EAS 1035: Beginnings

Lecture: Monday 10-11am Newman A Seminars: Weekly

Some Themes of the Course

Authorship/authority Translation/revision/transformation

Story-telling/truth
Genre, identity, nation, environment

Schedule of Weeks
1. 2. 3.

4.
5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Stories of origin: extracts from Genesis and Atrahasis (On ELE) The Odyssey, Homer Beowulf, tr. Seamus Heaney Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, tr. Bernard ODonoghue Christopher Marlowe, Hero and Leander (On ELE) William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale Selections from Arabian Nights Entertainments John Milton, Paradise Lost, books 12, 4, 9 Alexander Pope, Essay on Man (On ELE) Jonathan Swift, Gullivers Travels Mary Wollstonecraft, A Short Residence in Sweden

Resources and Support

Beginnings on Exeter Learning Environment (ELE) http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

Reading for Week 1

Genesis, Chapters 1-9

Atrahasis
Karen Armstrong, What is a Myth?, pp. 1-11

Outline of Assessments
Form of assessment
1.
2.

date due

percentage of mark

500 critical analysis

1000-word essay (includes peer review) 2000-word essay Seminar participation Group presentation

20.10.11
24.11.11 15.12.11 exam week

10%
30% 50% 10% formative

1. 2. 3.

Tricia Zakreski 208 Queens Building Office Hours: Monday 11-1:00, Friday 11-12:00 P.Zakreski@ex.ac.uk

APPROACHES TO CRITICISM
Matt Hayler M.S.Hayler @ex.ac.uk Twitter @cryurchi
Office Hours: Tues 4-5 Thurs 2-3 Room 252

Buy one of these

WHERE TO BE AND WHEN

Lecture EVERY WEEK (12 -1 in Newman A). Seminar EVERY OTHER WEEK (odd numbers, 1-3-5-7-9-11).

Meet up in your study groups every two weeks before the seminar.

Week 1 Reading:
William K. Wimsatt & Monroe C. Beardsley, The Intentional Fallacy (1230-46)

Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author (1316-19, 1322-26)

Assessment
1000 word Mythologies task. Formative assessment. In on Thursday 10th November. 2000 word essay. In on 8th December.

EAS1033 Critical Practice

Convenor: Dr. Sin Harris Contact: S.L.Harris@exeter.ac.uk Office: Queens Building, Room 116 Office Hours: Wednesday 11.30 12.30 & Friday 11.30 13.30

Introduction
What are the aims of this

module? What will I study? How will I be assessed? Why is this important? What help is available?

Module Aims and Objectives

To introduce students to the conventions and

practices of studying English at university

To help students develop the research and writing

skills required to succeed at this level

To provoke debate and discussion about the nature

of writing and literary criticism

Outline of the Module

Runs every other week (2, 4, 6, 8, 10) with a 1 hour

lecture and a 2 hour seminar.

Students are also required to work in Study Groups,

meeting once every fortnight for no more than 1 hour.

Total student study time is 150 hours (5 hours of lectures,

10 hours of seminars, 5 hours of study groups and 130 hours of private study)

The Texts

The Lectures

Week 2: Welcome to Studying English at University Week 4: Quoting, Referencing and the Academic

Conversation Week 6: Reading to Write: Researching and Applying Criticism and Theory Week 8: Finding a Voice Week 10: Approaches to Writing Discussion Panel

The Assessment
MLA Referencing Exercise (10%) due Thursday 3rd

November. Synopsis of two critical articles, 800 1000 words (20%) due Thursday 17th November. Essay draft, 1000 words (20%) due with peer group on Thursday 1st December, due to office Thursday 15th December. Final essay , 1500 words (40%) due Thursday 15th December. Seminar & Study Group participation (10%), ongoing from first seminar.

Writing at University
Your essays must meet

university standards of presentation, formatting and referencing. You need to demonstrate an awareness of existing critical debate, and provide a well-structured argument. You need to think like a junior academic rather than a pupil.

Resources and Support

The ELE for this site has links to many useful

resources, databases and tutorials. The Module Handbook is also available via the ELE this provides full details of the reading and assessments. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me, or call by during my office hours.

Your Task List

Read the introduction and chapters 1 & 2 of Gerald

Graffs Clueless in Academe (pages 1-61) and John Barth Lost in the Funhouse (available on the ELE). Make sure that you know the time and place of your seminar group. Your first seminar will take place in Week 2, commencing Monday 10th October. Your first lecture is on Tuesday 11th October at 5pm, in the Parker Moot Room (outside the Amory Building).

Seminar Preparation
Find a piece of non-fiction prose that you consider to

be well-written. For example, this could be from a newspaper, an academic book, a journal or a website. Please bring this along to your first seminar, and be prepared to discuss some of the following points:

What are the characteristics of 'good' writing? Do these characteristics vary depending on the type of writing in question? What is the relationship between the style of the writing and the actual content of your chosen piece?