Course Syllabus for AP/EN 4584 A. 3.0 (W) 20 th Century British Literary Humour

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1 HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION This description is of a historical offering for this course and is provided for student reference only. Students should not expect that the course offered in Summer 2013 will replicate these texts or grade breakdowns. An updated description will be posted as soon as possible. Course Syllabus for AP/EN 4584 A. 3.0 (W) 20 th Century British Literary Humour Course description This course looks in depth at British humour in the 20th century from the perspective of current cognitive and literary theories of humour. We consider how British literary humor writing differs from its American counterpart. Writers surveyed include P.G. Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh, Kingsley Amis, Tom Sharpe, Sue Townsend, and Helen Fielding. Course objectives Students should gain an appreciation for humour writing as an integral component of British literature in the 20 th century and should be able to provide a cogent analysis of a work of British literary humour using the tools of contemporary cognitive and literary theory. Course requirements Students read assigned readings and prepare a term paper worth 40% of the final grade on one author's approach to humour in the context of the literary and cognitive theories covered in the course. Students will also be asked to submit a short paper worth 15% of the grade preliminary to the term paper to ensure they are on the right track. Two quizzes (15% each) will be administered to motivate students to read the assigned works. Participation will count for 15% of the final grade. Brief description of assignments The short paper should analyze an aspect of one of the assigned novels from the perspective of one or more of the articles in the section Some Additional Resources (SAR) below. You may substitute any outside analytical readings of your choice for SAR articles as long as you receive explicit written permission (e.g., via ) from the instructor to do so. Potential topics for the short paper include any of the psychological theories in Martin (psychoanalytic, superiority, arousal, incongruity, reversal, or schema theory, or Bakhtin s idea of the carnivalesque, as applied to Thank You, Jeeves, by P.G. Wodehouse. The short paper should be no more than 1000 words long. The term paper, which should be no longer than 3000 words, should compare and contrast two distinct analytical approaches, one literary (e.g., Bakhtin, Frye, Pye) and one psychological/cognitive (e.g., the theories in Martin listed above) as they apply to

2 one of the assigned novels. Thus, you might compare Frye s analysis of comedy in his section on the Mythos of Spring with cognitive schema theory in relation to Tom Sharpe s Wilt. Or you could compare Freudian with semantic distance theories in relation to Helen Fielding s Bridget Jones s Diary. Do you find one of the two approaches more illuminating as regards the comic thrust of the novel? Are the two approaches complementary or contradictory? You may analyze the same novel in both your short paper and your term paper, and for one of the two analytical approaches in your term paper you may use the same approach you used in your short paper. Note, however, that any paper that simply repeats what was discussed in class will not be considered satisfactory. Reading List P.G. Wodehouse (1933). Thank You, Jeeves. (Arrow, , 2008 ed., 256 pp.) Evelyn Waugh (1938). Scoop. (Penguin Classics, , 2003 ed., 240 pp.) Kingsley Amis (1954) Lucky Jim. (Penguin Modern Classics, , 2010 ed., 265 pp. ) Tom Sharpe (1976). Wilt. (Arrow, , 2002 ed., 325 pp.) Sue Townsend (1984) The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole: (Penguin, , 2002 ed., 288 pp.) Helen Fielding (1996). Bridget Jones's Diary (Penguin Ink, , 2010 ed., 271 pp.) (Note: You may choose to read other editions of the above novels, though you should be aware that the pagination and organization may differ in them. The required readings in the course schedule refer to the chapters or sections in the editions listed above, and in class I will generally refer to the pagination in these particular editions.) Martin, Rod A. (2007). The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach (Amsterdam: Elsevier), Chaps. 2-4, pp Raskin, Victor (ed.) (2008). The Primer of Humor Research. (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter), Chaps. By the Nilsens and Triezenberg. Attendance and participation: I will not keep an attendance log for grading purposes. However, it will be virtually impossible for you to achieve a good mark for class participation if you often are late to class or miss classes altogether. Note that participation does not mean simply attending: All students are expected to contribute to class discussions as indicated in the schedule, especially during seminar presentations. For purposes of the quizzes, students will be responsible for all information conveyed in class whether they have attended or not. If you miss a class, you should seek notes from another class member you can rely on. Extensions: Writing assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date indicated unless you are presenting a seminar that day, in which case you will automatically be

