Overview First Year of English Literature under National University

First year is the beginning of 4 years long, 120 credit BA (honours) course of English Literature. From this 120 credit, only 24 credits are studied in First Year. There are 6 courses included in this year: each of 100 marks and worth 4 credits (total 600 marks and 24 credits). Among these 6 courses, 4 are directly related to English literature or English Language; they are Introduction to Poetry, Introduction to Prose, English Reading Skill, and English Writing Skill. These courses are familiarly known as ‘Main’ course. And the other 2, Political theory and Sociology/Social work are called ‘Allied’ course. Both the main courses and the allied courses carry equal credit (4 credits). And GPA acquired ‘Allied subjects’ worth same as ‘main subjects’ in result calculation. Here is a detailed description of courses included in first year.

Courses/Subjects

Students study 6 courses of total 600 marks (24 credits) in the first year of their academic study of English Literature. As I’ve mentioned earlier, these courses could be divided in two groups: first is the ‘main’ subjects. They are:

Course Code	Course Tittle	Marks	Credit
1152	English Reading Skill	100	4
1153	English Writing Skill	100	4
1154	Introduction to Poetry	100	4
1155	Introduction to Prose: Friction and Non-friction	100	4

And the second group of courses which is mostly called ‘Allied’ courses includes these subjects:

Course Code	Course Tittle	Marks	Credit
6203 *****	Introducing Sociology Or Introduction to Social Work	100	4
6192	Introduction to Political Theory	100	4

Course wise description

English Reading Skill
Course Code: 1152 | Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours

This course was included in the syllabus form from the session 2009-10, mainly intending to help student enhance their English reading skill. In this course, students have to solve different type of question form a piece of (unfamiliar) writing, thus prove his/her comprehension level thereby reading skill. The reading text is generally chosen form different type of writing like descriptive, narrative, expository, argumentative, journalistic, and academic texts e.g. History, philosophy etc. The course seeks to develop students following skills and sub skills:

* Guessing word meanings by using knowledge of word form (class), word function, word structure and formation and most importantly, contextual clues.
* Understanding ornamental expressions and tackling sentence meaning,
* Surveying text organization; Reading for specific information (skimming),
* Reading for general comprehension/gist (scanning), summarizing, predicting and interpreting.
* Recognizing, author’s position, tone and attitude, etc

English Writing Skill
Course Code: 1153 | Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours

This course will focus on helping students develop their writing skills in English with focus on writing correct sentences, using proper punctuation marks, writing with good organization (coherence and cohesion), writing good topic sentences and concluding sentences in paragraphs, writing good introduction, body and conclusion. Students will be required to write:

a) Paragraphs using a variety of techniques such as examples, listing, cause and effect, comparison, contrast, comparison-contrast among others.
b) Descriptive, narrative, expository and argumentative essays
c) Reports
d) Formal and informal letters
e) Amplifications
f) Stories

Introduction to Poetry
Course Code: 1154 | Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours

Introduction to poetry course is intended to introduce students with realm English poetry through giving them an overall idea of Poetry of different poets, ages and other corresponding information. There are 15 poems included in the course of several prominent poets from different ages. They are:

W. Shakespeare—Shall I Compare Thee?
John Donne—Good Morrow
Robert Herrick-- - Daylight in Disorder
W.Wordsworth—I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud
P.B.Shelley—Ozymandias
J.Keats—To Autumn
Elizabeth B.Browning—How Do I Love Thee?
Emily Dickinson—Because I Could not Stop for Death
W.B. Yeats—No Second Troy
R.Frost—Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
D.H. Lawrence—Snake
Dylan Thomas—Fern Hill
Ted Hughes—Pike
Adrienne Rich—Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Kaiser Huq— Ode on a Lungi
In addition to these poems, some related Literary Terms and Prosody has also been included to make the comprehension of the poems easier. 

