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Monday, July 07, 2008

The Rise of English - Some pointers for MA English students

  • The Roles of Mathew Arnold, F R Leavis and TS Eliot in shaping Englsih literary studies in England
  • Arnold's relationship with the rising middle class
  • The romantic recourse to and obsesion symbol and the consequent loss
  • Religion and literature as similar in terms of ideology
  • The conception of literature disseminated by Scrutiny
  • Conception of Practical criticism
  • Conception of new criticism
  • Historical conditions that necessitated the birth of new criticism in the US
  • Notion of ogranic society
  • Our Leavisian legacy
  • The pedagogic narrative of literary studies

Feel free to add more pointers in the comment section below

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

sir,
we know u r an expert in english lit..but the way u r teaching in m.a eng class is really not going inside our heads..every day u give us 1 huge essay to read and the very next day u expect us to explain the matter to u..half of the students in the class talk all irrelevant topics but u happily nod ur head and explain them..like marxism,russsian movements etc.. i'm not saying dat u should not do so but bits not needed to go to such extent when the matter is not actually needed for exams...u cover all philosophical aspects of literature..moreover we don't have any books to follow..sir,its our request that whenever u give an essay please explain it to us page by page and then after u complete the text u take our response sheets ang judge each one's understanding...or else please tell us any book's name...please...
hope u didnot mind!we love u...

Anonymous said...

sir,
how much we may say that we study only for knowledge but the truth is that we study for marks and also for job...so if we are not able to follow all the lectures then our marks will be poor...so please give us a proper course structure n also books so that we can pass out well...

Anil Pinto said...

Will sort it out in the class tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

i had an impulse to keep it 'anon' like my dear classmate but decided otherwise.
actually i felt the necessity to write this blog because reading it and yet not responding to it seemed to me a gesture of accepting it...AND I BEG TO DIFFER!

i think the way sir is teaching is perfectly fine.n his opinion of not giving texts but discussing concepts is what is done in any good Masters program.
most importantly my friend was too bold to assume-- quite wrongly-- that "we" all say that "we study for knowledge but the truth is that we study for marks and also for job"...we need pass marks and good marks but for quite a few of us it is not of primary importance at this level...at least i wudnt have come this far if i had craved only for marks...

about irrelevant topics in class...i really dont know wat ur definition of 'relevance' is but yeah according to me if u had read the essay i think u might have found some relevance!

i think(i can only guess)when we came to do our masters here it was ur own n conscious decision...then y the hell are "we" complaining now???

with no offence,but what exactly did u expect to be taught in MA english??i hope u didnt come here with the expectation to be taught a few textbooks page by page,n to be given marks on that!...dont u think we are a little too old for that???
MA here is special bcoz here they chose to keep it very research-oriented n with that in mind 1 essay every day is what we have to do even if we find it boring.

i intend no offence to my classmate but since he/she said "we", i felt myself included in her blog and that too very wrongly...this was just to make my stand clear.

Anil Pinto said...

Thank you for the different perspectives the on the theory class. Let me ensure you that the present comments are well-taken and you are encouraged to be open about your concerns or challenges.

The course and the paper are designed in such a way as to initiate independent learning and critical thinking in the participants of the course. The course clearly deviates from exam oriented or degree-oriented teaching learning. Hence, the continuous evaluation and the division of marks into 10+10+5+25+50=100. As promised i have already circulated the syllabus and posted it on my blog for you reference.

While the classes are geared towards the course and paper objectives, should you have difficulty please feel free to raise your questions in the classroom or email or post your concerns on the blog.

However, i insist that you do read the essays however difficult you may find them. Have critical stands on them based on your other reading and your own experience.

As per books for supplementary reading, we have a fairly good library, please make use of it. There is also JSTOR and Project Muse available on college internet network. In case there are areas where books are not there, do inform me. I will arrange for them at the earliest.

Anil Pinto said...

All the best for the rigorous academic session ahead.

Anil Pinto said...

In order to help you make a more focussed reading, subject to availability of time i will try to give some pointers on my blog for focussed reading.