EN 2108: English Literature III
Teaching poetry
· Recommended text
English and
American Poetry
- John Donne:
1572-1630, Song; Sweetest Love I do not go
- William
Wordsworth: 1770-1850, Upon Westminster Bridge
- Robert Burns, A
Red, Red Rose
- John Keats:
1795-1821, La Belle Dame Sans Mercy, A thing of Beauty
- W. B. Yeats:
1865-1919, Wild Swans at The Coole
- Walter De La Mare:
1873-1956, Estranged
- Rupert Brooke:
1887-1915, The Soldier
Sri Lankan and
Post-colonial Poetry,
- Jean Arasanayegam
In the Month of July, Ruined Gopuram
- Anne Raqnasinghe,
Secretariat: Cecil Rajendra, Song of Hope
- Wole Soyinka, Telephone Conversation
· Consider the
following aspects
- Genre: e.g. sonnet, lyric etc
- Background: age, cultural / social setting
- Form: e.g. 3 quatrains and a couplet
- Structure: e.g. 1st 3 quatrains
express 3 different ideas, each growing out of the preceding Idea; argument is
tied up in the couplet.
- Theme: futility of war, love, beauty of nature,
etc.
- Techniques: e.g. use of imagery, repetition,
simile, etc.
· Types of
activities:
Select tasks which match the cognitive level of the
students, which is more developed than the language level. Activities which
assist in understanding difficult language will bridge the gap between language
level and text level. Activities should aim at developing the following aspects
with regard to each poem.
- Understanding the meaning: pre-text task,
Introduction to key words, Prediction activities, reorganizing / matching /
comparing / scanning activities.
- Understanding the context:
- Learning to empathize: power of understanding and
imaginatively entering into another person’s feelings’ character / events /
scenes
- Learning to appreciate the poem: figurative
language, theme, genre, words, sounds
- Learning to be creative express feeling s/ mood /
tone, describe characters / events / settings.
Teaching short stories
· Recommended text
- Maurreen
Seneviratne, Mirage,
- Jhumpa Lahiri:
Mrs. Sen’s
- O’Henry, The
Purple Dress
· Draw attention of
the students to the following aspects
- Setting: How does the writer establish social /
cultural background?
- Plot: how does the writer develop the plot /
organize incidents / develop the problem or conflict as the story progresses /
the climax of the story / what happens after the climax.
- Characters: How are the characters developed? What
does the story tell us about their appearance / qualities? How do they
contribute to the development of the plot and to present the theme?
- Structure: Point of view, narrative, use of
dialogue etc
- Language: the kind of language the writer has used
- Techniques: symbolism, stream of consciousness,
flashbacks etc.
Teaching the novel
· Recommended text
- George Orwell:
Animal Farm or,
- Charles Dickens:
The Tale of Two Cities
· Consider the
following aspects
- Narration: 1st person, 3rd person
- Structure: descriptive, narrative, dialogue, length
of the novel
- Plot and parallel plots, sub-plots
- Themes: Unlike a short story a noel will deal with
many themes
- Characters: central, major, minor
· Create awareness
of the following
Knowledge of the author, period in which the novel
was written / the period of time the novel is focusing
· Type of
activities:
- to understand the plot: arranging a list of jumbled
events in order, summarizing a chapter
- to understand the themes: select from a number of
themes etc.
- to understand literary devices and their
effects: analyze selections of texts to identify literary devices
- to express learner’s views: presentations on issues
related to the novel, writing appreciations, dramatization
- to identify character traits: identify relationship
between the characters and the development of the relationships
Teaching drama
· Recommended text
- William
Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice or, Romeo and Juliet
· Draw attention to
the following aspects
- Background to the drama
- Genre: Comedy, tragedy
- Theatre conventions: props, structure, props,
lighting, costume, sounds, asides, soliloquy, chorus
- Themes
- Development of the plot: exposition, initial
incident, rising action / growth / complication, the climax / crisis / turning
point, falling action / resolution / denouement, conclusion or catastrophe
- Development of the characters
- Significance of language: blank verse, poetry,
colloquial
