Welcome to English (31-60) 30,0 Credits

Information from the course co-ordinator

This course consists of five modules that will be taught as follows: "American Literature" (7.5 credits) and “Survey Course in Linguistics” (7.5) will be taught in parallel in the first ten weeks of the spring term. In the second half of the term, you will study “British Literature” (7.5) in parallel with “Literary Translation” (weeks 13-17) and “Topics in Linguistics” (weeks 18-22). Students attending courses in English at the University of Gävle are required to attend class in order to receive a passing grade. Studying English at our college does not only involve obtaining subject knowledge, but also improving one’s ability to speak and write English, and this can only take place if students meet their teachers and actively participate in the instruction. Furthermore, most modules feature live, face-to-face, group work in order to accommodate the general course objective that “students should be able to compare and critically evaluate one’s own and others' work”. Failure to participate in such activities will therefore make it impossible to attain a course objective. For these reasons, we require attendance, with only minor exceptions. To take exams and pass the course, students must attend at least eight seminars in each of the 7.5 cr. modules (Linguistics Survey, British Literature, and American Literature), at least three seminars in Topics in Linguistics and four in Translation.

Since this course runs full-time, you must be prepared to allocate 40 hours of study per week, including class attendance, reading and writing assignments. Studying for 30 credits in one term is like a full-time job.

The modules in Linguistics and Translation end with written exams, for which you must register in Ladok no later than 10 days before the exam date if you take the exam on campus (at the University of Gävle) and no later than 21 days before the exam date if you take the exam elsewhere. Consistent with the principles of continuous assessment, all five modules feature compulsory assignments throughout their respective periods. More information about the content and assessment procedures for individual modules will be published by the instructors on the course site in Canvas. Teaching usually consists of lectures and seminars, but each module has its own structure and policy with respect to the forms of teaching.

You should order all your course books in good time. A good idea is to get hold of the books indicated in the syllabus (kursplan) as soon as possible. Only a selection of all the titles included in the bibliography for “American Literature” will be studied this term:

R.W. Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance”, Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself”, The Scarlet Letter by N. Hawthorne, “The Purloined Letter” by E.A. Poe, “Bartleby, the Scrivener” by H. Melville, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass, Mark Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wall-paper", a selection of poems, The Great Gatsby by S. Fitzgerald, and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. You should also get hold of the sixth edition (2023) of An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory by A. Bennett and N. Royle.

In the British literature survey, students will read a selection of texts from the reading list. Detailed information will be communicated on Canvas in due time by the module instructor.

Please note that the Translation module features the latest edition of this book:

Munday, J., Ramos Pinto, S., Blakesley, J. (2022). Introducing Translation Studies. Theories and Applications. Taylor & Francis.

In Canvas, you will find specific information, such as detailed course descriptions, class schedules, teaching materials, course requirements and assignments. A great part of your work will be carried out via Canvas, too. Once the module has started, you should check the course site on Canvas on a daily basis. Important announcements may be posted by your instructors on the course site at any time. If you have general questions about the course, contact the course coordinator. If you have questions about a module, you should contact the instructor of that module.

All the meetings for this course are online; all our classes will take place in "online classrooms" via the web conferencing system Zoom. Access to the digital classrooms will be provided through links posted on the course site on Canvas. It is recommended to have a headset, a microphone and a webcam to be able to fully participate in our Zoom sessions. At any rate, use a computer instead of an iPad, tablet, or cellphone, which does not work well for this activity.

Cheating and plagiarizing are serious academic offences, which result in failing the course and being reported to the college’s disciplinary commission. In Canvas, you are required to take a knowledge test about cheating before you submit any course assignments.