Costello, Jacqueline and Amy Tucker (eds), Forms of Literature: A Writer’s
Collection (New York: Random House, 1989). Available in the departmental library as well as
in the central library in several copies. Call number: KLM C124.777,8,9
Introduction to Literature 2

Further Reading
Literary Terms
Cuddon, J.A., A Dictionary of Literary Terms (London: Penguin, 1977) AIT
Gray, Martin, A Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2nd rev. edn (Harlow: Longman, 1992) AIT
Preminger, Alex et. al (eds.), The New Princeton Encyclopaedia of Poetry and Poetics (Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993) AIT
Szaffkó, Péter, Basic English Literary Terms (Budapest: Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, 1996) AIT
Academic Writing
Eco, Umberto, Hogyan írjunk szakdolgozatot? (Budapest: Gondolat, 1994) AIT
Fabb, Nigel, Alan Durant, How to Write Essays, Dissertations and Theses in Literary Studies
(Harrow: Longman, 1993) AIT
MHRA Style Book: Notes for Authors, Editors, and Writers of Theses (London: Modern Humanities
Research Association, 1996, 5th edition) AIT
Turabian, Kate L., A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th edn
(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press) AIT
Walker, Melissa, A Norton Guide to Writing Research Papers, 3rd edn (New York: Norton, 1993) AIT
Introduction to Literary Theory
Ármeán, Otília (ed.), Irodalomelmélet az ezredvégen (Bp: Gondolat, 2002), KLM C174.990, 008,
MIT
Biddle, Arthur W., Reading, Writing, and the Study of Literature (New York: Random House, 1989)
KLM C124.797, 798, 799, 800
Cs. Gyímesi, Éva, Teremtett világ: Rendhagyó bevezetés az irodalomba (Bp: Pátria, 1992) KLM
C117.668, 669, 670
Daiches, David, Critical Approaches to Literature (London: Longman, 1993) AIT
Dobos, István, Az irodalomértés formái (Debrecen: Csokonai, 2002) KLM C169.114, 115, MIT
Eagleton, Terry, Literary Theory: An Introduction (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,
1995) AIT
Guerin, Wilfred, A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature (Oxford: OUP, 1992) AIT, MIT
King, Anne Mills, Being and Becoming: An Introduction to Literature (New York: McGarw-Hill, 1987)
KLM C125.640, 641
Makaryk, I.R., Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory: Approaches, Scholars, Terms
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995) AIT, MIT
Newton, K.M., Twentieth-Century Literary Theory (London: Macmillan, 1998) AIT
Niall, Lucy, Postmodern Literary Theory: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998) MIT
Szegedy-Maszák, Mihály, Irodalmi kánonok (Debrecen: Csokonai, 1998) KLM C141.157, 158, 159
Szerdahelyi, István, Irodalomelmélet mindenkinek (Bp: Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, 1996) KLM
D102.235, 236, 237, MIT
Szili, József, Az irodalomfogalmak rendszere (Bp: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1993) KLM C117.405, 406, 407
Rivkin, Julie (ed.), Literary Theory: An Anthology (Oxford: Blackwell), AIT, MIT
Ungvári, Tamás, A szépség születése: Bevezetés az irodalomelmélet alapfogalmaiba (Bp. Kozmosz,
1998) KLM C11.150, 151, 152, C125.800
Vasy, Géza: Korok, stílusok, irányzatok az európai irodalomban (Bp: Korona Nova, 1997) KLM
D101.907, 908
Wellek, René, Austin Warren, Theory of Literature (London: Penguin, 1993) AIT, MIT
Wellek, René, Austin Warren, Az irodalom elmélete (Bp: Osiris, 2002) KLM C129.743, C167.455, 456
Reference
75 Readings: An Anthology (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993) AIT, KLM C140.655,6,7, C141.078,9,80
Burgess, Anthony, English Literature: A Survey for Students (Harlow: Longman, 1998) KLM
C143.051
Introduction to Literature 3

Carter, Ronald and John McRae, The Penguin Guide to English Literature: Britain and Ireland
(London: Penguin, 1996) KLM C139.637
Coote, Stephen, The Penguin Short History of English Literature (London: Penguin, 1993) AIT, KLM
C139.645
Daiches, David, A Critical History of English Literature (London: Mandarin, 1994) AIT, KLM
C140.164,5
Drabble, Margaret (ed.), The Oxford Companion to English Literature (Oxford: OUP, 1995) MIT
Holman, C. Hugh and William Harmon, A Handbook to Literature (New York: Macmillan, 1986) AIT
Martin, Stephen, English Literature: A Student Guide (London: Longman, 1994) AIT
Montgomery, Martin, Ways of Reading: Advanced Reading Skills for Students of English Literature
(London: Routledge, 2002) AIT
Ousby, Ian, The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1995)
AIT
Rogers, Pat (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature (Oxford: OUP, 1994) KLM
D100.112
Sanders, Andrew, The Short Oxford History of English Literature (Oxford: Clarendon, 1996) KLM
C143.306
Shaw, Valerie, The Short Story, a Critical Introduction (London: Longman, 1994) AIT
Shepherd, Simon and Peter Womack, English Drama: A Cultural History (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996)
AIT
Short, Mick (ed.), Reading, Analysing and Teaching Literature (London: Longman, 1992) AIT
Szenczi, Miklós et al., Az angol irodalom története (Bp.: Gondolat, 1972) KLM C108.151, C40.435
Szerb, Antal, Az angol irodalom kistükre (Bp.: Holnap, 1993) KLM A13.378,9 A22.861,2
Thornley, G. C. and Gwyneth Roberts, An Outline of English Literature (Essex: Longman, 1997) KLM
C143.307
Ward, A. C., English Literature: Chaucer to Bernard Shaw (London: Longman, 1958) KLM C167.316

KEY: AIT (Angol Irodalom Tanszéki Könyvtár), FTT (Filozófiatörténeti Tanszéki Könyvtár), KLM
(Központi Egyetemi Könyvtár, Levéltár és Múzeum), MIT (Magyar Irodalomtudományi Tanszéki
Könyvtár)

Dósa Attila