L1 : May the literature be with you!

L1 literature : Lectures TD

TD classes taught by Ellen Jolley on Tuesdays linked to the CM literature class taught by Maxime Leroy in L1.

Important information is in red, web links are in blue or pink.

Essential Materials : books, sites, classes..

1 : THE BOOK : Les grands classiques de la literature anglaise et américaine, ed. Peggy Castex et Alain Jumeau, Hachette Supérieure, 2006. This is the ONLY book needed for the whole year : I will provide any extra material. Just buy it, second-hand, via Amazon, via Ebay, Le Bon Coin, whatever…! You WILL need it, believe me. So get one.

2 : THE BLOG : www.ellenjolley.fr This will provide you with the instructions week by week for our classes, with the authors and works under study, tasks to complete, links, documents, videos, and any other suggestions I think you might find useful. If for any reason you cannot come to class, this will give an idea of what we are doing.

3 : THE CLASSES : We will have weekly classes on Tuesdays in Semester One in your TDs which you will be expected to attend in person as long as reason permits. We all agree that Face to Face (F2F) teaching is the best means of learning but it can be supplemented by other means. I will inform you how we will proceed in class and via your UHA mailboxes. Check your UHA mail regularly.

Introduction : I am in charge of the teaching in TD, so I will be focussing more on the texts corresponding  more or less to the CM literature classes taught by Maxime Leroy. We try and keep pace with each other, so that you won’t fall far out of step with the various literary genres though the ages and movements in literature. So week by week I will be giving out answers in class or if this is not possible, sending you a mail via your UHA mailbox (this is an absolute necessity as I have just a group address and will use only that). The instructions will refer to the texts in your book “Les grands classiques de la literature anglaise et américaine” edited by Peggy Castex and Alain Jumeau published by Hachette Supérieure. There are various editions of this book and it doesn’t really matter which one you use, the texts are the same, mostly in the same order, but the page numbers might be slightly different. You just need to keep your wits about you. But you do need this book, and you won’t pass the course without it. You can find some of the earlier texts online, of course, but not the questions, and certainly not the technical sections which will help with your work. So please buy it, second hand if possible, “new and used” as Amazon puts it, to keep your expenses down. Sites such as Momox, Vinted and ‘le bon coin’ also have copies.  Or you can get in contact with someone from the previous years now in L2 or L3 who will also have it. I have used it for several years because I think it’s very well adapted to our course. It is the only book I will ask you to buy for the whole year, but it is absolutely vital that you have it. So please buy it!

Timetable : Our classes are planned this year for Tuesday mornings. They should come logically in step (more or less) with the CM class taught by Maxime Leroy. You can obviously work on the questions from weeks to week but try not to fall too far behind, or else you will find yourselves working during the holidays….ooops! We start in the week of the 12th September 2022 for 12 weeks : there are six classes before the October-November break, one week long holiday, and six classes after it. The second semester will start mid-January 2023.

Contrôle Continu : All the assessment for this course is done via continuous assessment (contrôle continu) in the TD classes; I will define the dates with you as we go; probably one test at the end of each semester. I will liase with my other colleagues so that we don’t give you all of the CC in the same week; we can spread it over 2-3 weeks as a department. More info on this later.

Work plan: Now, I reckon that you need to calculate one and a half hours of preparation, note reading , looking up references, translating, reading around the subject, whatever is appropriate for one hour of class time. So if you calculate 1.5 hours week of class, 1.5 hours of preparation, usually before the work set in a class. Then comes reading . I think you need 10 hours of reading for all your courses in L1; I would claim at least 2-3 hours a week for the literature class. So no excuses. If you are doing less than this, then it’s too light; look at your marks at the end of the course : do they reflect what effort you put into it? If so, then OK. If not, how can you improve? That’s where we work together, and this is what I expect you to do each week :

You need to  :

1 : read around the subject, online, in the SCD, in the Learning Centre, other works by the same author on easily accessible sites such Wikipedia, online-literature or on other more specially dedicated sites which I will suggest.

