Genre and Literary Analysis

URL study guide

https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2025-2026/L_ELBALES105

Course Objective

After having successfully completed this course, students will be able to: analyze a variety of literary texts using the skill of close reading; provide an interpretation of a literary text, in class and in writing;support their interpretation with evidence from the text.

Course Content

This course will provide a grounding in critical analysis of genre in English Literature as well as provide a thorough introduction to the concept of close reading, which will be the basis of all courses in our program. This course examines the specificities and characteristics that are associated with various genres of literature -
- poetry, fiction, and drama -
- and guides the student through an understanding that genre and literary form helps shape the way we look at and analyze a text. Students will become familiar with the terminology used in literary analysis.

Teaching Methods

2x2 hrs seminar hours each week (4 hrs in total p/w).

Method of Assessment

Written assignments on Canvas (20%) and a final exam (80%). A pass grade for the exam is required to pass the course.

Literature

To be announced on Canvas.

Target Audience

Students of the BA track Literature and Society: English / Exchange students

Custom Course Registration

There is a slightly different enrollment procedure for this module. The standard procedure of the Faculty of Humanities has students sign up for (i) the module, and (ii) the form of tuition (lecture and/or preferred seminar group). However, for this module the instructor will assign the students to the seminar groups. Therefore, students should sign up for (i) the module, but not for (ii) the seminar groups.

Additional Information

Attendance in the course seminars is compulsory. If you are absent for more than 3 seminars (20%), you cannot pass the course. Exceptions may be made in grave personal circumstances. Make sure to inform both your lecturer and the academic advisor in such cases.

Entry Requirements

Students must have participated in Literary Theory (L_ELBALES101).