Introduction to Literary Studies CLIL 2 3301-L1ILS-CLIL2

The second part of the two-semester course which is an obligatory requirement in the first year of English Studies.

The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the key literary terminology, language tools and rhetorical framework essential to conduct a critical analysis of literary and cultural texts. Focused on poetry, drama and performance,

narrative fiction and adaptation studies, the course includes a practical guide on how to write critical essays as well as theatre reviews and reviews of screen adaptations. Amongst the topics covered are: interpreting the essay question, essay and paragraph structure and academic style. The course involves extensive practice in the use of spoken and written English for academic purposes.

The course as a whole is designed to be an introduction into the basic procedures necessary for academic study of literature. The aim is to equip the student with the preliminary terminology allowing to critically approach literature and to introduce some of the basic framework enabling one to cope with the more advanced nature of the courses chosen by the student henceforth. The course is usually divided into three broad sections dealing with poetry, drama and the narrative genres (the order of these components depends on the course instructor). In the section devoted to poetry the student is introduced to the principles of scansion and meters, as well as to the basic set of terms concerning poetic devices and genres which enable to define a wide range of phenomena encountered in the study of poetry. Subsequently, some chosen poems are discussed which serves as an opportunity to practice the analytical skills. In the section which is concerned with drama one commences with a thorough discussion of Aristotle's Poetics and subsequently the course's overriding objective is to supplement the introduction to the Elizabethan theatre which is closely examined in the History of English Literature classess. Thus more of the cultural and social background of the sixteenth century theatre is discussed and the two Elizabethan plays also discussed in the History classes are analysed from the point of view of the interaction of the medieval and Renaissance theatrical conventions. Finally, the student is introduced to the basic terminology and analytical procedures from the field of narratology and following this chosen specimens of narrative works are discussed in order to test the acquired knowledge in practice. During the course the students also discuss screen and/or theatrical adaptations of chosen dramatic and prose texts. In parallel with content issues, the course teaches academic vocabulary, constructing short forms of writing about literature (paragraph/short essay), and expressing oneself using grammatically correct academic language.