Introduction to Short Story: Friction and Non-Friction
Course Code: 1155 | Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours

Introduction to Short Story course contains altogether 12 short stories. Among them 6 stories are fractious when rest 6 belongs to Non-friction category. Short stories for non-friction includes passage, address letters and autobiography. The stories included are:

Non-Fiction:

Francis Bacon—Of Studies

Abraham Lincon—Gettysburg Address

Rabindranath Tagore—Letter to Lord Chelmford Rejecting Knighthood

Gorge .Orwell—Shooting an Elephant

Nirad C. Choudhury—River & Rain (from The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian)

Martin Luther King—I Have a Dream

Fiction:

Somershet Maugham-- The Ant and the Grasshopper

James Joyce—Araby

Katherine Mansfield-- The Garden Party

Anita Desai—Games at Twilight

Edgar Allan Poe—The Tell-Tale Heart

Ernest Hemingway—Cat in the Rain

Introducing Sociology
Course Code: 6203| Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours.

Students have to chose either of the either of the ‘Introducing Sociology’ or ‘‘Introduction to Social Work’ course to study. However, Introducing Sociology course discuss basic concept of Sociology. As this course is an ‘Allied’ course, and not directly associated with English literature, many students mistreat it as a ‘less important’ subject that have ‘nothing to do’ with study of English Literature. But whatever it is, it’s score worth same as main course’s score in GPA calculation. To as least o make a good result, this subject must be taken sincerely. This course include:
* Definition, Nature & Scope of Sociology
* Culture, Beliefs & Values
* Globalization, Culture and Society
* Urbanization and Social Formation
* Gender and Society
* Environmental Problems, Natural Disasters and Social Crisis
* Social Inequality
* Types of societies
* Deviance & Social Control
* Health, Illness and Society
To avail the detailed syllabus: click here.

Introduction to Social Work
Course Code: -----,| Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours.

Like ‘Introducing Sociology’ course, ‘Introduction to Social Work’ course discusses the basic concept of social work too. And student’s attitude towards it is also no different from Sociology course. Just like sociology, many students count this course ‘boring and unnecessary’ too.

To view what is studied under this course, click here

Introduction to Political Theory
Course Code: 6192| Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours.

Introduction to Political Theory is another ‘allied course’. Unlike Sociology or Social course, students are to study this course. The negative attitude towards allied course also prevails here. This course includes these topics:

Political Science : Meaning, Nature, Scope, Methods, Relations to other Social Sciences, Importance to Study Political Science.

State : Definition, Elements, State and Government, State and Individual, State and Society, Theories of the origin of the state.

Fundamental concepts : Sovereignty, Law, Liberty, Equality, Rights and Duties, Nation, Nationalism, Internationalism.

Concepts of Political Sociology : Political culture, elite theory, Max Weber and Bureaucracy

Political Thinkers : Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau.

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First Year English (Hons.) Syllabus (Effective from session 2009-10) for Department of English, National University, Bangladesh

First year syllabus is widely available in web. Then why I posted it in my blog again? First reason is the blog is about English literature of Dept. of English of national university, so i posted it to make it more easily available. And the second reason is National University’s official website doesn’t supply any in-page syllabus that could be viewed without downloading thereby If anyone wish to see what is included in First years honours course of Dept. of English, They must download the whole syllabus in pdf format. So here I’m posting the First year HONS. syllabus (effective from session 2009-10) so anyone can see the courses and/or texts included in the syllabus without downloading them.

However, If anyone needs the Syllabus in pdf format, please download it from here.

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National University

Subject: English Syllabus for Four Year B. A Honours Course

Effective from the Session: 2009-2010

  Year wise courses and marks distribution.

First year Honours.

Course Code	Course Title	Marks	Credits
1152	English Reading Skills	100	4
1153	English Writing Skills	100	4
1154	Introduction to Poetry	100	4
1155	Introduction to Prose: Fiction and Non-Fiction	100	4
6203 -----	Introducing Sociology, Or, Introduction to Social Work	100	4
6192	Introduction to Social Work	100	4
	Total	600	4

 Detailed Syllabus

 First Year

Course Code: English Reading Skills, Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

The course seeks to develop students' reading skills and covers the following sub-skills;
a) . Guessing word meanings by using knowledge of word form (class), word function, word structure and formation and most importantly, contextual clues.
b) Understanding ornamental expressions
c) Tackling sentence meaning,
d) Surveying text organization,
e) Reading for specific information (skimming),
f) Reading for general comprehension gist (scanning),
g) Summarizing,
h) Predicting,
i) Interpreting.
j) Recognizing, author's position, tone and attitude
The reading texts will be chosen from different types of writing like descriptive, narrative, expository, argumentative, journalistic, and academic texts e.g. History, philosophy etc.

