From Middleearth to Westeros Analysing Fantasy

The courses -From Middleearth to Westeros: Analysing Fantasy- and -You Win or You Die – Exploring the Seven Kingdoms- form a four-hour unit which should be taken together; students are therefore expected to sign up for both courses. Students of BA-LKM 2011 thus can complete module 2 in one term by taking both courses together. The section -From Middleearth...- first introduces the genre of fantasy on a broader level, discussing definitions, theoretical approaches, and extracts from major representatives of the genre (e.g. Tolkien, Lewis, Pullman). In the second section, -You Win or You Die...-, we shall then focus on a most recent example of fantasy: G.R. Martin's monumental A Song of Ice and Fire, both the novel(s) and the HBO series. Students are expected to read at least the first two novels of the series (A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings; anyone reading further into the series is welcome to do so), which we are going to discuss together with their TV realization in the H.B.O. series (of course, familiarity with the series is expected, too). If possible, we shall include discussions of the third series which is supposed to be aired from April 2013 (and which is said to include half of the third novel, A Storm of Swords). This will give us an opportunity to test our critical skills with brand new material. In sum, the course intends to introduce students to the genre of fantasy and to methods and skills of interpreting literary texts and TV material, with the aim of developing adequate research questions and approaches for writing a term paper at the end of the course. For the first section of the course (-From Middleearth to Westeros-), students will be expected to have purchased and read at least one book each of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, Lewis's Narnia series and Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. More familiarity with these authors' works as well as with other fantasy texts (esp. Martin's A Game of Thrones) is highly welcome. Texts on the theory of the fantasy genre will be provided in class. For the second section of the course (-You Win or You Die-) students will be expected to have purchased and read George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings and to have watched the first two seasons of the H.B.O. series. They are encouraged to read as much into the further novels of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, as possible. Anglistik - Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft BA LKM 2011: successful completion of module 1 (1.1 AND 1.2!) Lehramt GY alt: successful completion of module 1.1 Lehramt G, HRG, BK alt: none Please note that you will not be able to obtain any -Leistungspunkte- if you do not fulfil these requirements. Please note that the following requirements apply to the entire unit (i.e. -Analysing Fantasy- plus -You Win or You Die-: A) 2 LP and 3 LP Studienleistung: regular and active participation in class (includes attendance and active contribution to in-class discussions and assignments); Contribution to the Game of Thrones Wiki (500-1000 words, to be submitted by 16 June 2013) B) 3 LP Studienleistung + 3 LP Studienleistung and 5 LP: all of A) plus contributing to one of the expert groups of your choice (information on expert groups will be given in the first session) C) 3 LP Prüfungsleistung: written term paper of 3500 to 4500 words, to be handed in by 31 August 2013. You should have agreed on a topic for your term paper with your course instructor by 26 July the latest (please note that term papers can only be discussed in my office hourse, not via e-mail!) Important: 3 LP Prüfungsleistung presupposes a successful passing of 3+3LP Studienleistung in this module. (usually, this means you must have done B to be allowed to do C) D) 7 LP: B) plus written term paper of 3500 to 4500 words, to be handed in by 31 August 2013. You should have agreed on a topic for your term paper with your course instructor by 26 July the latest (please note that term papers can only be discussed in my office hourse, not via e-mail!) Universität Siegen 20131 SoSe 2013 Univ.-Prof. Dr. Müller Anja