You are on page 1of 18

GUÍA DE ESTUDIO DE LA ASIGNATURA:

LITERATURA INGLESA III: PENSAMIENTO Y


GRADO CREACIÓN LITERARIA EN LA PRIMERA
MITAD DEL SIGLO XX
2ª PARTE | PLAN DE TRABAJO Y ORIENTACIONES PARA SU DESARROLLO

2022-2023

Dídac Llorens, Mariángel Soláns, Ana Zamorano (Coordinadora)

GRADO EN ESTUDIOS INGLESES: LENGUA, LITERATURA Y CULTURA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

1. PLAN DE TRABAJO/ WORK PLAN

Each Course Unit of the Course is developed in a matching chapter of the


manual The Need to Make It New: English Literature and Thought in the First Half
of the 20th Century (NMN hereafter).
This subject is divided into five Course Units, which make up five ECTS credits.
Each credit corresponds to 25 hours of work on the part of the student, involving
study and practice time. Thus the total number of hours the student will have to
devote to this subject is 125. This is one of the subjects in the Degree that are
specifically oriented towards the critical approach to literary texts in English,
which implies that a great part of the hours will have to be invested in reading
literary works and exercising text analysis.

STUDY BLOCK
UNIT ONE: The Discourse Between or the Need to “Make It New”: Literature in
an Ever-changing World.

UNIT TWO: “The White Man’s Burden”: Different Approaches to Imperialism in


Literature.

UNIT THREE: “Disillusion as Never Told in the Old Days”: Literature and
War.

UNIT FOUR: “Life is a Luminous Halo”: The Novel in the Twentieth Century. UNIT

FIVE: Tales of the City, Landscapes of the Mind: Modernist


Geographies and the Beyond.

UNED’s distance-learning methodology distributes formative activities in


autonomous work and interactive work (online or in-class contact with tutors
and teaching team). All Units share a similar structure, containing the following
sections and types of work which the student should distribute according to the
schedule in the following table (please

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 2


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

bear in mind that some Units may take you longer, or you might need to read the
set texts several times):

WO R K ACTI V I TI ES I N EA CH UNI T AP R O X . TI M E F
S ECTI O NS S ECTI O N O R EACH UNI T
F O R EACH S ECTI O N
UNI T

Presentation - Reading introductory sections of each 1 hour


Unit in NMN

Approaching the - Reading “APPROACHING” sections in 2 hours


text NMN
- Getting prepared for the text’s difficulties

Reading the text - First reading of set literary text 10 hours

Revisiting the - Reading “REVISITING” sections in NMN 2 hour


text - Subsequent readings of set literary text
- Answering micro-exercises as you read
along
Exercises - Doing “Test yourself” questions (on set 2.5 hours
text and Unit) in NMN
- Doing “Explore questions” (further
analysis) in NMN
- Working on “Key terms” (glossary) in NMN
- Doing online multiple-choice exercises
Further study - Reading recommended texts in NMN 1.5 hours
- Reading material posted on virtual course
- Relating above material to the Unit’s
contents

Interactive work - Making/answering questions online 2 hours


- Making/answering questions in class
- Proposing and debating ideas with
mates/teachers/tutors regarding set texts

Mock exam/PEC - Practicing skills/contents learned in the 2 hours


Unit

TOTAL: 25 HOURS

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 3


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

2. ORIENTACIONES PARA EL ESTUDIO DE LOS CONTENIDOS/


ORIENTATIONS FOR THE STUDY OF THE COURSE CONTENTS

This course is intended to develop the student’s interaction with the literary text.
The learning outcomes for each Unit are specified at the beginning of each
chapter of NMN.
Please note that most of the titles included in the compulsory reading of the
course can be found in The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume
II (2000), Volume E-F , 10th ed. The ones not included in The Norton Anthology
are:
Foster, E.M., [1924] 1989 A Passage to India. London & New York: Penguin
Books.
Lawrence, D. H. [1913] (2000). Sons and Lovers. London & New York:
Penguin Twentieth Century Classics.
Woolf, Virginia Mrs Dalloway [1925] (1992) London & New York: Penguin
Modern Classics. (Included in the tenth edition)

Please note that these editions are the ones used as reference in the textbook
NMN, yet, as long as the text is complete and not an abridged version, you are
free to choose your own editions.
Below you can find the main contents, learning outcomes, and time schedule for
each Unit included in the course.