2 : Find the main topics used by the author in his/her book using the same methods.

3 : Attend the classes where you work on the texts and improve your skills.

4 : Answer the questions on the text in your book and see how much you understand comparing them with others.

5 : Compare your answers with mine sent out to you by UHA mail or answered together in class.

6. See what you achieved, and what you didn’t. Ask yourselves what you can improve : your English? Your understanding of the text? Your recognition of rhetorical devices (extended metaphor, personification) etc.

Level and attitude : All this demands a certain level of English; B2 or above. It is not a language class; that you have elsewhere, and although I am happy to answer questions in French or in English (I would prefer English obviously!) I expect you to do the work I ask you to do. Thus, you will progress and improve your skills of analysis and critique in addition to your knowledge of English/US literature. I know what my students think of me (I have my spies!!) and although I will gladly go the extra mile to help a student in difficulty who shows genuine interest, I will not put up with indiscipline in class, or lack of respect either towards me or towards other students. Those who do this will be dispensed from my classes….I expect my students to show a degree of savoir-être as well as savoir-faire. In this way we will all get on well together! I am sure I am preaching to the converted, but you never know.

Calendar Semester One :

2023-2024 : 11th September 2023 and on…and on …

Week One : 12.09.23 : Introduction to the TD, methods etc.

Text : The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales (link) by Geoffrey Chaucer.

Task One : Read some background information on Geoffrey Chaucer (link) and the writing of the Canterbury Tales; (link) the Wikipedia page is quite sufficient for this task, use the two links in the above sentence which come out in blue in the text. You will know from your lectures in the ‘CM’ with Maxime Leroy that orality was the preferred mode of transmission in the Middle Ages, as many ordinary people could not read, and anyway, printing had not then been invented on a massive scale. Only the clergy and aristocratic people could afford books, which were copied out and illuminated by hand. So in order to memorise the texts, balladeers and musicians were commonly invited to set the poems or stories to music, to enable people to retain them more easily. Which can you remember more easily, a poem or a song? Have you ever read out the words of your favourite song without the music? “All of me loves all of you”. Yeah, well. Not that inspiring, is it? Don’t you think it’s a bit flat?? Of course it is. Now listen to John Legend singing it, and it’s completely different. So music makes the difference, and from someone born in England at the beginning of the Sixties, music has always played a huge part of my life, as I’m sure it does in yours. Many countries still retain strong oral traditions : Africa, Magreb, Ireland, Turkey, some Asian countries…not France, particularly or Great Britain, for that matter.

Task Two : Read the two versions, in Middle English and modern English on the following site : https://tigerweb.towson.edu/duncan/chaucer/duallang1.htm from the beginning “When that April.. to wol I first bigynne” about 45 lines. Underline or highlight the words that seem to come from a Latin root and which look similar to French words in spelling. Underline the words which seem closer to a Germanic language (if you know bit of German) or any other language you might understand, Spanish, Portuguese, Serbo-Croation, Arabic, Scandi languages..Wolof, Pul, ….Task Three : try and read the Middle English Version with a strong Alsacien-Scottish accent (your English assistant might help here!) pronouncing every word and every syllable. The important thing is to get the rhythm right, because music is everything, is it not? Got it? This is my choice with some help on prononciation : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVG77xTPH6E (link)Task Four : Now compare your efforts with Dr Enelow (link) who gives a Rap version of the Prologue……and Very Red Yak (link) whose version is my absolute favourite. (These three wonders are former doctoral students from Harvard University in the US). Apart from the fun aspect of it (OK, I admit to being an anorak, mais j’assume..), it’s quite constructive to try and sing along with the Yaks and understand that their rhythm (which might not be quite your cup of tea) is absolutely right with the Middle English pronunciation. And you thought Chaucer was boring……(”Of course not” is the right answer!)

