Histoire littéraire et culturelle des pays anglophones I

Dr. F. Bellarsi (second semester)

Against the background of some key periods and developments in the history of the British novel of the 18th and 19th centuries, this course explores the genre of the Gothic and analyses some of its most representative works in close reading. 

Course objectives: 1) to encourage students to develop a more history-based understanding of literature and a given genre; 2) to introduce students to the development of the novel in the British Isles before the twentieth century; 3) to train first-year students (especially non-native speakers) to approach a non-contemporary novel in close reading and to develop their personal skills at literary analysis.

Cours ayant celui-ci comme co-requis

Lectures complemented by tutorials given by the assistant, Mr. Gregory Watson + individual reading at home. This is not a virtual course: the class meets once a week and course attendance is essential.

Contribution to the teaching profile

• Developing techniques of literary analysis and interpretation.

• Developing a grasp of literary genres and their transformation over time.

• Developing a grasp of the historical dimension of literary studies.

• Developing a mastery of literary and scholarly English (both in speech and writing).

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Set reading list posted on the VU at the start of the second semester.
 

Course notes

• Podcast
• Université virtuelle

Contacts

Dr. Franca  Bellarsi:

e-mail: franca.bellarsi@ulb.be

phone: 02 650 67 47 (direct line) or 02 650 38 24 (Secretariat)

Personal interviews by appointment only.

Mr. Gregory Watson:
gregory.watson@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• Oral examination

Oral examination

• Open question with short answer
• Open question with long development

Oral examination with Dr. F. Bellarsi in May/June to assess students' understanding of the works commented upon in class and their ability to situate them in their historical context.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

The mark for the May-June oral examination with Dr. Bellarsi is broken down as follows: 70% for class contents + 30% for the command of spoken English (N.B.: there must be noticeable progress by comparison with the language grade obtained by the student in December for the assessment of the GERM B 115 class; Dr. Bellarsi must get the sense that the student has genuinely taken into account and worked on the linguistic recommendations made by Mr. Watson at the end of the December interview).

N.B.: should a student not succeed in a given academic year (overall grade below 10/20), PLEASE NOTE THAT PARTIAL GRADES ATTRIBUTED TO INDIVIDUAL QUESTIONS WILL NOT BE TRANSFERRED FROM ONE ACADEMIC YEAR TO THE NEXT.

IMPORTANT: in conformity with Article 40 of the "Règlement des études" (Regulations Governing Studies at ULB) and the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence tools defined therein, students are prohibited from resorting to GAI in order to complete a learning task or demonstrate the acquisition of a skill meant to be assessed in a given examination ("recourir à une IAG pour effectuer la tâche ou démontrer la compétence sur lesquelles porte l’évaluation concernée"). If an answer offered during the evaluation process is clearly IAG-based, this will automatically lead to the cancellation of the examination pure and simple. 

Language(s) of evaluation

• english