Welcome to Introduction to Literature. For course syllabus and some general resources, please go to the Resources tab. Texts for individual sessions are attached to the Lessons here.

Reading in the context of different cultures and periods Reading: William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 130”; Audre Lorde, “Who Said It Was Simple”; Michael Ondaatje, “Sweet Like a Crow”

Greek epic Reading: Homer, The Odyssey (Book 1, lines 1-22; Book 5) As you read, consider the following: 1. Last time, we read and analysed three examples of poetry together. Is The Odyssey poetry? How is the text similar to, or different from, the poems we read in Lesson 1? 2. Pay attention to how Odysseus is presented through the language Homer uses to describe him and through his actions. Annotate at least two moments that reveal something about who Odysseus is as a character.

Greek tragedy Reading: Euripides, Medea Questions: 1. While you read, pay attention to how Medea's character is portrayed throughout the play. Is she a sympathetic character? Why yes/no? Mark up two specific speeches or actions that shape your view of her. 2. How does Medea use persuasion in her speeches to different characters (Chorus, Creon, Jason)? Mark up 2-3 rhetorical strategies you notice, using short quotes from the text as examples.

Shakespeare’s drama and Europeans’ first contact with the “new world” Reading: William Shakespeare, The Tempest 1. As you read, pay attention to how different characters view and narrate their version of reality. Mark up passages where "reality" may be different from how it appears to the characters. 2. Do any parts of the play feel metatheatrical (i.e., as if it is aware of the fact that it is theatre)?

The Gothic, the sublime and the uncanny Reading: E.T.A. Hoffmann, “The Sandman”; William Wordsworth, The Prelude (1805) (Book 13, lines 1-84) Assignments/deadlines: In-class quiz (texts from weeks 1–5: from the 3 poems to Romanticism) As you read, consider the following: 1) In the excerpt from Wordsworth's The Prelude, what emotions are evoked by the poet overlooking the "sea of mist"? Are they positive, negative, or mixed? Underline any vocabulary that helps you decide. 2) In Hoffmann's The Sandman, pay attention to how the narrative is framed and presented. Who is the narrator and what does he claim about telling the "true" story?

Naturalist drama, social maladies and early feminism Reading: Henrik Ibsen, A Doll House Assignments/deadlines: Essay 1 due on MyLearning midnight Tuesday (23:59) BBC TV adaptation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1YvFW6O1J0 1. Consider how Ibsen situates his characters in realistic settings amid 19th-century social and economic pressures. What power dynamics emerge between Nora and Torvald? Mark up specific examples. 2. In your view, is Nora's decision to leave her family at the end of the play substantiated, shocking, or both? What questions does her departure raise in terms of motherhood and self-discovery?

The modern grotesque and social maladies Reading: Franz Kafka, “A Hunger-Artist”, “A Report to an Academy” 1. Consider the ways in which otherness is expressed in the two short stories by Kafka (in terms of identity, body, language, etc.). How is each narrator different from the general public, and how does he fit into the society he is part of? 2. To what extent does the narrative in the two texts appear realistic? What features does it share with Realism/Naturalism (as discussed in the previous class) and which features diverge from this tradition?

Modernist short stories across the Atlantic Reading: Katherine Mansfield, “The Garden-Party”; Zora Neale Hurston "Sweat" 1. In our last class, we briefly touched upon Modernism and its experimental nature. Consider how both texts are "making it new", in Ezra Pound's words: in which ways is the writing experimental and different from what we have read so far? 2. Pay attention to the use of symbolism in both works. Which recurrent symbols do we encounter and what might they signify?

Greek epic reshaped for the modern era Reading: James Joyce, Ulysses (Episode 4 – “Calypso”) Assignments/deadlines: In-class quiz (texts from weeks 6–9: from Ibsen to Joyce) Questions: 1. In this episode of Ulysses, readers meet Leopold Bloom for the first time. How is he (re)presented? What image of him do you get by the end of the episode? Note some adjectives/characteristics. 2. What narrative layers can you discern in this episode? How does the narrative style compare to that of "The Garden-Party" by Mansfield?

European literature responding to the consequences of World War II (with reference to The Tempest) Reading: Samuel Beckett, Endgame

Literary feminism reshaping the fairy tale and the Gothic Reading: Charles Perrault, “Bluebeard”, Angela Carter, “The Bloody Chamber” Questions: 1. In Perrault's story, Bluebeard is repulsive because of his blue beard, which Carter's character doesn't seem to have. How does Carter shape our negative view of her Bluebeard character? 2. Pay attention to the symbols used in both stories and what they might signify.

Contemporary take on the Theatre of the Absurd, gender and myth Reading: Marina Carr, Low in the Dark Assignments/deadlines: Essay 2 due on MyLearning midnight Tuesday (23:59)

Contemporary poetry and the revision of classical narratives Reading: Carol Ann Duffy, “Anne Hathaway”, “Eurydice”, “Penelope” Questions: 1. How does Carol Ann Duffy reimagine the women known to us from literary history? 2. Notice the different poetic devices that Duffy uses in her poems. What is their effect on the poems' meaning?

Final in-class quiz (texts from weeks 10–13: from Beckett to Duffy), resits, and feedback on essays and on the course