UNIT 1
THE DISCOURSE BETWEEN OR THE NEED TO “MAKE IT NEW”:
LITERATURE IN AN EVER-CHANGING WORLD
(NMN: Unit 1, The Discourse Between or the Need to “Make It New”: Literature in
an Ever-changing World)

1. I Introduction
1. II The Crisis of Victorian Positivism
1. III The Interpretation of an Ever-changing World
1. IV What Does Woman Want: The Rise of the New Woman
1. V The Dystopian Earnestness to Break Free.

Compulsory Reading: Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 4


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

Due date: October, 31st

Learning outcomes

Aims and Objectives:

• This Unit sets out to establish the historical and


theoretical background behind the need felt by many
writers and artists during the first half of the twentieth
century to find a new mode of expression.

• The many changes that took full form in this period had
been emerging during the latter half of the nineteenth
century, when a general disillusionment with the
self-assertive optimism of Victorian positivism
provoked a crisis that had its artistic manifestation in
the different avant garde movements of the twentieth
century.

• This crisis was particularly intense for those Victorians


living at the turn of the century who were, however,
unable to explore it with the required perspective, and
passed it on to the generation coming to maturity in the
years following the First World War.

• The First World War, or Great War, as it was called at


the time, was, in many ways, the expression of this
crisis in its most terrible, extreme and incomprehensible
form.

• Whilst the course subject for study this year is generally


devoted to literature and the interconnection between
literary discourse and other discourses present in the
social milieu, it is the aim of this Unit to make students
aware that literature and literary creativity are not
isolated entities but, as critic Terry Eagleton suggests,
form part of the social and political concerns of the
period in which the literary work is produced.

• In this sense, literature not only reflects the world but


contributes to the debates that surround its
participants, and helps produce thought. In order to
achieve this aim, we shall study Oscar Wilde’s The
Importance of Being Earnest as a literary example of a
text that takes part in the debates of the period.

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 5


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

• The main aim of this Unit is to make students not only


aware of, but also to participate in, the various
discourses that informed the consciousness of the
people inhabiting Great Britain in the first half of the
twentieth century.

Study Guidelines:
➢ Perhaps the most immediate issue that will be encountered when studying
this chapter is that the student will confront fields of knowledge such as
political and philosophical thought, psychology and psychoanalysis,
anthropology, and scientific or medical discoveries that may seem
unfamiliar and off-putting. It has to be said that although this Unit is
dealing with complex issues, it is not expected that the student should
have a profound knowledge of these subjects. Yet it is important to become
familiar with the social and intellectual background that surrounds the
literary scene of the first half of the twentieth century. Ideally, the best way
fully to understand the many issues raised here is to go to the sources and
read some of the treatises and manifestos mentioned. In so doing the
student will realize that, apart from the struggle to understand the
theoretical and critical ideas presented in these writings, there is also
pleasure to be gained by reading them. In many cases, as for example in
the cases of the works of Darwin or Freud, the narratorial component of
these writings helps to demystify the complexity of later explanations. It is
too challenging to try to collate the multiple sources that would be needed
to approach this subject. The Norton Anthology provides a selection of texts
dealing with some of the issues discussed here. A good source of
background material not only for this Unit but for the course at large is
Modernisms: An Anthology of Sources and Documents (2000) edited by
Vassiliki Kolocotroni et al.

➢ Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (Norton 2000: 1761-1805;


vol.E: 823-867) constitutes the compulsory reading for this Unit.

➢ It is important to read The Importance of Being Earnest after the theoretical


sections of this Unit have been read and understood, and before
undertaking the study of section 1.v ‘The Earnestness to Break Free’.
During their reading, students should write down any connections they
see between what has been discussed up to that point and what happens
in Wilde’s play. They then should compare their notes with the discussion
that follows.

