2012-2013 Academic Year Calendar - Marianopolis

the novel and the feature film isconsidered, as are the similaritiesand differences of these two media.19th-Century Gothic NovelStudents study the formal characteristicsof Gothic literature, a genre thatmanipulates fear and mystery in orderto probe spiritual, psychological, andsocial concerns that may be toodisturbing to be openly examined.The course also makes generic andcultural comparisons of this Victoriangenre with a twentieth-century filmversion of one of the texts.Novel History: Historical FictionAfter World War IIIn the historical novel, documentedversions of the past serve as the seedsof fictional narrative. In the last fiftyyears, this novel form explores, inthree post-war novels, the relationshipbetween fact and fiction; the politicalimplications of representing the pastin works of art; and the gatheringskepticism toward stories that claimto establish definitive, universaltruths.The Social NovelThe social novel emphasizes theinfluence of the social and economicconditions of an era on characters andevents. The objective of this course isto enable students to understand theformal features of the social novel.Students should understand eachwork’s relationship to literary andhistorical contexts and should learn toexplicate representative works. Thisanalysis will reflect a knowledge offormal characteristics and relation toperiod (social, cultural, and literary).We will pay particular attention tonovel structure and narrative voice aswell as character, symbolism, andwriting style.Contemporary Canadian NovelThis course introduces students totwo contemporary Canadian novels:George Bowering’s Caprice andHiromi Goto’s Chorus ofMushrooms. Through our analysisof these novels, we explore twocontrasting visions of Canada andCanadian identity: Bowering’sdepiction of Canada as a modelto which to aspire, and Goto’srepresentation of Canadian identity asoppressive and in need of redefinition.Throughout the course, we explorenot only the primary pre-occupationsthat underlie Canadian novels of thisperiod but also the particular narrativechoices that these authors have made.Contemporary American DramaThe tragicomedy of contemporaryAmerican life is thematically exploredthrough Contemporary Drama’s earlyroots in the traditions of the Theatreof the Absurd, postmodernism, andexistentialism, to its more political,social, and experimental aspirationsin the Off-Off Broadway and performanceart movements. Students alsoexplore the implications of race, class,identity, gender, and AIDS in thevarious plays from this period.The Contemporary Novel of IdentityThis course explores one of theconventions of the novel: theme asrelated to the concept of identity. Inall three novels, the question ariseshow individuals create their identities– parents being a major influence; thiscourse, then, explores the parent-childrelationship and the process by whichthe protagonists aim to construct theirown identity.General Education: EnglishLiterary Themes603-103-MQ (2-2-3) 2.33 credits- 4 hours of class- 3 hours of homeworkCourses in this category offer theopportunity to study examples ofliterature which illustrate a particulartheme or idea. Students are asked totrace the selected theme through avariety of literary texts, all the whilebeing encouraged to develop theiranalytical skills as well as theirreading and writing skills.One of the practical objectives ofthese courses is to enable the studentto produce a coherently-argued andwell-crafted essay (1000 words inlength).Civilization in CrisisThis course focuses on the theme ofcivilization in crisis. We begin byexamining Margaret Atwood’s TheHandmaid’s Tale, focussing on theways in which her representation of afuturistic civilization in crisis reflectssocial anxieties particular to theperiod in which her novel waswritten. Then, through our analysis ofChinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart,we re-examine our assumptions aboutcivilization and the often ironiccauses of its decline.Liars and ThievesIn this course we will explore thefigure of the liar and thief in literaryworks and the value systems theyexpress. Beginning with myths andfolktales, we will look at the figure’sappearance as the Trickster archetype,a figure of deviousness and changewho manipulates with words andtrickery. In subsequent texts, we willexplore the ways the depiction of theliar and thief as hero or villain serves29