University of the PhilippinesDiliman
College of Arts and Letters
Department of English and Comparative Literature
First Semester, 20172018
English 11: Literature and Society (3.0 units)
Timothy Ong
Course Description
A study of various literary genres as a dynamic interaction between the individual and social
and cultural forces.
Course Objectives
To enable students to understand literary texts and to help them explore the texts
various contexts.
To introduce students to critical approaches.
To hone the students reading and writing skills.
Specifically, the course aims:
To help students explore and analyze the formal elements of the various literary genres.
To examine differing views in literary texts and encourage students to critically examine
their own perspectives within national and global contexts.
To enable students to place themselves in the midst of social, historical, and cultural
flux.
Course Outline and Timeframe
SESSION 1: Course Introduction
INTRODUCTION TO FICTION
SESSION 2: The Short Story and Its Reader
Why Short Stories Are Essential and Why They Are Seldom Read, Charles E. May (USA)
A Long Walk to Forever, Kurt Vonnegut (USA)
THE TEXT AND ITS FORMAL ELEMENTS
SESSION 3: Plot and Narration
The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe (USA)
SESSION 4: Character and Point of View
In a Grove, Ryunosuke Akugawa (Japan)
SESSION 5: Setting
The Storm, Kate Chopin (USA)
Midsummer, Manuel Arguilla (Philippines)
SESSION 6: Symbol and Theme
Dead Stars, Paz Mrquez-Benitez (Philippines)
EXPLORING CONTEXTS
SESSION 7: Critical Contexts: Metafiction
Ad Infinitum: A Short Story, John Barth (USA)
SESSION 8: Cultural and Historical Contexts
The Headstrong Historian, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
SESSION 9: Special Topic: Science Fiction
Film: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Mamoru Hosoda (dir., 2006) (Japan)
SESSION 10: The Novel
The Stranger, Albert Camus (France)
SESSION 11: EXAM
INTRODUCTION TO POETRY
SESSION 12: The Poetic Impulse
Message in a Bottle, from How to Read a Poem, Edward Hirsch (USA)
Introduction to Poetry, Billy Collins (USA)
Let Me Tell You What a Poem Brings, Juan Felipe Herrera (Mexico/USA)
THE TEXT AND ITS FORMAL ELEMENTS
SESSION 13: Persona and Dramatic Situation
Las Ruinas del Corazon, Eric Gamalinda (Philippines)
[You who never arrived], Rainier Maria Rilke (Austria)
The Triumph of Achilles, Louise Glck (USA)
SESSION 14: Imagery and Figurative Language
Drinking Alone By Midnight, Li Bai (China)
A Sketch for a Modern Love Poem, Tadeusz Rewicz (Poland)
The Red Wheelbarrow, William Carlos Williams (USA)
SESSION 15: Feeling and Tone
Tonight I can write the saddest lines, Pablo Neruda (Chile)
The Cinnamon Peeler, Michael Ondaatje (Sri Lanka/Canada)
Wishbone, Richard Siken (USA)
SESSION 16: Sound
ygUDuh , e. e. cummings (USA)
The Windhover, Gerard Manley Hopkins (UK)
Send Me To The Moon, Conchitina Cruz (Philippines)
SESSION 17: Poetic Forms
Haiku: Selections from Hashimoto, Issa, and Bash (Japan)
Sonnet: Sonnet CXVI, William Shakespeare (UK)
Prose Poetry: The Colonel, Carolyn Forch (USA)
EXPLORING CONTEXTS
SESSION 18: Critical Contexts: Modernist Poetry
The Second Coming, William Butler Yeats (Ireland)
In a Station of the Metro, Ezra Pound (USA)
Instead of a Preface, Anna Akhmatova (Russia)
SESSION 19: Cultural Contexts: Selected Southeast Asian Poetry
Where I Am From, Ma. Fatima V. Lim (Philippines)
Tongues, Mikael de Lara Co (Philippines)
Zero Child Policy, Cyril Wong (Singapore)
My Country and My People, Lee Tzu Pheng (Singapore)
SESSION 20: Special Topic: Poetry in Film
Film: Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa (The Dance of Two Left Feet),
Alvin Yapan (dir., 2011) (Philippines)
SESSION 21: EXAM
INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA
SESSION 2223: Drama on Stage and on the Page
Poetics, Aristotle (Greece)
SESSION 2425: Classical Drama
Oedipus Rex, Sophocles (Greece)
SESSION 2627: Contemporary Drama
Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett (Ireland)
EXPLORING CONTEXTS
SESSION 28: Critical Context: Jean-Paul Sartre
No Exit, Jean-Paul Sartre (France)
SESSION 29: EXAM
SESSION 30: PAPER DUE
*Readings are included in the Eng 11 reader provided by the professor, except for book-length
texts, some of which will be uploaded separately on the class e-group. Alternatively, copies of
all book-length texts will be provided for photocopying. Finally, supplementary readings may
be given to the students to deepen specific topics covered in class.
Course Requirements
Class participation 15%
Short quizzes 15%
Group report 10%
3 Unit Exams 45%
Synthesis paper 15%
100%
Grading System
1.0 97100 Excellent 2.5 7981 Satisfactory
1.25 9496 * 2.75 7678 *
1.5 9193 Very Good 3 7075 Pass
1.75 8890 * 5 69 Fail
2 8587 Good INC Incomplete
2.25 8284 * DRP Dropped
Classroom Policies
Proper, disciplined behavior is expected. This also means that the student is expected to
have read and prepared for the days activities.
Laptops, mobile phones, tablets, and other gadgets are allowed in class as long as they
do not cause disruptions.
Papers should follow the MLA format and must be printed on A4-sized sheets (scratch
papers recommended but not mandatory). Electronic submissions will not be accepted,
unless otherwise specified by the professor.
Attendance maximum of 6 cuts, no distinction between excused and unexcused cut.
Students will be marked 5.0 (Fail) on the 7th cut. Should you decide to drop the course,
please inform the professor before the deadline for dropping of subjects to avoid
getting a grade of 5.0.
Tardiness
Attendance will be checked 10 minutes after the start of class. Anyone who comes
in after that up to 30 minutes after the start of class will be considered late. Anyone
who comes in after the 30th minute will incur a cut.
3 lates make 1 cut.
Late submissions major requirements (15% and up) can be made-up, subject to
deductions, one grade per day late (including weekends and holidays); minor
requirements (less than 15%) may or may not be made-up. Papers may be submitted up
to seven (7) days after the deadline, after which it will get a grade of 5.0.
Plagiarism plagiarism for a minor requirement (including drafts) will result in 5.0 for
that requirement; plagiarism for a major requirement (including drafts) will result in 5.0
for the course.
Consultation Hours
TWThF, PAV 1120, 1:00PM2:30PM, 4:00PM5:00PM; at all other times, by appointment.
Email: tfong@up.edu.ph