➢ The best way to approach the contents of this Unit is by trying to enter
into the frame of mind of the ordinary citizen of the period. In this manner,
students should analyse their own responses to the different topics
explored. It is a good idea to write down these impressions and to draw

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 6


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

imaginatively a general picture of the many changes that the people of the
era went through. The questions at the end of the Unit will help students
to pin down the most important ideas and help them to understand the
relationship between these and the literature of the time.

UNIT 2
“THE WHITE MAN’S BURDEN”: DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO IMPERIALISM IN
LITERATURE. HEART OF DARKNESS AND PASSAGE TO INDIA
(NMN: Unit 2, “The White Man’s Burden”: Different Approaches to Imperialism in
Literature. Heart of Darkness and Passage to India)

2. I Joseph Conrad and the Congo experience: Heart of Darkness


2. II E.M. Foster's Journey to India: Passage to India

Compulsory Reading: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and E. M.


Forster’s Passage to India

Due date: November, 20th

Learning outcomes

Aims and Objectives:

• This Unit sets out to explore the relationship between empire and
literature, elaborating on the question of Empire put forward in Unit 1.

• The aim of this Unit is to discern the way in which narratives written in
England have shaped, supported or undermined the concept of British
imperialism. To do so two different accounts of British imperial experience
will be explored.

• Written in different moments in time and focusing on different locations,


Africa and India, both narratives show concerns surrounding notions of
home, nation, race, identity, and belonging. In doing so, other objectives
brought up by topics related to fiction, such as language and form, will
come to the fore, as will nationality, subjectivity, history, sexuality, gender,
and social class.

• In dealing with Empire and colonial issues it is always important to


acknowledge the engrossing contribution made by the so-called Colonial
and Post-Colonial Studies, particularly, but not necessarily exclusively, by
thinkers such as Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak and Stuart Hall, who have
intensively criticised European and American imperialism.

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 7


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

• There are many others, such as Frantz Fanon or Kuan-Hsing Chen, who,
instead of looking at outside powers of colonialism, have focused on
individuals and on language to detect the particular and complex
questions raised by colonialism and post-colonialism as well as culture.

• Whereas the contribution of these authors and many others is


acknowledged and generally supports the main line of the argument
presented here, it is impossible in a course such as this to deal in depth
with the difficult and complex sets of ideas each presents. Therefore those
interested in specific subjects should use the bibliography to find further
information.

Study Guidelines:

➢ Read carefully the texts proposed for study before approaching the critical
sections dealing with them. These texts are:
➢ Joseph Conrad, 2000 [1902] Heart of Darkness, in The Norton Anthology of
English Literature. Volume II or F (includes an introduction to the text).
➢ E.M. Forster, 1989 [1924], A Passage to India, London and New York:
Penguin Books (this is the edition that has been used for this Unit. It
contains a good introduction by the editor, Oliver Stallybrass. It also
contains Appendix I ‘Forster’s Prefatory Note (1957) to the Everyman
Edition’, Appendix II ‘Peter Burra’s Introduction to the Everyman Edition’
and Appendix III ‘Forster Programme Note to Santha Rama Rau’s
Dramatized Version’. Here students will also find some author’s ‘Notes’
that appear in the Everyman edition as well as a ‘Glossary’.
➢ Bear in mind that language is not straightforward and that there is always
a meaning other than the immediate one suggested. It is important to read
with a critical and open mind, allowing for the experience of ‘the other’ to
take place in oneself.
➢ Be prepared to make an effort as neither of the texts proposed for study in
this Unit is easy. They are as dense and as complex as poetry. For this
reason, the student should not just study the plot (which is not the
essential issue at work in these novels) but should also be aware of
elements such as silences, gaps and the unsaid that contribute as much to
the text as what is actually said.
➢ These texts participate in the different discourses that have been studied
in relation to the period, particularly seen in Unit 1 but also examined in
Units 2 and 3. They are also active participants in an intertextual space
produced by the many literary texts dealing, directly or indirectly, with the
British Empire. It is, therefore, useful always to have in mind the student’s