3 given a one-week extension. In all other cases, a nonmedical extension may be granted if the instructor receives a student s request at least fourteen days before the assignment s due date. A medical extension will be given only in case of illness or family emergency supported by a doctor s note or a letter from York s Counselling and Disability Services (CDS). Papers turned in late without an extension will be marked down as follows: 1-2 days, 1 grade point (e.g., B+ to B); 3-4 days; 2 grade points (e.g., B+ to C+); 5-6 days, 3 grade points (e.g., B+ to C); 7 or more days, 4 grade points (e.g., B+ to D+). A paper not turned in by the last date to submit term work (August 3), will necessarily receive a grade of 0 (zero) on that assignment. Note that if you turn in an assignment late, the instructor will only accept it in person or as an attachment. Do not leave an assignment in the PRWR or English office or under the instructor s office door. Make-up quizzes and presentations: A student who for medical or family emergency reasons cannot attend class on the day of a quiz or his/her seminar presentation and who has a doctor s note or letter from the York CDS should arrange an alternate date with the instructor when a make-up quiz can be administered or presentation can be given. A student who must be absent from a quiz or his/her presentation for other reasons may also be given a make-up date if the instructor receives the request at least fourteen days before the normal quiz or presentation date. Otherwise, students who are absent from a quiz or presentation will receive a grade of 0 (zero) on that quiz or presentation. Students with disabilities: If you have a disability and require accommodation on assignments and/or quizzes, please notify the course director as early as possible in the term. York provides services for students with disabilities (including physical, medical, learning and psychiatric disabilities) needing accommodation related to teaching and evaluation methods/materials. It is the student's responsibility to register with disability services as early as possible to ensure that appropriate academic accommodation can be provided with advance notice. Failure to make these arrangements may jeopardize your opportunity to receive academic accommodations. Additional information is available at York s Academic Honesty Policy and Student Conduct Standards: All students are expected to familiarize themselves with York s Academic Honesty Policy at and the Standards of Student Conduct at Students and instructors are expected to maintain a professional relationship characterized by courtesy and mutual respect and to refrain from actions disruptive to such a relationship. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the instructor to maintain an appropriate academic atmosphere in the classroom, and the responsibility of the student to cooperate in that endeavour. Further, the instructor is the best person to decide, in the first instance, whether such an atmosphere is present in the class. A

4 statement of the policy and procedures involving disruptive and/or harassing behaviour by students in academic situations is available on the York website Course Enrolment Space is limited to Yr 4 EN/CRWR/PRWR/ENPR Honours.

5 Course Schedule Date Topic Assignments/ Required Reading Jan 9 Course Introduction Jan 16 Approaches to Humour Triezenberg, Nilsens (in Raskin) Martin, Chaps. 2-4 Jan 23 Wodehouse Wodehouse (chaps 1-15) Jan 30 Wodehouse, Waugh Wodehouse (chaps 16-22), Waugh (book 1) Feb 6 Waugh Waugh (books 2 & 3) Feb 13 Amis Quiz 1 Amis (chaps 1-6) Feb 20 No Class Reading Week Feb 27 Amis, Sharpe Short paper due Amis (chaps 7-25) Sharpe (chaps 1-6) Mar 6 Sharpe Sharpe (chaps 7-21) Mar 13 Townsend Townsend (2 June 23 Sep) Mar 20 Townsend Townsend (23 Sep 5 May) Mar 27 Fielding Quiz 2 Fielding (New Year s Mar) Apr 3 Fielding Term paper due Fielding (Mar Dec) Important Dates Jan 21 - Last date to enrol without permission of instructor Feb 4 - Last date to enrol with permission of instructor Mar 15 - Last date to drop course without receiving a grade Apr 8 - Last date to submit Winter term work

6 Some Additional Resources Attardo, Salvatore (1997). The Semantic Foundations of Cognitive Theories of Humor. Humor - International Journal of Humor Research: Vol. 10, No. 4, pp Attardo, Salvatore (2008). A Primer for the Linguistics of Humor. In Raskin (ed.), pp Bakhtin, Mikhail (1968[1965]). Rabelais and His World. Trans. by Helene Iswolsky. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press). Bonnstetter, Beth E. (2011) Mel Brooks Meets Kenneth Burke (and Mikhail Bakhtin): Comedy & Burlesque in Satiric Film. Journal of Film and Video, March 1, 2011 Frye, Northrup (1957). Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Gardiner, Michael (1993) Bakhtin s Carnival: Utopia as Critique. In David Shepherd (ed.), Critical Studies: Vol. 3, No. 2 & Vol. 4, Nos. 1 & 2. Reprinted as Critical Studies: Bakhtin and Other Subjects (Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi), pp Martin, Rod A. (2007). The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach (Amsterdam: Elsevier), Chaps. 2-4, pp Nilsen, Aileen and Don (2008). Literature and Humor. In Raskin (ed.), pp Pye, Gillian (2006). Comedy Theory and the Postmodern. Humor International Journal of Humor Research, Volume 19, Issue 1, Pages Raskin, Victor (ed.) (2008). The Primer of Humor Research. (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter). Veatch, Thomas C. (1998). A Theory of Humor. Humor - International Journal of Humor Research: Volume 11, Issue 2, pp James Wood, 2004, The Irresponsible Self: On Laughter and the Novel

MUS Chamber Choir (TR 2-250) Spring 2014 COURSE SYLLABUS

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