Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus & Information

Gaskell, Elizabeth - Cranford
January 9th & 11th
January 16th & 18th
Kipling, Rudyard - Stalky & Co. [Selected chapters.]
January 23nd & 25th
January 30th & February 1st
Gibbons, Stella - Cold Comfort Farm
February 6th & 8th
February 13th & 15th
Burgess, Anthony - A Clockwork Orange
February 20th & 22st
February 27th & 29th
Fielding, Helen - Bridget Jones’s Diary
March 6th & 8th
March 13th & 15th
Hornby, Nick - High Fidelity
March 20th & 22nd
March 27th & 29th
Reading Review & Dry-Run of Final Examination
April 3rd & 5th
Final Exam
April 14th

Support material available on Library Reserve.

The two recommended texts underly lecture & should be read if superior insight & subject knowledge be valued by the student.

The asssigned chapters for Kipling, Stalky & Co., are 'Stalky', 'In Ambush', The Moral Reformers, Regulus, and Slaves of the Lamp, Pt. II.

Assignment Deadlines.
Nb: There is a four percent per day late penalty for assignments, documented medical or bereavement leave excepted. For medical exemptions, provide a letter from a physician on letterhead which declares his or her medical judgement that illness or injury prevented work on the essay. The letter must cover the entire period over which the assignment was scheduled and may be verified by telephone. For any matter effecting deadlines, consult with the TA in person and before the assignment period.

1. Mid term paper, fifteen hundred words. Emphasis will be equally on literary analysis and writing mechanics. Topics blogged in February 8th; first essay version due in lecture February 22nd; graded & returned March 8th; final revision due in lecture March 15th; Revision Graded & returned in lecture. Assignment worth 20% of course grade: 5% of this is the grade on the first version and 15% the grade on the revision.
2. Group e-text writing project: TA handout.
3. Individual class presentation: TA handout.
4. Final exam: Saturday April 14th 08:30 – 11:30 am. See GoSFU “View my Exam Schedule” for Room Number.

Course Approach

The course is working toward an understanding of two literary genres originating in Britain: chick-lit and lad-lit. The genres exist as an empirical fact of print culture: writers write, publishers publish, marketers market and journalists ... well, let's say journalists look for money, under those headings. We will look at a historical arc of texts in each of the two genres and submit them to a literary-critical analysis.

Read the material well in advance at least once, attend lectures & seminars and participate in seminar discussion, and you’re more than halfway to success. The Final Exam is based entirely on lecture material and knowledge of course texts.

Course requirement weighting:
10% Course participation
15% Seminar presentation
20% Group e-Text project
20% Mid-term paper (approx. 1500 words)
35% Final examination

Nb: “Participation requires both participation in seminar and attendance and punctuality at lecture and seminar."

Instructor Contact:
Office Hours: 3220 -- Tuesday and Thursday: 10:30-12:30. Bring your coffee and discuss course matters freely. E-mail to ogden@sfu.ca Please only use your SFU account for e-mail contact. Other e-Mail accounts are blocked by white-list.