So, how much time time did you spend on this TD reading around and working on the texts? 2 hours? About right. Perhaps a little more. There are some very interesting videos available which will help you understand more. Make sure you check your UHA mail address for any more info. I will wait for a bit before sending you work via email until you all have enrolled and all of you have your UHA address; we will be using the Castex and Jumeau : Les Grands Classiques de la Littérature Anglaise et Américaine book (see above) for most of the following classes, so please buy it, you won’t be able to work without it. See you next week!

Week Two : 19.09.23

Text : Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. click on the link in blue

Task One : Reading and Research : Read as much as you can about The Arthurian legends in general and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in particular. Click on the above link Sir Gawain… for the text on Gutenberg.org. Task Two :  read the introduction to the medieval text on Gutenberg, which will explain the story to you. The text itself is difficult to read in the original, and it’s 2500 lines long, so I suggest you try a more modern version. Here is one suggestion : http://alliteration.net/Pearl.htm or click on the title of the text in blue above. Task Three : Identify the main attributes of the medieval story : attitudes, mental concepts, medieval behaviour, the natural world: Hostile? Welcoming? Décor : what do we find here? How are the protagonists described? Why? If you have correctly accomplished Tasks One and Two, this will help. Task Four : Compare this form of literature with other forms, film or stories, songs or poetry you have seen or read : Lord of the Rings, Arthur & the Knights of the Round Table , JRR Tolkien’s work,  these are just a few. Write a paragraph to compare and contrast these choices and justify with examples.

Week Three : Spenser : One Day I wrote her Name upon the Strand.

This week we will focus on texts from your textbook , Les Grands Classiques de la littérature anglaise et américaine… p. 23 Edmund Spenser, Amoretti  : One Day I wrote her Name upon the Strand.

Task One : Read as much as you can about Edmund Spenser. Wikipedia will help here. Task Two : Read the technical section on The Form of Poetry p. 10-21 in your textbook to understand about rhythm in English poetry. My video might help you understand the technical part of the exercise. See my video on versification, or scanning as we say in English. Task Three : Read the intro in your book p.22 and the poem from the Collection called Amoretti  : “One Day I wrote her Name upon the Strand” out loud (to you dog, to your cat, to your granny) to understand the rhythm. I will be posting up a video about this later on today to explain about the different kinds of rhythm used. Task Four : Answer the Questions in your textbook on p. 23, no. 1-8. Compare your efforts with my suggestions sent out to you by UHA mail or given in class.

Week Four : Text : John Donne, Holy Sonnets : Death be not Proud, p.25-27, & John Milton, Paradise Lost, p. 28-30 in your text books.

Task One : Read all you can about John Donne  and John Milton, two of the most acclaimed poets of the 1§-17th Century. Wikipedia has some good info on this, but this not the only one. Task Two : Read the introduction to John Donne and his poem : Death Be not Proud, p. 27 in your text book. Task Three : Answer Questions 1, 2, 5, 8, 9 & 10 p. 27 on Donne’s text. Task Four : Read the introduction to John Milton and the extract from Paradise Lost. Task Five : Answer Questions 2, 5, 7, 8 & 9 p. 31 on Milton’s text. Compare your efforts with my suggestions sent out to you by UHA mail or given in class.

Week Five : Text : Andrew Marvell, “To his Coy Mistress” p.31-34

Task One : Read all you can about Andrew Marvell from Internet sources. This is pastoral poetry at its best. Task Two : Read the introduction and the poem”To his Coy Mistress” pp 31-33 in your text book. Task Three : Answer questions 1, 2, 4, 5, 9 & 10 on p. 34. Compare your efforts with my suggestions in class.

Week Six : Text Percy Bysshe Shelley “Ode to the West Wind” p. 46-50

Task One : Read all you can about Shelley one of the most famous Romantic poets of the 19th C., fascinating life, again the Wiki pages are very good ;  Task Two : Read the introduction to Shelley in your books and his poem “Ode to the West Wind” pp46-50. Task Three : answer questions 1, 2, 5, 6 & 7 on p.50.

