After completing this course students are able to:

• identify the ways in which a number of key literary texts have been written,
• demonstrate an understanding of the basic concepts of modern literary erudition,
• apply those concepts in the study of texts and draw conclusions from their observations.

This course allows you to become acquainted with a variety of literary works from different periods and languages, at the same time as it introduces you to the basic concepts in literary studies. Each week we focus on a different aspect of writing and reading in relation to particular works so that you will increase at the same time your knowledge of the literary canon, of literary history, and your ability to ask interesting questions about the works you read: About how they are written, about their possible effects on readers, about the way they reflect or envision the society in which they were composed, about the way in which societies cherish some literary works and censure others, about how certain writers acquire or lose value over the course of time, or how literature helps to shape the sense of who we are as individuals and as members of society. Among the authors we will be reading are Borges, Shakespeare, Kafka, Woolf, Morrison and others.
 

Format
Each week begins with a lecture in which the topic of the week is introduced. During the second meeting of the week, emphasis is placed on analyzing a certain literary work (or works) of particular writers concerning the week’s topic. Students take turns in starting off the group discussions for which all students must have comprehensively read the ‘works of the week’ in advance. Lastly, students keep a weekly logbook reviewing the principal insights gained each week. This logbook is to be handed in at the end of the course.Each week begins with a lecture in which the topic of the week is introduced. During the second meeting of the week, emphasis is placed on analyzing a certain literary work (or works) of particular writers concerning the week’s topic. Students take turns in starting off the group discussions for which all students must have comprehensively read the ‘works of the week’ in advance. Lastly, students keep a weekly logbook reviewing the principal insights gained each week. This logbook is to be handed in at the end of the course.