Теоретические вопросы и практические задания к семинарам
Seminar 1. English Literature of the Middle Ages
I. Beowulf
1. Compressing of different historical epochs in the epic as the indictor of stability and firmness of heroic world. Time perspective of the epic.
a) features of pagan and Christian culture
b) story about pagan traditions and paganism accusation.
2. The Epic Space. Its stippling and heterogeneity. Opposite worlds:
a) Heorot as the center of heroic world building. Its “thingness” (furniture pieces, weapon description – naming weapons by proper names – Haggling – the name of Beowulf’s armor), stories about victories, decorations, utensils.
b) Three battles of Beowulf. Tripleness and complication of the trials. Rituality of the battles and the single composition of narration about them: preparations, campaign, fight, forthcomings: Grendel, Grendel’s mother, Beowulf’s last battle. Ability of the hero to exist in both opposed worlds. The connection of his destiny with the destiny of people.
3. Peculiar linguistic features of the epic.
II. G. Chaucer “Canterbury Tales”
1. Pilgrimage as a cultural-historic phenomenon. Rituality. The order of pilgrims.
2. Pilgrimage as a genre.
3. Changing conception about human merits and the change of cultural-historic epochs:
a) the knight and his son (according to Prologue)
b) conception about the knight’s honor and that of the wife of Bath (compare the prologue and the story itself)
4. “Stories” as the encyclopedia of genres:
a) the genre of the knights novel in the knight’s story
b) the wife of bath and the genre of confession
c) parable and the story of the merchant
d) the story about Chanticleer and the traditions of animals epic
e) the friar’s story and the middle ages drama
f) the miller’s and doctor’s tales and the genre of the novel.
Seminar 2. English Literature of Renaissance
I. English Sonnet
1. Sonnet in the system of genres in the Renaissance period.
2. Place of sonnets in Shakespeare works. Basic themes and images in sonnets. Their connection with Shakespeare drama.
3. Spenser’s sonnets 37, 81. Shakespeare’s sonnet 130: the theme of poet and poetry, the theme of the beauty, the theme of combination of truth and fiction in poetry.
4. Spenser’s sonnet 34, Shakespeare’s sonnet 116: the theme of love, its strength and dangers.
5. Wordsworth’s sonnet about the sonnet: comment on the names in the sonnet.
II. Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.
1. What is the significance of the settings of the play? What are the major characteristics of each setting (the Duke's palace, Quince's cottage, and the fairy-enchanted woods)? What significance do forests have in other literary works you're familiar with? What about urban settings? What rules and values apply in the different settings? Why is the story set in ancient Greece — would it have been as effective in contemporary England?
2. Discuss the meanings of the play's title, A Midsummer Night's Dream. In addition to the title, what other references do you find to dreaming in the play? What relationship is created between dreaming and theater (look, for example, at Puck's final speech)? Why is Midsummer important to the themes of the play?
3. The play presents several different couples: Theseus and Hippolyta,; Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius, Titania and Bottom, and Titania and Oberon. What aspects of love are explored in each of these relationships?
4. Gender issues are significant in this drama. What differences are there in the roles and behaviors appropriate to men and women? Do these gender differences still exist today, or are they examples of outdated stereotypes?
5. Many contemporary productions of the play cast the same actor in the role of Theseus and Oberon, and also of Hippolyta and Titania. What does this suggest about the functions of these characters in the play? How are the Hippolyta and Titania similar and/or different? Theseus and Oberon?
6. The adventures of the four young lovers — Demetrius, Lysander, Helena and Hermia — are a necessary aspect of the play, yet many critics have suggested that these four characters are "indistinguishable." Do you agree? What similarities and differences do you find among their personalities? Do you have a favorite among this group?
7. Much has been written about the darker side of this play, its savage, erotic aspects and its violence. For example, the critic Jan Kott finds the eroticism of the play "brutal." On the other hand, the critic Hartley Coleridge says this drama is "all poetry, and sweeter poetry was never written." Which of these critics do you agree with — if either? Overall, is this a sinister, violent, erotic play or a lighthearted, romantic comedy? Support your answer with references from the text.