Week Seven : Text : Keats : La Belle Dame sans Merci and Coleridge : The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

(Watch the film ‘Bright Star’ about Keats’ life and love affair with Fanny Brawne; look at www.online-literature.com too). For the moment this is available on streaming only, so see if you can find a free version. Task One : Read the introduction to Keats and his poem “La Belle Dame sans Merci” pp50-53 in your textbooks. Task Two : Answer questions 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 & 9 on p.53  in your textbooks. Task Three : Read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge on p. 42. : Task Four : Answer the questions 3,6,7,8 on p. 43 Compare your efforts with my suggestions in class. Do you notice anything similar about the two poems in structure and in content??

Winter break : Two weeks :
23rd October-5th November 2023

Task for the holidays : Watch the 4 videos in the BBC  series “In Search of Shakespeare” by Michael Wood which you will find on YouTube, or you can click on the links below. They are all about an hour long.

Episode 1 : A Time of Revolution

Episode 2 : The Lost Years

Episode 3 : The Duty of Poets

Episode 4 : For All Time

Week Seven : Let’s read some Shakespeare!

Task One : Read the technical section on Drama in your textbook “Les grands classiques de la littérature anglaise et américaine”..pp 67-80. Some of this you will already know; some of it will be new, but it is explained quite fully. You need to understand the technical aspects of the dramatic conventions in order to make sense of the plays. Task Two : Read in your books the introduction to William Shakespeare on pp.81-82 in your books. Task Three : we will discuss the videos and what you have learned about Shakespeare in class. An interesting film to watch about how poets and playwrights worked in the 16-17th Centuries is ‘Shakespeare in Love’ starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes which shows us how difficult it was to live by one’s art. Although it is fiction, it draws upon some of the real difficulties of young people in the turn of the 17th Century.

Week Eight : Text  : Macbeth

You will have seen the videos in the Search for Shakespeare no. 4 above including the section about the arrival and Coronation of King James I in which William participated as one of the King’s Men as he company was now called. He was not terribly happy about this transformation as he did not like to anyone above his head, professionally speaking, he was more of an entrepreneur but a Royal Patronage was not something he could financially refuse.

Task One : Read the passage from your book about Macbeth. Task Two : We will watch the extract from the video no. 4 in class in which the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) act out a scene Act 2.Sc 2 just before that of the scene written in your text books : “methought a voice cried “Sleep no more..”l. 35-74. Macbeth has murdered Duncan and the wheel of tragedy is in full motion. The websites  cited at the end of the paragraph will help here. Task Three : answer questions 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 in your textbooks on p.91. Compare them with my answers in class or sent out by mail. shakespeare-online.com and see my video

WEEK NINE :

Read ALL the Technical Section on Fiction in your text books p.129-146. Pay particular attention to the paragraphs dealing with the different types of novels, and points of view and narrative techniques. This will take you a couple of hours if you read it carefully, taking notes as you go, and noting down any questions you might have. Note especially the formula Author-Narrator-Characters-Listener-Reader. See my video on the subject.

Text : Daniel Defoe : Robinson Crusoe

Task One : You will know a fair amount already from Maxime Leroy’s lectures, so here is a text for you to study from Robinson Crusoe, p. 147-149 in your textbooks. Task Two : Answer the questions on page 150 : Q1, 2, 3, 5 & 8. Compare your answers to my suggested answers sent out by UHA mail or given in class.

WEEK TEN  : Text : Jonathan Swift : Gulliver’s Travels.

Task One : You will know a fair amount already from Maxime Leroy’s lectures, so here is a text for you to study from Gulliver’s Travels p. 150-153 in your textbooks. Task Two : Answer the questions on page 154 : Q3, (4), 3, 6, 7, 8 & 10. Compare your answers to my suggested answers sent out by UHA mail or given in class.