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 8


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

literary background and knowledge. So, while new literary devices and
ways of expression will be introduced, it is important that the student
should be prepared to participate in the debate by adding his/her own
knowledge and wisdom when relating this knowledge to the issues in
question.
➢ As has been pointed out above, one of the main difficulties encountered in
fully understanding this Unit is the specific use of both language and
words in the texts to be studied. It is important for this reason always to
have a good dictionary to be prepared to look up words whenever it is felt
necessary. When doing this the student should always remember that the
most immediate meaning provided will not always be the most accurate
within a particular context. Therefore, it is important to have an open
mind that allows for other possible meanings and to understand the
ambivalence a word or phrase might give to a text.
➢ Perhaps one of the main challenges in this Unit is the need to overcome
ourselves so we can fully understand the issues related to empire and
colonialism in relation to literature. Accepting that each of us, whether as
individuals or in groups, is always an ‘other’ to ‘others’ might be the first
step in the right direction. In doing so, from the experience gained when
reading these texts, we shall, it is hoped, engage in the difficult and
discomfiting act of living differently by living difference.

UNIT 3

“DISILLUSION AS NEVER TOLD IN THE OLD DAYS”: LITERATURE


AND WAR
(NMN: Unit 3, “Disillusion as Never Told in the Old Days”: Literature and War)

3. I Introduction
3. II The Georgian Poets: The Changing Effect of Experiencing War
3. III Women Writing the War

Compulsory Reading: Rupert Brooke’s 'The Soldier', Wilfred Owen’s 'Dulce


et Decorum Est', Jessie Pope’s ‘The Call’ and Rose Macauly’s ‘The Picnic’ (The
last two are not in The Norton Anthology but both are easily available on the
internet)

Due date: December, 7th

Learning outcomes

Aims and Objectives

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 9


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

• The main aim of this Unit is to study the relationship between war and
literature.

• Given the period of literature covered in the course, the Unit will
concentrate (albeit not exclusively) on the First World War.

• This was the major event that changed European civilization as it had
been known up to this conflict.

• The Unit will also deal mainly with poetry, although some prose relating to
war will also be considered.

• The general objective of the Unit is to chart the strategies through which
poets and writers in general developed original techniques and learnt from
their predecessors to convey their experiences of war. In doing so we shall
explore the ethical considerations underlying war poetry as it attempts to
transform atrocity into art.

• Therefore, this Unit will consider both aesthetic and ethical questions such
as: for whom does the poet speak, and for what purpose? How might the
poet write about violence without exploiting or cheapening it? Does the
combatant-poet have rights that are denied to civilian poets? What should
the emotional stance of the poet be? How and in what detail must the
horror of war be described? We will see that these and similar questions
are always posed implicitly, and often directly, by war poets.

• In the process, debates about war writing as experiential or non-


experiential writing will be examined, as will the relation between history
and the imagination; war and Empire; gender in war writing; war poetry
and popular culture; and identity and nationality in war literature.

• Through the comparison of texts, students will heighten their awareness of


the complex and controversial debates surrounding the genre of war
writing itself, and examine the extent to which the production and
interpretation of war poetry is conditioned by cultural, social and political
factors.

• The relationship between women writers and war is also an important


objective of this Unit.

• The writers studied in this Unit are by no means the only ones who could
be studied in relation to war and literature. Choosing these writers in
preference to other authors means not that they are better writers but that
they provide an adequate amount of insight into the subject as to give an
accurate idea of the main aim and objectives described here.