Recommended Reading

Williams, E. 1984. Reading in the Language Classroom. Mcmillan.
Wallace. 1992. Reading. OUP
Barr. P. Clegg, J. and Wallace, C. 1981. Advanced Reading Skills. Longman Walter,
Catherine. 1982. Authentic Reading. CUP Greenwood, J. 1988. Class Readers. OUP

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Course Code: English Writing Skills, Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

This course will focus on helping students develop their writing skills in English with focus on writing correct sentences, using proper punctuation marks, writing with good organization (coherence and cohesion), writing good topic sentences and concluding sentences in paragraphs, writing good introduction, body and conclusion. Students will be required to write:

a) Paragraphs using a variety of techniques such as examples, listing, cause and effect, comparison, contrast, comparison-contrast among others.
b) Descriptive, narrative, expository and argumentative essays
c) Reports
d) Formal and informal letters
e) Amplifications
f) Stories

Recommended Reading

Alice Oslima, Anna. Introduction to Academic Writing
Beverly Ingran and Carol King From Writing to Composition.  
M. Knight. English Essays for GCE O level 
Patricia Wilcox . Developing Writing 
John Langhan. 2001. College Writing Skills  ( International edition). Mcgraw-Hill
R. R. Jordon. 1995. Academic Writing. OUP
H. Ramsey Fowles. 1983. The Little Brown Handbook. The Little Brown Company.  (Text)

References:
John Langhan. 2001. College Writing Skills  ( International edition). Mcgraw-Hill.
Joseph Gibaldi and Walters S Achtert. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New Delhi:
Affiliated East West Press.
Karen L Greenberg. 1994. Advancing Writer, Book 2. Harper Collins. 
Mary Stephens. Practise Advanced Writing. Longman.
R. R. Jordon. 1995. Academic Writing. OUP

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Course Code: Introduction to Poetry, Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

Poetry:

W. Shakespeare—Shall I Compare Thee?
John Donne—Good Morrow
Robert Merrick— - Daylight in Disorder
W.Wordsworth—I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud
P.B.Shelley—Ozymandias
J.Keats—To Autumn
Elizabeth B.Browning—How Do 1 Love Thee?
Emily Dickinson—Because I Could not Stop for Death
W.B. Yeats—No Second Trov
R.Frost—Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
D.I I. Lawrence—Snake
Dvlan Thomas—Fern Hill
Ted Hughes—Pike
Adrienne Rich—Aunt Jennifer's Tigers
Kaiser Huq— Ode on a Lungi

Literary Terms:

Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Metonymy, Symbol, Irony, Climax, Anticlimax, Hyperbole,Paradox, Onomatopoeia, Bathos, Allusions, Conceit, Pun, Imager.' and all other literary terms

Prosody:

Accent, Foot/Measure, Blank Verse, Rhyme, Tercet, Scanning of Verse and others.

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Course Code : Introduction to Prose: Fiction and Non-Fiction, Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

Non-Fiction:

Francis Bacon—Of Studies
A.Lincon—Gettysburg Address
R.Tagore—Letter to Lord Chelmford Rejecting Knighthood
G.Orwell—Shooting an Elephant
N.C.Choudhury—River & Rain (from The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian)
Martin Luther King—I Have a Dream

Fiction:

S.Maugham— The Ant and the Grasshopper
James Joyce—Araby
K.Mansfield— The Garden Party
Anita Desai—Games at Twilight
Edgar Allan Poe—The Tell-Tale Heart
E.Hemingway—Cat in the Rain

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Additional Courses

Course Code : Introducing Sociology; Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