WEEK ELEVEN : Text : Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice

Photocopies of the text will be given out in class. You can also read it online; it is the whole of Chapter One. Task One : Read the extract from P & P sent out to you via UHA mail and answer the questions after the extract. This is the incipit scene but, as such, it contains many key elements to understanding the novel. Task Two : Watch the excerpts from Joe Wright’s version of the film Pride and Prejudice released in 2005 :  Opening Scene and Mr Bingley’s single starring Keira Knightly which you can access by clicking on the titles. There are about 10 excerpts which you can enjoy watching as well if you put ‘Pride and Prejudice 2005′ into the search box. I have only found the full version Pride and Prejudice 2005 in French on YouTube, which you can watch too, or  you can find an English version on Netflix, if you have access to it, or any other streaming platforms at your legal disposal. There is also a Pride & Prejudice 1995 version starring Colin Firth which is quite good, if a little more traditional than the Joe Wright version. Task Three : What major differences can you ascertain between the text you have read and the film version?

WEEK TWELVE : Lectures Exam : CC1 6th December 2022 in the TD classes

This exam will be a short text with questions to answer about the text, just as we have been doing all semester, to be completed in your usual TD class. Those people who officially benefit from an extra time allowance will obviously have the extra time allotted to them. Please bring writing materials and some paper plus your student ID card.

Calendar for Semester Two :  January 2024 and onwards…

Most of the texts proposed this semester will be found in your books ‘Les grands classiques de la littérature anglaise et américaine’ ed. Castex & Jumeau by Hachette Supérieur…..any others I will send out by UHA mail or photocopy for you.

Week One : Giving back Exam papers and looking over the answers…

Week Two : The Puritans and the Pilgrim Fathers : Text : Nathaniel Hawthorne : The Scarlet Letter

Task One : Read the passage in your books on p. 170, the Introduction and the passage from the Scarlet Letter. Task Two : Answer questions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 & 12 on page 173 of your books. Task Three : Compare your answers with mine sent out to you by UHA mail or given in class.

Week Three : Text : Edgar Allen Poe : The Tell Tale Heart

Task One : Read the whole story of The Tell Tale Heart from poemuseum.org which you will easily find online, or click on the link of the title. you can also listen to the reading : it’s good! Task Two : Read the Extract from the short story pp. 173-176 in your books. Task Three : Answer the questions 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 & 13 on page 176.

Week Four  : Text : Charles Dickens : Great Expectations

Maxime Leroy will have already told you fair bit about Dickens who is THE major writer of the 19thC; the English equivalent to Zola and just as prolific. Look him up and find out his major themes expressed in his novels. His treatment of poor children in the London slums, workers, prostitutes and the homeless is second to none.

Task One : Watch the film version directed by David Lean of Great Expectations on YouTube. It is the black and white one from 1949 but in my opinion still the best!! There is also a version of Great Expectations directed by Julian Jerrold in 2012 which is very atmospheric. See if you can locate it. There is also a modern adaptation by Alfonso Cuaron also called Great Expectations set in Louisiana starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Ethan Hawke and Robert De Niro. Task Two : Read the section on Dickens in your books, the intro and the extract on page 183-4. Task Three : Answer questions 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10 & 13. Compare your answers with mine sent out by mail or discussed in class.

Week Five : Text : Charlotte Brontë : Jane Eyre

Task One : Read and Research all you can about the Brontë sisters (and brother)…and there is a great deal to be read! The Victorian Web will give you some essential information. Emily Brontë is famous for Wuthering Heights, of course, Anne Brontë for The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and Charlotte Brontë for Jane Eyre, among other lesser known works. These are crucial novels in English literature and you need to read them, at least the novels WH and JE. Task Two : Read the passage from JE on page 176 in your books. Task Three : answer the following questions : Q2, Q4, Q5, Q6, Q7, & Q10. Compare your answers with mine sent out by mail or discussed in class.

Week Six : Text : George Eliot : The Mill on the Floss

Task One : Find out all you an about George Eliot (in reality she was a woman called Mary Ann Evans) through websites such as Wikipedia or The Victorian Web. There is also a good biography on Youtube. She was quite an enterprising woman! Watch the video of the book on you tube The Mill on the Floss Task Two : Read the section in your books on pp. 188-191. Task Three : Answer the questions on the text : Q1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9. Compare your answers with mine sent out to you by mail or discussed in class.