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 10


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

Study Guidelines

➢ To read carefully the poems and texts proposed for study before
approaching in depth the critical section dealing with each of them.
Apart from the quotations of poems and texts included in this Unit,
there are some that have not been fully quoted because they are
published in the Norton Anthology of English Literature such as ‘The
Soldier’ or ‘Dulce et Decorum Est.’ These poems and the texts and
fragments quoted here are compulsory reading for this Unit.
➢ To bear in mind that poetic language is condensed and that its
meaning reaches far beyond the straightforward and immediate one.
In this sense, it is imperative to note the importance of the use of the
poetic technique and poetic devices, and even the absence of these,
for they are always used consciously and are part of the process of
signification.
➢ To take into account the possible intertextual connections present in
the poems. It is important to understand that poetic intertextuality
is not merely a possible influence of a particular text on a poem. By
recalling earlier or contemporary texts the poet adds new meanings
to the poem. For this reason, it is essential that the student read the
poems with the literary background acquired in previous years and
previous Units in mind. Should this literary background be lacking
the student must look for this knowledge in manuals or notes taken
from other subjects whenever it is felt necessary. The Norton
Anthology of English Literature is a good source in this respect, as is
any history of English literature. It should be taken into account
that the background necessary for the optimal understanding of a
text might fall outside the time span of this course.
➢ To read the poems aloud so that the student experiences how poetic
language conveys meaning not only in the actual significance of the
words but also in the impediments, difficulties in the breathing,
cacophonies, alliterations and other devices obvious through the
audible pronunciation of the words.
➢ It is essential always to have a good dictionary always to hand and to
look up words whenever their meaning seems unclear or is
unknown. Allowing for ambivalence in meaning and for other
possible meanings apart from the obvious one is always a good idea.
➢ To make notes of the first impressions gained from your particular
reading of the poems, and to compare these impressions with the
information provided in the Unit. First impressions are often the
most accurate and they are in any case what the poets and writers
had in mind to begin with. After having studied the critical

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 11


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

background provided, go back to the poem, read it again, and notice


whether and how these first impressions have changed.
➢ This Unit has a particular and specific theme in that it deals with
literature and war. It is important to bear in mind the context in
which the literature proposed for study was produced. Make notes
about the relationship between literature and other social or political
discourses and be aware of the interaction between them. Decide
whether literature is merely a reflection of the world or whether it is
actively participating in its construction.

UNIT 4
“LIFE IS A LUMINOUS HALO”: THE NOVEL IN THE TWENTIETH
CENTURY. SONS AND LOVERS

(NMN: Unit 4, “Life is a Luminous Halo”: The Novel in the Twentieth Century. Sons
and lovers)

4.I Social Consciousness Narrated: D. H. Lawrence New Otherness in


Context
4.II Reality is in the Word: The Poetics of Narrative
4.III Discovering Newness and Otherness D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers

Compulsory Reading: D. H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers

Due date: December, 22nd

Learning outcomes

Aims and Objectives

• This Unit deals with the work of one of the greatest English writers of the
twentieth century, D.H. Lawrence.

• By the end of the Unit, students should be familiar with the life and
works of this writer as well as proficient in the major themes of his oeuvre.

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 12


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

• Special attention is devoted to his novel Sons and Lovers and, through
reading and studying it, students should become aware of different issues
that are common to many other writings and writers of the period.

• These issues are, for example, the writing of Bildungsroman, writing and
war, changing concepts in the relationships between the sexes, the
narration of sexuality, literature and censorship, literary experimentation
and techniques, and the relationship between psychoanalysis and
literature.

Study Guidelines

➢ Read and study sections 4.I and 4.II of NMN taking notes and writing your
own summaries of what you read. Then read or re-read the novel before
you go to section 4.III devoted to the reading of Sons and Lovers.
➢ It is important when you read the novel to write a short paragraph
summarising the plot and your own first impressions of the novel.
➢ Take notes of the way in which characters develop, the background of the
setting, and of the many symbols that appear.
➢ Then you can read section 4.III.
➢ After reading and studying this section, you can move then to complete
your notes by contrasting your own plot summaries, character
development and use of symbolism with what you have learned so far.
➢ Finally, go to the activities provided and try to answer the questions.

UNIT 5:
TALES OF THE CITY: VIRGINIA WOOLF’S MODERNIST GEOGRAPHIES OF THE
MIND
(NMN: Unit 5, Tales Of The City: Virginia Woolf’s Modernist Geographies Of The
Mind)

5.I Introduction to Virginia Woolf


5.II The Bloomsbury Group Aesthetics
5.III A Room of One’s Own and Other Essays
5.IV Mrs Dalloway and the Woman’s Sentence

Compulsory Reading: Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway and A Room of One’s


Own Due date: January, 16th 2023

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 13


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

Learning outcomes

Aims and Objectives

• This Unit sets out to explore the impact of Modernism in the literature of
the period, with particular reference to the writer Virginia Woolf as a
modernist woman writer.

