Course Lecturer: Associate Professor Ismail S. Talib. E-mail: ellibst@leonis.nus.edu.sg.
Course Web page: http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/ellibst/narr-str.html

WHAT'S ON THIS PAGE

Prerequisites
Quota
Advice to Prospective Students
Description of Module and Its Aims
Prospects for Further Research
Practical Work & Continuous Assessment Marks
Session Format
Topics to be Covered
Readings
       Main Text
       Basic Texts
 

PREREQUISITES

There are no prerequisite modules, except that EL or EN students should have taken a minimum of 28 MCs. However, students are expected to have reasonable knowledge of linguistics, and an appreciation of narrative in its various forms. General knowledge of literature and film is helpful, but formal qualifications in these fields are not essential. Likewise, the literary stylistics course is not essential, but it may be helpful for some of the topics discussed, such as the analysis of narration and point of view (cf. chapter 7 of Narrative Theory with Literary Stylistics Lecture Notes no. 11).

QUOTA

A maximum of 30 students. EL and EN Honours students who intend to do this module are advised to indicate their preference before the bidding process begins.

ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS

To EL students: This module is also taken by EN students, as one of the modules to meet their Honours EN requirements. The module has thus been redesigned to make it less technical, so that EN students will be able to follow most of the sessions. Some literary and cinematic materials have also been introduced to make the module relevant to them.
To EN students: Although the module has been redesigned to accommodate EN students, it is still designated as an EL module. Some knowledge of linguistics is thus expected. Linguistics however, is not a mere academic requirement. It was an important discipline in the development of narratology in the twentieth century, and continues to be important today. Some basic ideas or concepts in linguistics will thus help to contextualise some aspects or features of narrative as they are understood today.

DESCRIPTION OF MODULE AND ITS AIMS

This module aims to give students a general overview of some of the main ideas of narrative. In spite of the wide multi-disciplinary interest in narrative, the focus is on how some of the concepts of narrative can be applied to texts of various types. The concepts and theories discussed, and their application in practical analysis, will also be viewed in the light of developments in linguistics, discourse analysis, semiotics, literary theory and film studies in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

PROSPECTS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Students who want to do research or further their studies on the elements of narrative in literature, or on aspects of narrative in written, spoken and visual discourses, or in a combination of these discourses, may find this module useful as a general introduction. There is growing interest in narrative in various fields, so students intending to do further degrees in other fields may use some of the ideas they have learned from this course.

PRACTICAL WORK & CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT

Written and multimedia texts will be presented or played during each session. Students are expected to pay attention to them, as questions would be asked on them. You can expect the following items and division of marks for this module's continuous assessment (the details and the percentages may be adjusted during the semester):

•	Essay	20%
•	Project work	15%
•	Quizzes	10%
•	Electronic surveys	7%
•	Class participation (oral)	8%
•	IVLE or other inputs	10%
	Total CA Marks	70%

This module may be moving towards 100% CA. The breakdown for the marks will be given once permission for this has been granted. It is likely that the number of tasks for the CA will be increased.

SESSION FORMAT

There will be one three-hour session per week. All the sessions are highly interactive. You will be involved in more than just writing notes in class (which is of course useful if done effectively, but nonetheless, an optional, personal and unassessed activity). You are expected to participate actively in each session. Your participation will be assessed (25% of the total marks). Other than more open-ended class participation questions (8%), there will be questions in the form of surveys and quizzes (7% and 10% respectively). Before enrolling for this module, please note that this is a class-based module. Not only are there interactional activities in the class, but you are also expected to be involved in them in order to maximise your marks. Absenteeism and non-punctuality will have a negative effect on your marks.

 

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TOPICS TO BE COVERED

Some of the topics to be covered for this module in 2009-10 are given below. It is likely that we are going to concentrate on the first eight of the topics, although we may go on to the last three topics if there is time. Each of the topics is not given equal weightage in terms of length of time. In some cases, a single topic may be covered in one or more sessions; on the other hand, more than one topic may be covered during a single session. However, differences in the length of time given to each of the topics should not be taken either as a direct indication of their importance for the module, or of the likelihood of their examinability. Students should not treat the topics below as sacrosanct, and they are in fact strongly encouraged to explore areas (as long as they have a connection to narrative) not indicated below. For further details, consult the programme (in the process of being revised for the 2009-10 academic year).

1.	Definitions of Narrative
2.	Beginnings and Ends of Narrative
3.	Setting
4.	Character
5.	Event
6.	Plot
7.	The Narrator
8.	Schema & Genres
9.	Narrative Production
10.	Symbol
11.	Morality: Narrative and Ethics

Main Text
Ismail S Talib	Narrative Theory (web book)

Basic Texts
Bal, Mieke	Narratology. 2nd Edition.Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1997. (PN212 Bal)
Chatman, Seymour	Story and Discourse. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1978. (NX650 Nar.C)
Genette, Gerard	Narrative Discourse. Trans. by Jane E. Lewin. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1980. (PQ2631 P968*Ge)
Leitch, Thomas	What Stories Are. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1986. (PN212 Lei)
Martin, Wallace	Recent Theories of Narrative. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1986. (PN212 Mar)
Prince, Gerald	A Dictionary of Narratology. Rev. Edition. Lincoln, Nebraska, U of Nebraska P, 2003. (P302.7 Pri 2003)
Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith	Narrative Fiction. 2nd Edition London: Routledge, 2002. (PN212 Rim 2002)
Toolan, Michael	Narrative: A Critical Linguistic Introduction. 2nd Edition. London: Routledge, 2001. (P302.7 Too 2001)

Last revised: 13 August 2009