Seminar 3. English Literature of the Enlightenment period. Daniel Defoe 'Robinson Crusoe' and Jonathan Swift ‘Gulliver’s Travels’
1. Genre of the Novel-diary. Conception of the genres movement from periphery to the center of the genre system. Inclusion out-of-literary genres into the literary sphere:
- business notes
- board journals
- diaries
2. Function of literary experiment: the situation of uninhabited island; the play with the scale. 3. Conception of a genre hero. Difference between “Adventures” and “Travels” and their central characters peculiarities: belief and disbelief in social progress; existence or absence of moral vertical; ability to self-development.
Seminar 4. English ron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
1. Place of the poem in Byron’s literary works, history of its creation.
2. Ideological sense of the poem. The problem of freedom in Byron’s works and its embodiment in the poem.
3. Originality of a genre.
- "Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage" as a lyrical-epic romantic poem.
- Combination of epic and lyrical layers of the narration.
- "Pilgrimage”, travel as an organizing beginning in a free romantic composition of a poem.
4. Problem of the romantic hero:
- "Byronic hero", his features, reflection of typical spirit of the epoch in his image;
- Problem of the central hero of a poem.
5. Image of nature and romantic landscape in a poem, its function.
Tasks:
1. Find out essence of concepts: romanticism, romantic ideology, romantic mentality, romantic personality. Make up a table of the basic rules of romantic aesthetics.
2. What are the basic achievements of the romantic literature?
Seminar 5. English Realism. W. Thackeray “Vanity Fair”
1. Characteristics of the period and the literary movement “Realism”. Main representatives.
2. Give examples of Thackeray's use of symbolism in figures of speech and in names.
3. Contrast the two main female characters.
4. Give four of Thackeray's opinions on women. Is he usually complimentary or uncomplimentary?
5. What is Becky's greatest asset? Her greatest fault?
6. How does Rawdon change during his ten years of marriage?
7. What characteristics do Mrs. Clapp, Mrs. Frederick Bullock, and Becky have in common? Discuss and illustrate Becky's acting ability.
9. How does poverty change a character? Illustrate. How does wealth change a character? Illustrate.
10. Discuss Joseph Sedley, his weakness, his virtue. How does he show his vanity?
11. Why does Thackeray call this a novel without a hero? Explain the irony involved.
pare and contrast George Osborne and William Dobbin.
13. How does Rebecca outsmart herself and bring about her downfall?
14. What is the conflict in Vanity Fair? How do plot and idea support each other?
15. Do you believe people today act like those in Vanity Fair? Illustrate.
16. Does Thackeray respect motherhood? If so, what type of motherhood?
17. Do Thackeray's characters seem real to you or like puppets? Why or why not? Illustrate.
Seminar 6. English Neoromanticism and Realism. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by O. Wilde
1. Basic characteristics of literary movements in the English Literature of XIX-XX centuries.
2. O. Wild and his works.
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray
- Why is Basil Hallward reluctant to exhibit the portrait of Dorian Gray?
- What is the "yellow book"?
- What happens when Basil comments that only God can see Dorian's soul?
- What happens at the opium den to arouse James Vane?
- What does Dorian see in the conservatory window at his country estate, and why is it important to the novel?
- Describe Hetty Merton and comment on her significance in the novel.
- What does Dorian see in the portrait after leaving Hetty?
- What does Dorian decide to do with the portrait?
-What do Francis, the coachman, and the footman find in the attic?
Discussion
- Discuss the Faust theme as it relates to Dorian.
- Consider the role of Lord Henry in the novel. Discuss both his persona as a social figure and his relationship with Dorian.
-What is the nature of friendship in the book? Consider specifically Basil, Lord Henry, and Dorian as they relate to each other.
