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Literature Syllabus - 2012

Teacher: Laura Smietniansky Year: 4th

General Aims:

To enable students to:

Understand and respond to literary texts in different forms and from different

periods and cultures

Communicate an informed personal response appropriately and effectively. Experience literatures contribution to aesthetic, imaginative and intellectual

growth

Appreciate different ways in which writers achieve their effects

Express ideas, feelings and opinions in written discourse in an adequate standard

of production.

Develop their dictionary skills in order to explore how writers use words.

Unit 1: Life and Death, Journeys.

Prose: Stories of Ourselves selection. Alex La Gumas The Lemon Orchard,

Jhumpa Lahiris The Third and Final Continent, Bernard MacLavertys Secrets,Borden Deals The Taste of Watermelon, Tim Wintons On Her Knees.

Intertextuality among stories. Thematic links.

Narrative Structure: plot, point of view, characterization, turning points, climatic

moments and epiphanic resolutions.

Symbolic implication: titles, symbols and motifs. Symbolic use of setting (pathetic

fallacy and dramatic irony).

Signs of cultural identity and cultural gaps.

Strategy Training: IGCSE Literature types of task (empathic, passage based,

essay, unseen text)

Extensive Reading: An Astrologers Day, Focus on Plot. Crime and Punishment,Focus on Character.

Unit 2: The natural and the supernatural; reality and fantasy.

Prose: Stories of Ourselves selection. Ray Bradburys There Will Come Soft

Rains, John Wyndhams Meteor, Arthur Conan Doyles How It Happened,

Charles Dickens The Signalman, Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wall

Paper.

Intertextuality among stories. Thematic links.

Narrative Structure: plot, point of view, characterization, turning points, climatic

moments and epiphanic resolutions.

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Symbolic implication: titles, symbols and motifs. Symbolic use of setting (pathetic

fallacy and dramatic irony).

Signs of cultural identity and cultural gaps.

The literary essay: thesis, style, form (Introduction, Body, Conclusion)

Answering empathic questions.

Extensive Reading: Kill to Eat, Focus on Setting. Focus on Context.

Unit 3

Poetry: Songs of Ourselves selection. Hardys The Voice, Curnows Time,

Arnolds Dover Beach, Richs Amends, Hughes Full Moon and Little Frieda,

Clarkes Lament, KeatsOn the Grasshopper and the Cricket, Lindsays The

Flower-Fed Buffaloes, Chengs Report to Wordsworth, Clares First Love,

Scotts Marrysong, Byrons So Well Go No More A-Roving, Sonnet 43,

Sonnet 29.

Literary Analysis: theme & tone, underlying meanings, literary devices: imagery,metaphors & similes, alliteration & anaphora. Rhyme scheme. Context of

production.

Vocabulary: expository terms for logical order (Beginning, Middle and End words),

transition words (Addition, Contrast, Time, Cause and Result, Manner or Method,

Condition)

The literary essay: How to Quote (Form and Relevance). Revision strategies:

Checking for Content, Organization and Clarity. Spelling, Punctuation and

Capitalization.

Answering empathic questions.

Extensive Reading: Global Tales. Focus on Language and Theme.

Unit 4

Drama: R. C. Sherriffs Journeys End.

Literary Analysis: Characters, relationships, situations and themes. Writers

intentions and methods through language.

The literary essay: How to Quote. Revision Strategies: Checking for Grammar and

Sentence Structure. Spelling and punctuation.

Answering empathic questions.

Extensive Reading: Global Tales. Focus on Setting.

Unit 5

Drama: William Shakespeares Richard III.

Literary Analysis: Characters, relationships, situations and themes. Writers

intentions and methods through language. The conventions of drama: the soliloquy,

the aside, the supernatural. Focus on stage directions.

Extensive Reading: Global Tales. Focus on Context and Language.

Assessment C riteria :

In order to get a pass, students must comply with the following:

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Attendance: 80%

Assignments: 70%

Participation: 100%

Formal tests (mini tests, quarterlies, etc.): above 7 in all the tests

Compulsory bibliography:

Global Tales. Stories from many cultures. Longman Imprint Books.

SHAKESPEARE, William. Richard III.

SHERRIFF, R. C. (1929). Journeys end. Essex: Heinemann.

Songs of Ourselves: The University of Cambridge International Examinations

Anthology of Poetry in English. CUP.

Stories of Ourselves: The University of Cambridge International Examinations

Anthology of Short Stories in English. CUP.

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