1. Definition, Nature & Scope of Sociology, relationship with other social sciences. Development of Sociology: Contributions of Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber
2. Culture, Beliefs & Values: Norms, sanctions, symbols, language, subculture, counter­culture, hegemony & resistance
3. Globalization, Culture and Society: Globalization and its different dimensions, Cultural globalization, global culture and social change
4. Urbanization and Social Formation: Definition of urbanization and urbanism, Process of urbanization in developing societies and social formation, over urbanization, growth of slum & poverty in mega cities
5. Gender and Society^-: Discourse of W1D, WAD and GAD, Why gender is important in the discourse of development. Gender inequality & women's subjugation in developing societies.
6. Environmental Problems, Natural Disasters and Social Crisis: Climate change and its impact on society, Natural disaster, social crisis and vulnerabilities, Climate change, deforestation and mal-development.
7. Social Inequality: Dimensions of social inequality: Class, gender, age, minority group (religious and indigenous), economic vulnerability, Social inequalities in developed & developing countries.
8. Types of societies: Marxist view on classifying societies on the basis of type of control over economic resources and Lenski's view on classifying societies by their main means of subsistence.
9. Deviance & Social Control: Definition of deviance, theories of deviance. Crime & justice system, agencies of social control
10. Health, Illness and Society: Nature & scope of the problem, Urbanizations, acute, chronic & life style diseases, Social, environmental & behavioural factors affecting health, Communicable & behavioural diseases: STD, HIV AIDS, TB, Hep-B etc

Reference

Giddens Sociology
Tony Bilton et al Introductory Sociology

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Course Code: Introduction to Social Work ; Marks 100,4 Credits, 60 Lectures

1. Social Work: Meaning, Characteristics, Scope and Importance Relationship of Social Work with other Sciences- Sociology, Economics, Psychology and Political Science.
2. Evolution: Evolution of Social Work in UK, USA, India and Bangladesh.
3. Social Reformers and their Movements in Pre-partition India and Bangladesh: Raja Rammohan Ray, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, A.K Fazlul Haque, Sir Syad Ahmed, Begum Rokeya.
4. Social Legislations Related to Social Security, Women Welfare, Child Welfare.
5. Profession and Social Work: Meaning and Characteristics of Profession, Social Work as profession, Philosophical, Religions and Ethical Basis of Social Work.
6. Industrial Revolution: Meaning, Impact on Society, Industrialization, Urbanization, Welfare State.
7. Social Problems and Social Services in Bangladesh.
8. Methods of Social Work: Basic and Auxiliary Methods and their Basic Issues such as Meaning, Elements, Principles and Area of Use. Importance of Social Work Methods in Bangladesh.

Books Recommended:

1. Barker, Robert L. :Social Work Dictionary, 3^rd ed. NASW, New York, 1995.
2. Coulshed, Veronica Social Work Practice: An Introduction 2^nd ed. London. Macmillan, 1991.
3. Friedlander, Walter A. : Introduction to Social Welfare. Prentice Hall, 2^nd ed. New Delhi-1967.
4. Khalid, M.: Welfare State, Karachi, Royal Book, 1968
5. Morales, A. And Shaefor. B. Social Work - A Profession of many faces, 4^th ed. Allvan and
Bacan, Boston, 1986.

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Course Code : Introduction to Political Theory; Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

Political Science : Meaning, Nature, Scope, Methods, Relations to other Social Sciences, Importance to Study Political Science
State : Definition, Elements, State and Government, State and Individual, State and Society, Theories of the origin of the state.
Fundamental concepts : Sovereignty, Law, Liberty, Equality, Rights and Duties, Nation, Nationalism, Internationalism.
Concepts of Political Sociology : Political culture, elite theory, Max Weber and Bureaucracy
Political Thinkers : Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau.

Books Recommended :

1. R.G. Gettell :  Political Science
2. J. W. Garner :  Political Science and Government
3. R. M. MacIver :  The Modern State
4. G.H. Sabine :  A History of Political Theory
5. William Ebenstein :  Great Political Thinkers-Plato to the Present
6. H.G. Laski :  A Grammar of Politics

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END OF SYLLABUS

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