This course takes place on Zoom.

When we read books, we are reading stories as the author chooses to share them with us. The study of Narratology explores this process of storytelling and narration within novels.

This session will consider the difference between story and plot, as well as form and content. We’ll analyse key elements of narrative, including POV (point of view), Focalization, the narrator (reliable and unreliable), and chronology. We’ll consider aspects of genre and mode and look at how Narratology is applied to texts, with particular reference to Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations. Key passages from this novel will be supplied to enable active participation in our discussions.

The evening session will consist of a short lecture introducing Narratology as a literary theory, followed by group discussions that take a closer look at how these concepts can be applied to texts.

Through close reading and the application of theory, you will gain a deeper understanding of how to apply this specialised knowledge to any piece of literature you might encounter for a richer reading experience.

This course takes place on Zoom and we will email you a joining link the day before. There will be an opportunity to ask the tutor questions during the discussion portion of the session.

Interested in other courses on literary theory? For more information: Introduction to Literary Theory: Structuralism and Introduction to Literary Theory: Post-Structuralism.

Please email adultlearning@bl.uk to discuss your access requirements as soon as you have booked your ticket.

Pre-course task

A pdf of the excerpts used during the session will be emailed to students in advance and you may wish to read these before the session. Aside from the excerpts, there is no other required pre-reading.

Previous Skills, Knowledge, or Experience

None required. All welcome. A willingness to participate in group discussion will help you get the most from this session.

Tutor

This course is led by Dr Carole Maddern who is a full-time lecturer in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London. She earned a PhD from King’s College London and has been teaching at Goldsmiths for over twenty years, specialising in Old English and Literature of the Later Middle Ages. Her research interests include Old English and Middle English, the origins and development of the English language, Renaissance and Restoration drama, and gender studies. She has a passion for pedagogy, with a particular interest in active and distance learning, having taught at several colleges of London University as well as numerous adult education institutions.

She has written books on literature of the Middle Ages and Medieval literature, including Literature of the Later Middle Ages (2014) and Medieval Literature: York Notes Companions (2010).

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