A/P Philip Holden
[ Introduction and Description | Schedule and Readings | Assessment and Policies | Related Resources ]
Lecture:
Monday 4-6 (2hours)
Tutorials:
Every other week (2 hours), commencing Week 3
| Philip Holden | |
| Office: AS5 05-26: Consultation hours Tuesdays 1-3 | |
| Phone: 6516-4950 | |
| Email: ellhpj[at]nus.edu.sg |
| Constance Goh |
| Email: huipg[at]yahoo.com |
| Uma Jayaraman |
| Email: g0700659[at]nus.edu.sg |
This interactive module is open to those students who are exempted from EN1101E (students with good passes--grades A to C--in G.C.E. 'A' level English Literature). The module provides greater interactivity and active learning than is possible in EN1101E, and means that you can push yourself and take on a greater intellectual challenge.
EN2101E's syllabus varies from semester to semester. All the material on this web site thus refers only to the section taught by Philip Holden.
All sections of the module aim to:
In this version of the module we will be exploring a number of different texts from different literary genres. We will start with a very contemporary text: Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer prize winning series of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, which depict a complex series of cultural negotiations in the USA and India. We will continue by examining the poetry of three different writers from the Caribbean, Louise Bennett, Derek Walcott, and Grace Nichols. Next we move to the novel: we will read Michael Ondaatje's novel The English Patient, and among other issues, consider how prose narratives are different from filmic ones through viewing the film based on the novel. Finally, we will return to Singapore through drama, and we will read three short plays by Singapore's most prominent playwright, Kuo Pao Kun.
At the same time as we are reading the primary texts outlined above, we will also be reading an important secondary text, Peter Barry's Beginning Theory. Barry's study will make us think about the rationales for literay study, and also expose us to a wide variety of critical approaches which will form a foundation for later modules you might take. The book is an integral part of the reading for the module, and will be supplemented by a small number of extra secondary readings in your course pack.
We will have a two hour lecture and a two-hour tutorial format, with tutorials held every other week. I hope to make the lectures as interactive as possible, and the tutorials will certainly allow time for close analysis, questioning, and active discussion. Your engagement with course material will be encouraged through a periodic outside-class discussion conducted on IVLE, which will constitute an element of assessed work in the module. You will also facilitate class discussion on an assigned topic in tutorial.
This kind of learning environment is great if you rise to the challenge, but it's difficult for "sleepers." To promote active learning with your classmates, make sure that you have the readings done before you come to class and are prepared to actively discuss and debate them!
Last updated: 15 January, 2008