ON-CAMPUS COURSES
ENGL 1705EL 01
Introduction to Writing and English Studies
Monday/Wednesday - J234
G. MacCoubrey
In this course, students will learn to read critically and to write effective arguments about literature. Since writing is a way of thinking and understanding, this course will be concerned with the writing process as well as the written product. Therefore, students will write a great deal, revising ideas and interpretations as they develop. The first part of the course will introduce students to a range of work in English studies, including fiction, poetry, drama, non-fictional prose, and film. The second part of the course will explore a specific topic, genre or critical approach in more depth and will involve students in library research. Students will write 22 pages of graded assignments including a longer library research paper. (lec 3) (6 credits)
Texts Required:
Barnett, S. et al. Literature for Composition. 7th ed. Pearson, 2005.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Puffin, 1994.
ENGL 3936EL01 (Group 3)
James Joyce: Ulysses
Monday/Wednesday – 19:00-22:00
H. Cheu
Ranked on top among the best 100 novels by the editorial board of Modern Library, still challenged and banned by some legal authorities and religious leaders around the world, Ulysses is both high-minded and dirty-minded at the same time. This course provides a guide to unlock the Joycean code; it includes a comprehensive introduction to the modernist literary movement, a brief history of the Irish struggle with British colonialism, a survey of Joyce’s earlier writings, a 30 second plot summary of Homer’s Odyssey, a few movies, and an in-depth study of six selected episodes in Ulysses. Once decoded, Ulysses can be recognised as a political satire and a literary carnival that surpasses the great fun of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver's Travels and Laurence Sterne's Tristan Shandy.
Instructor: Dr. Hoi F. Cheu completed his PhD dissertation, Zen and the Art of James Joyce, at the University of Western Ontario under the supervision of the renowned Dr. Michael Groden. Having published his book, Cinematic Howling: Women’s Films, Women’s Film Theories (UBC Press), he returns to Joycean study with a new project on a portrait of Ulysses as a hyper-grotesque.
Texts Required:
James Joyce, Dubliners.
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
James Joyce, Ulysses.
Ranked on top among the best 100 novels by the editorial board of Modern Library, still challenged and banned by some legal authorities and religious leaders around the world, Ulysses is both high-minded and dirty-minded at the same time. This course provides a guide to unlock the Joycean code; it includes a comprehensive introduction to the modernist literary movement, a brief history of the Irish struggle with British colonialism, a survey of Joyce’s earlier writings, a 30 second plot summary of Homer’s Odyssey, a few movies, and an in-depth study of six selected episodes in Ulysses. Once decoded, Ulysses can be recognised as a political satire and a literary carnival that surpasses the great fun of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver's Travels and Laurence Sterne's Tristan Shandy.
ENGL 3946EL 01 (Group 4)
American Absurdist Novel
Tuesday/Thursday – 19:00-22:00
J. Riddell
An examination and discussion of the work of several modern and contemporary novelists,
ranging from Heller to Robbins, who have been central to the development of the so-called
“absurdist” genre of American twentieth-century fiction. The course will consist of
lectures/seminars, one research paper, and a final exam (in-class).
Texts Required:
Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. New York: Simon & Schuster pb, 1996
Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Signet, 1989
Robbins, Tom. Still Life with Woodpecker. Bantam, 1990.
Pynchon, Tom. Vineland. Penguin, 1991.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. New York: Dell, 1991.
ENVISION COURSES
ENGL 1540EL 10
Academic Reading and Writing in English
ENGL 1705EL 12
Introduction to Writing and English Studies
E. McDougall
Videotape
In a writing workshop setting incorporating active reading, numerous staged writing assignments, peer-editing, and the principles of argumentation and exposition, the course introduces students to the range of work in English studies: fiction, poetry, drama, non-fictional prose, film, and public discourse. The second half of the course explores one of these areas in more depth, and involves students in supervised library research. Enrolment is limited to 25. This course is open only to part-time students unable to attend on-campus courses.
(6 credits)
Method of Evaluation
2 essays 25%
Literary Research Paper 25%
Relational Assignments 25%
Final Exam 25%
Required Text:
Barnet, S., M. Berman, W. Burto, and M. Stubbs, eds. Literature for Composition. 7th ed. Pearson, 2005.
Other texts to be announced.