552.281 (21S) Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss

Sommersemester 2021

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Erster Termin der LV
09.03.2021 16:00 - 18:00 online Off Campus
... keine weiteren Termine bekannt

Überblick

Bedingt durch die COVID-19-Pandemie können kurzfristige Änderungen bei Lehrveranstaltungen und Prüfungen (z.B. Absage von Präsenz-Lehreveranstaltungen und Umstellung auf Online-Prüfungen) erforderlich sein.

Weitere Informationen zum Lehrbetrieb vor Ort finden Sie unter: https://www.aau.at/corona.
Lehrende/r
LV Nummer Südostverbund ENL04002UL
LV-Titel englisch Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss
LV-Art Proseminar (prüfungsimmanente LV )
LV-Modell Onlinelehrveranstaltung
Semesterstunde/n 2.0
ECTS-Anrechnungspunkte 3.0
Anmeldungen 17 (25 max.)
Organisationseinheit
Unterrichtssprache Englisch
mögliche Sprache/n der Leistungserbringung Englisch
LV-Beginn 09.03.2021
eLearning zum Moodle-Kurs
Anmerkungen

Attendance of the first session on March 9 is MANDATORY

PLEASE NOTE: all class sessions will run for the whole 2 hours!

Zeit und Ort

Beachten Sie bitte, dass sich aufgrund von COVID-19-Maßnahmen die derzeit angezeigten Termine noch ändern können.
Liste der Termine wird geladen...

LV-Beschreibung

Intendierte Lernergebnisse

In this class, students will learn to differentiate between different major depictions surrounding the themes of death, loss, and grief in contemporary U.S. American literature. In addition, they will be able to articulate some of the themes, motifs, and stylistics of Chicanx literary productions. They will gain a better understanding of how grief is understood as a social emotion and how influential a respective society can be when someone leaves this earth. Students will also further develop their skills of interpreting texts within specific socio-cultural and literary contexts and play close attentions to issues such as gender, class, sexuality, and ethnicity. 

Lehrmethodik inkl. Einsatz von eLearning-Tools

Short lecture inputs, in-class discussion of assigned primary texts through close textual analysis, group discussion.

Inhalt/e

Death, a strong sense of sadness, loss, grief, and despair are not only common tropes in literature, they are unfortunately quite present during these times. In this class, however, we will look at different stages and depictions surrounding the ends of our lives. We will examine a broad range of U.S. American narratives that depict both positive and negative ‘sides’ of this topic. We will start out with watching Death Becomes Her (1992) and how humanity’s endless pursuits and hopes of eternal lives could be achieved. Next, we will turn our attention to Lisa Genova’s novel Still Alice (2007) in which we accompany the protagonist’s Alice’s struggles as she gradually loses herself as she suffers from early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Here, we will pay close attention to how the disease rapidly takes hold of the renowned professor at Harvard University, deconstructing Alice’s personality and identity and how it affects her family. Then, we will watch the 2014 adaption, allowing us to discuss differences between novel and film while we literally see Alice’s slow decay. In the second half of the semester, we will turn our attention to Chicanx literature and culture and its portrayals of the theme “Death”. First, we will read Luis Alberto Urrea’s The House of Broken Angels (2018). In this novel, the beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz summons his entire family clan for one last legendary birthday party knowing that his time on this earth is to end in the next few days. Finally, Cherríe Moraga’s memoir Native Country of the Heart(2019) gives voice to the voiceless. Watching her mother Elvira slowly succumb to Alzheimer’s and eventually die, we also get insight into what it means to be Mexican in the United States, and into an American story of cultural loss.

Curriculare Anmeldevoraussetzungen

Introduction to Literary Studies II

Literatur

Lisa Genova, Still Alice (any edition)

Luis Alberto Urrea, The House of Broken Angels (any edition)

Cherríe Moraga, Native Country of the Heart (any edition)

 

 All other texts will be made available by the course instructor.

Prüfungsinformationen

Im Fall von online durchgeführten Prüfungen sind die Standards zu beachten, die die technischen Geräte der Studierenden erfüllen müssen, um an diesen Prüfungen teilnehmen zu können.

Prüfungsmethode/n

Mid-term response paper

PS-paper

Prüfungsinhalt/e

 

Beurteilungskriterien/-maßstäbe

Final Grade:

25% - active participation 

25% - response paper 

50% - final paper

Beurteilungsschema

Note Benotungsschema

Position im Curriculum

  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Englisch (SKZ: 407, Version: 17W.2)
    • Fach: Anglophone Literary Studies II: Historical Surveys, Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (Pflichtfach)
      • ENL.004 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies ( 2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.281 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 7., 8. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Englisch (SKZ: 407, Version: 15W.2)
    • Fach: Anglophone Literary Studies II: Historical Surveys, Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (Pflichtfach)
      • ENL.004 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies, Lehrveranstaltung ( 2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.281 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 3., 4. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Englisch (SKZ: 407, Version: 19W.2)
    • Fach: Anglophone Literary Studies II: Historical Surveys, Terminology and Practice of Interpretation (Pflichtfach)
      • ENL.004 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies ( 2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.281 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 7., 8. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelorstudium Anglistik und Amerikanistik (SKZ: 612, Version: 15W.3)
    • Fach: Fachliches Grund- und Aufbaustudium Literature (Pflichtfach)
      • Modul: Aufbaustudium Literature
        • 5.5 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies ( 0.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          • 552.281 Topics in Anglophone Literary Studies:(American) Death and All His Friends - Literary Experiences of Grief and Loss (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
            Absolvierung im 4. Semester empfohlen

Gleichwertige Lehrveranstaltungen im Sinne der Prüfungsantrittszählung

Es liegt keine gleichwertige Lehrveranstaltung im Sinne der Prüfungsantrittszählung vor.