Analyzing Text and Context (LIT 212)

2022 Spring
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Literature(LIT)
3
6
Sibel Irzık sibeli@sabanciuniv.edu,
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English
Undergraduate
--
Interactive lecture,Workshop,Seminar
Interactive,Learner centered,Communicative,Discussion based learning,Task based learning
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CONTENT

Whatever our profession or interests, we are surrounded by texts in our daily lives: newspapers, advertising, instruction manuals and novels, to name only a few. This course introduces the interpretive strategies necessary to be critical readers of the texts we encounter. While the emphasis will be primarily on the written word and the methods of literary criticism, the course may also take up other cultural "texts," in a larger sense, ranging from film and video to fashion and opera. In all cases, the production, reception and use of texts in specific cultural contexts will be given close attention.

OBJECTIVE

This course introduces the interpretive strategies necessary to be critical readers of the texts we encounter. While the emphasis will be primarily on the written word and the methods of literary criticism, the course may also take up other cultural "texts," in a larger sense, ranging from film and video to fashion and opera. In all cases, the production, reception and use of texts in specific cultural contexts will be given close attention.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • an appreciation of the complexities of literary language and literary texts and an awareness of the interconnections between literature and its social, political, cultural contexts
  • an understanding of the basic skills of literary interpretation and of how different texts can be read in relation to each other
  • ability to identify connections between textual analysis and methodologies of cultural analysis used in disciplines such as sociology, visual studies and anthropology
  • knowledge of how to apply the methods of textual and cultural analysis to write an academic paper

PROGRAMME OUTCOMES


1. Understand the world, their country, their society, as well as themselves and have awareness of ethical problems, social rights, values and responsibility to the self and to others. 5

2. Understand different disciplines from natural and social sciences to mathematics and art, and develop interdisciplinary approaches in thinking and practice. 5

3. Think critically, follow innovations and developments in science and technology, demonstrate personal and organizational entrepreneurship and engage in life-long learning in various subjects; have the ability to continue to educate him/herself. 3

4. Communicate effectively in Turkish and English by oral, written, graphical and technological means. 5

5. Take individual and team responsibility, function effectively and respectively as an individual and a member or a leader of a team; and have the skills to work effectively in multi-disciplinary teams. 4


1. Develop knowledge of theories, concepts, and research methods in humanities and social sciences. 5

2. Assess how global, national and regional developments affect society. 4

3. Know how to access and evaluate data from various sources of information. 5


1. Demonstrate an understanding of the multiple methodologies and interpret different approaches, concepts, and theoretical legacies in the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies. 5

2. Identify interconnections of knowledge within and across the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, literature, visual studies, philosophy, and geography. 5

3. Cultivate a critical approach to the study of culture, articulating the relations between culture, power, and history; exploring cultural diversity and socio-cultural change at the local, national and global level; and exploring the corresponding demands for rights and social justice. 5

4. With the use of appropriate technologies, be able to present advanced oral and written evaluations of developments in the realm of cultural production, consumption, and representation. 5


1. Demonstrate safe working habits and a general understanding of materials and processes in the visual arts. 1

2. Demonstrate knowledge of representational processes using visual as well as audial material as mediums of representation. 4

3. Show working knowledge of the process of transforming abstract/textual concepts into concrete, audio/visual forms. 3

4. Appreciate and express the cultural significance of art and understand its evolution and purposes. 4

5. Develop an awareness of compositional and organizational strategies for the effective deployment of formal elements of visual art. 1

6. Read visual texts with a deep knowledge of art history and theory and the ability of situating the content and form of the visual representation both in a historical and thematic context. 2

7. Employ necessary background knowledge regarding art administration in the body of museums and galleries. 1

8. Show a practical and technical command of materials and methods in one or more media of the visual arts. 1

ASSESSMENT METHODS and CRITERIA

  Percentage (%)
Midterm 30
Assignment 30
Term-Paper 30
Participation 10

RECOMENDED or REQUIRED READINGS

Readings

Balzac, Honoré de. Sarrasine. 1830. Hard Press, 2006.
Foucault, Michel, ed. Herculine Barbin, Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth-Century Hermaphrodite. New York: Colophon, 1980.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Herland and Selected Stories. 1915. Signet Classics, 1992.
Laclos, Pierre Choderlos. Dangerous Liaisons. 1782. London: Penguin, 1961.
Lee, Tanith. "Wolfland."Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North American and England. Ed. Jack Zipes. New York: Routledge, 1991.
LeGuin, Ursula K. The Left Hand of Darkness. 1969. Orbit, 1982.
Sexton, Anne. "Red Riding Hood." Transformations. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1972.
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. 1601