- Of what importance are sin and redemption in the novel?
- Discuss the theme of manipulation as it affects Dorian and those whom he influences.
- What is the role of innocence in this work? Consider specifically Sibyl Vane, Hetty Merton, and Dorian.
-What does the novel reveal about racial and class prejudice in Wilde's era?
- Assume that you are a crime reporter for the St. James's Gazette and that your police informers sneak you into Dorian's home to view the final scene. How would you report it? Whom would you interview? What do you think they say?
- After the events that end the novel, what will Lord Henry have to say at the next dinner party? Invent at least one aphorism for him regarding the matter.
- Is the Picture of Dorian Gray an immoral book? Why or why not? Write a letter to Wilde in which you attempt to convince him of your position.
-What role does Aestheticism play in the novel?
Seminar 7. English Literature of the XX century. James Joyce. Ulysses
1. Main topics and techniques of the literature of this period.
2. At the end of "Telemachus," Stephen decides to leave the Martello Tower. What factors lead to this decision?
3. In "Nestor," how do Mr. Deasy's views on women, history, Jews, and finances anticipate similar viewpoints of other characters in Ulysses? How do his ideas contribute to Joyce's satiric intent in the novel?
4. "Proteus" deals with change. What elements of Stephen's past must he come to terms with? What are his present options?
5. Show how "Calypso" portrays Bloom as a man who delights in the physical world.
6. Discuss how Joyce creates a dreamlike, soporific atmosphere in "The Lotus-Eaters." How does Bloom's relationship with Martha Clifford typify the tone of the episode?
7. Show in detail how "Hades" presents Bloom's estrangement from the Roman Catholic community of Dubliners, as well as his loneliness and his wit.
8. In "Aeolus," what views of Ireland are presented by the discussants in the newspaper office? How does Stephen's Parable of the Plums synthesize many of their ideas?
9. "The Lestrygonians" presents several pedestrian aspects of Dublin life. How does Bloom's point of view concerning these everyday happenings determine what the reader sees?
10. Discuss in detail Stephen's views concerning Shakespeare ("Scylla and Charybdis!'). How are they influenced by his interlocutors? How do they reflect his own personality and problems?
11. Describe Joyce's use of illusions in "The Wandering Rocks." Also, how does the structure of mini-episodes contribute to the over-all form of Ulysses?
12. How do the musical allusions in "The Sirens" define the personalities of Bloom, Simon Dedalus, and the others in the episode?
13. How does Joyce create an ever-increasing atmosphere of gloom and menace in "The Cyclops"? What does the climactic confrontation of Bloom and the Citizen reveal about the two men?
14. How does the "marmalady" style of "Nausicaa" augment Joyce's purpose in the episode? Also, discuss his use of parallel motifs in "Nausicaa."
15. In "The Oxen of the Sun," Joyce parodies several historical periods in the development of the English language. What purpose is served by such satire? Explain in detail.
16. Discuss how the events in "Circe," on both a conscious and an unconscious level, serve as a catharsis — that is, a purgation for Bloom and Stephen.
17. What purpose do the yarns and other fabrications of "Eumaeus!' serve? How do they reflect the major themes in Ulysses?
18. How does the catechetical question-and-answer format contribute to Joyce's conveying a sense of "infinity" and objectivity in "Ithaca"?
19. Discuss in detail the character of Molly Bloom as it is revealed in "Penelope."
Seminar 8. American Literature. General Outline.
1. Periodization. Brief description of the main periods.
2. Literary movements in American literature and their main representatives,
3. American Poetry:
- Emily Dickinson. Dramatic scenarios and New England landscapes illuminate the passionate genius of Dickinson, whose poems represent a broad range of imaginative experience.
- Robert Frost's image as elder statesman is vividly contrasted with his vigorous, poetic exploration of the darker forces of nature and the human condition.
-Walt Whitman Brilliant readings of Whitman's poems demonstrate his American vision and style and vividly convey their poignance and sheer power.
