EN1101E: Introduction to Literary Studies
Semester: AY2017/18 Semester 1
Lecturer: Dr Tania Roy, Dr Susan Ang
Tutor: There are alot, but mine is Ms Cera Tan
This module focused on in-depth analysis of literary texts. We went through different types of texts, including poems, novels, novellas, plays and films (+ some academic writings and speeches). The texts that we have covered this semester include: 1) Selected Poems of Derek Walcott 2) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison 3) The Island by Athol Fugard 4) The Golden Cangue (and Aloeswood Incense) by Eileen Chang 5) Raise the Red Lanterns directed by Zhang Yimou (i think the texts will vary between semesters).
Since there are so many texts to be covered over 13 weeks, that leaves us 2-3 weeks to deal with each text. The pace is very intense and we are expected to have already read through the texts before coming for the lecture (or else we won’t understand a thing, duh). Do stick to your weekly reading plans!! If not the workload will build up into an irreversible, ever-expanding bomb of doom that will of course choose to detonate right in the middle of reading week. 🙂
Dr Roy and Dr Ang took turns to lecture us for each text, which means that they will approach it differently and offer multiple perspectives. Unlike maybe our pre-uni literature lessons, our lecturers (and tutors) will not sit down and go through the text bit by bit with us great detail (that’s supposed to be done by us). We will have to come to class prepared while the lecturers will focus on relevant themes or ideas/perspectives found in the texts.
Tutorials (weekly) are more intimate, we get to sit together and discuss, share opinions or clarify any doubts from the lectures.It’s a pity that we only have 45minutes for each tutorial, so the session always ends during the most heated moments of our discussion. 😦
Grading Schemes:
- Essay 1 (15%)
- Essay 2 (20%)
- Mid terms (15%)
- Final exam (40%)
- Tutorial Participation (10%)
For the essays, we were given a few questions from each text to choose from. Do try not to plan and write at the very last moment because it will definitely affect the quality. We are given slightly more than one week to write it so we should have enough time. We were constantly advised to focus on the depth of discussion rather than the quantity.
Only 1hr30min is given for mid terms, and 2hours for finals, so time is extremely tight. We have to answer 5 short questions (roughly 2-3 lines will do) and 2 long answers (or something like that). Hence, time management is crucial for the exams. It might be difficult to finish the entire paper if you start from short answers to long essay questions, because we might get too excited and too caught up with answering the 5 mark questions and forget that we still have 20 mark questions to answer (then try to chiong finish it in the last 15minutes). Hence a good strategy would be to spend 45minutes on the long-answer essay questions first before going to the short-answer questions.
All the best to those taking this module!