Ellen Chew-Jolley is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: L1 lectures TD3 2/2

Time: Jan 26, 2022 12:00 Paris

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/76118920156?pwd=VOzk38MceJO1tVVTo1wOIFT-ckN_wp.1

Meeting ID: 761 1892 0156

Passcode: jSk8Y8

Holidays : Two weeks : February-March 2024

Week Seven : Text : H. Melville : Moby Dick

Task One : Read all you can about Moby Dick and your lecture notes from Maxime Leroy’s CM. This is one of the classics of American literature, and you should know about it. It’s a bit of a big book, but a pleasure to read. Here is a link to the film Moby Dick on Youtube. Task Two : Read the introduction and the passage from Moby Dick in your Castex & Jumeau text books pp. 192-195. Task Three : Answer the questions no. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10 & 12. Task Four : Compare your answers with those sent out from me to you via UHA mail or discussed in class.

Week Eight : Text :  Mark Twain : Huckleberry Finn

Task One : Read all you can about Huck Finn and your lecture notes from Maxime Leroy’s CM. This is another one of the classics of American literature, and you should know about it. It’s not so long a book, but a pleasure to read and fairly easy once you have got used to the dialect spoken by the youngsters! Task Two : Read the introduction and the passage from Huck Finn in your Castex & Jumeau text books pp. 199-202. Task Three : Answer the questions no. 1, 2, 6, 7, 8,  9 & 10. Task Four : Compare your answers with those sent out from me to you via UHA mail or discussed in class.

Week Nine : Text : Thomas Hardy : Tess of the D’Urbevilles

Task One : Read and watch all you can about Hardy’s famous novel Tess of the D’Urbevilles. There is a very good film directed by Roman Polanski starring Natacha Kinski called ‘Tess’, made in 1979 of which you will only find extracts on You Tube or this one as a full movie Tess of the D”urbevilles. Click on the link. It dates from about 12 years ago.  Do take time to watch it. Task Two : Read the introduction and the passage from Tess in your Castex & Jumeau text books pp. 203-206. Task Three : Answer the questions no. 1, 2, 4, 6, 7,  9 & 11. Task Four : Compare your answers with those sent out from me to you via UHA mail or discussed in class.

Week Ten : Text : E.M. Forster : A Passage to India

Task One : Read all you can about A Passage to India and E. M. Forster. Click on the name for a documentary).  It’s not so long a book, but a pleasure to read. There are film extracts on youtube but you have to be able to download the film : not ideal! Try and watch it if you can, but if you can’t watch the whole film, at least try the extracts. I prefer the 1984 version starring Victor Bannerjee & Dame Peggy Ashcroft. There is also a version on Youtube by David Lean from 1965 Click on the link. Task Two : Read the introduction and the passage from Passage in your Castex & Jumeau text books pp. 216-220. Task Three : Answer the questions no. 1, 2, 4, 7, 8,  9 & 10. Task Four : Compare your answers with those sent out from me to you via UHA mail.

Week Eleven :

Week Twelve : Text : James Joyce : Dubliners

Joyce was one of the major figures in the Modernism genre, along with Woolf, Ezra Pound, T.S.Eliot and Mansfield. He was one of the best short story writers of the earliest 20th century, and I am sure many of you will have read ‘Dubliners’ his collection of short stories (see definitions in the technical section in your books, under NOVELS. Find out all you can about him, there are many good websites. He married a woman called Nora Barnacle and a mutual friend said “she’ll never leave you!”… If you haven’t read Dubliners, now is the time, they are beautifully written and very easy to read, short in length, but packed with beauty. Try and find a second hand copy.

Task One : Read all you can about James Joyce and the collection of short stories “Dubliners”. Task Two : Read the section in your book on Joyce and the text pp. 220-223. Task Three : Answer the questions on p. 223 : Q1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10 & 12, and compare your answers with my suggestions sent out to you via UHA mail.