• The aim is to study Woolf’s fictional and non-fictional writings in order to


provide a framework that allows the understanding of Woolf’s creative
process within the context of the period.

• For this purpose we shall concentrate mainly on two of her works, her
essay, A Room of One’s Own, and her novel, Mrs Dalloway, although
references to other novels and essays as well as to the socio-historical
world that surrounded the writer are included.

• In our ‘Introduction to Virginia Woolf’ we focus on those aspects of her life


relevant to her creative process and her literary thought. In ‘The
Bloomsbury Group’ we place Woolf within the intellectual and social
environment that formed a great deal of her intellectual endeavour.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Woolf’s literary production, what
makes her unique and interesting, is that in her writings she was in
constant search of what could be termed ‘the woman’s sentence’.

• The main goal of this unit is to explore the train of thought behind Woolf’s
search and her literary achievements. In doing so we will project into the
future and explore the reasons behind the impact her writing had on the
feminist movement from the nineteen-sixties and early seventies onwards.

Study Guidelines

➢ To be aware that Woolf’s work is not the product of an isolated mind


but that it is described within the socio-historical context of the
writer and influenced by her personal history. Woolf was living in a
society that witnessed multiple and profound changes, social and
political convulsions, and literary debates, in which she was an
active participant.

➢ To remember that Woolf’s wide range of reading and knowledge is


always present in her use of language and in her modernist
aesthetics. Her continuous references to contemporary and
historical writers and thinkers require that the student should

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 14


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

always bear in mind a knowledge of English literature from previous


courses as well as that so far acquired in this course.

➢ To be prepared to undertake the intellectual effort that presupposes


Woolf’s complex use of language and narrative technique and her
experimental approach to fiction. It is a good idea to be prepared to
widen your vocabulary by looking up difficult words in a dictionary
whenever necessary.

➢ To be gender-conscious in order to understand that Woolf’s


commitment to the women’s struggle, what today is called Woolf’s
feminism, is intrinsically linked to her artistic output.

➢ To discern the importance of the visual effect of language in Woolf’s


work. The use of images and poetic language in her writing is
intended to create an emotion similar to the one we may gain while
contemplating a painting on a wall.

➢ The main challenge in this Unit is, paradoxically, the amount of


information available. This implies that any approach to Virginia
Woolf will necessarily be biased. This is so because, as Jennifer
Smith has pointed out in her edition of A Room Of One’s Own,
“biographers and critics have wanted to sum her up in many
different ways” (Smith 1995: 119) and, it should be added, to serve
their own purposes.

➢ Before undertaking this study and in order fully to understand the


contents presented here it is advisable to read beforehand the works
that constitute the compulsory reading for this Unit: (see below)

➢ When reading these texts, make a mental note of your expectations


in relation to the literary works and what the titles suggest.

➢ After reading the texts, re-evaluate those expectations: Has the book
fulfilled them? What has been left out and why? Has the book
surpassed them? It is also a good idea to jot down your impressions
of the book while reading it. In doing so you will start to engage with
the intellectual exercise the writer tries to extract from her/his
readers.

➢ Indeed, these and other possible questions are intended to stimulate


the student into the questioning frame of mind necessary for
understanding the subtleties and ambivalences in Woolf’s writing.

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 15


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

3. ORIENTACIONES PARA LA REALIZACIÓN DEL PLAN DE


ACTIVIDADES / ORIENTATIONS FOR CARRYING OUT THE
EXERCISES

3.1 STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH TO THE COURSE UNITS

As stated above, every Course Unit is outlined in the same way. This means you
will also learn how to study this subject progressively, so you will soon “get the
knack” of how to approach the set literary texts. Although NMN already contains
precise instructions on how to use the textbook, here we suggest you proceed
with each Course Unit in accordance with the first table in this Guide:

- Presentation: Read the program, learning objectives and “Presentation” in


NMN. Situate yourself in t h e historical, social and cultural context.
Try to connect the information you get with other subjects you have taken.
- Approaching the text: Read the section of the same name in NMN. It
prepares you to face the set literary text. It contextualizes your reading
and makes you acquainted with the pre-text. Pay particular attention to
the “Bear in mind…” suggestions: they anticipate difficulties and make
you focus on the specifics of each literary text.
- Reading the text: This is your first contact with the literary text, unbiased
by the manual or by your lecturer’s/tutor’s understanding of it. This first
reading is useful to get acquainted with the main characteristics of the
work (main ideas, characters, plot, tone, prosodic features…). You may
want to take down notes concerning style, theme, etc. It is highly
recommendable to underline those passages or sentences that most
impressed or interested you and to make a brief annotation of the page
and the idea suggested by the passage(s) outlined.
- Revisiting the text: It’s time to go back to the text in a more academic
way. This section involves going through the literary work and dissecting
the “whats”, “hows”, and “whys.” NMN will help you to focus on diverse
features of the text, to understand how each of them works, what they
are called, how they intertwine with each other, and what their effect is.
This section also involves micro-exercises to make you find answers for
yourself, and to investigate particular examples or characteristics of the
work.
- Exercises: The course comprises a battery of different exercises for
individual or group work. NMN includes, as the table above explains, self-
evaluation exercises, questions for discussion and glossary tasks. You will
find multiple-choice questions online. It is recommendable to do self-
evaluation exercises first, since they will settle your knowledge of the work
and its context. “Explore questions” are designed for reflection and can be
used for debate in face-to-face sessions or at the course’s online forums.
- Further study: They will complement your study with webpages, Power-
Point presentations, etc.
-

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 16


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

- Interactive work: Distance education is designed for autonomous work


guide by your lectures and tutors. You will be interacting with your
teaching team or tutor even when you ignore you are doing so: reading
this Guide is, for instance, an exercise of interactivity between the
teaching team and you! You can use the means established in the Guía
de la Asignatura-Parte I to contact your teachers at the Sede Central or
the Centro Asociado for doubts or queries. Also, interaction with your
course mates will prove highly productive: exchange ideas and
impressions on the literary texts for this reason it is very important your
active participation on the online Course as well as your attendance, if
possible, to the tutorials in the Centro Asociado.
- Mock exam/PEC: In the virtual Course will appear a set of exercises
called “Mock exams.” The final exam will be similar to these exercises, so
they provide further testing material: you can test yourself by trying to
answer the short questions and write the essay required in two hours. The
point of this kind of exercise is to make you reflect on an excerpt from a
literary text and write a comment on it, using the skills and terms you will
have learned so far.

3.2 EVALUATION TYPES AND CRITERIA

The student’s successful achievement of the course’s learning objectives will be


assessed by the continuous evaluation as well as by the final exam.

3.2.1 Continuous evaluation

Continuous evaluation includes the self-evaluation exercises in the Course Units


(NMN and online course), the feedback provided by teachers and tutors, as well
as the PEC. The PEC is an exercise marked by the tutor and its mark counts a
20% of the final grade. There will be one along the semester, properly announced
at the online course, and will follow the format of the exam so that you will be
practicing for the Prueba Presencial.

3.2.2 Final evaluation

The final evaluation consists of one written exam, accounting for 80% of the final
grade. You will be expected to put theory into practice answering a battery of
short questions and making an essay heavily based on your academic reading
of the literary texts... As with the PEC, you will be marked according to the
following criteria:
- Focus on the questions themselves (irrelevant information will be
considered very detrimental).

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 17


Dídac Llorens
Mariángel Soláns
Ana Zamorano

- Proof of having a deep knowledge of the literary texts.


- Accurate use of critical terms (hence the importance of building a
glossary and looking for examples in texts).
- Good organization and development of ideas (you are expected to write
an essay, not a list of features, and to answer the questions of the
exam).
- Suitable examples from the texts to support the essay’s arguments
(textual references show your command of the literary work).
- Legible, coherent, proficient English (if we cannot read it well, we
cannot evaluate it well).

4. GLOSARIO/ GLOSSARY

We do not include a glossary as such in this Guide. The terms that students
need to work with are already listed and defined in the Course Units, designed as
part of the course work. The student is expected to work on the elaboration of
his/her own glossary of terms, with specific examples from the literary texts
guide by the course teachers team and their tutors.

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA 18

You might also like