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Key facts
| Type | Weekly Classes |
|---|---|
| Location | Oxford |
| Address | Ewert house Ewert Place Summertown Oxford |
| Dates | Wed 3 Oct to Wed 12 Dec 2012 Day: Wednesday Time of meeting: 7.00-9.00pm Number of meetings: 10 |
| Subject area(s) | Literature |
| CATS points | 10 |
| Fees | From 165.00 |
| Application status | Course cancelled |
| Course code | O12P693LTW |
| Course contact | If you have any questions about this course, please email ppweekly@conted.ox.ac.uk. |
Overview
Orwellian, Big Brother, Doublethink and Room 101 are words we encounter frequently in the media, but what of their originator? This course introduces readers to George Orwell through six of his works. Join us to explore Orwells life and ideology, and to look at how his ideas are used and understood today.Description
Hardly a week passes when the words Orwellian, Big Brother, Doublethink or Room 101 are not used (or misused) by journalists, politicians, or artists in reference to anything from China to a cricket match. This course explores the life events, both personal and political, informing George Orwells ideology and politics as they are expressed in six of his major works. Students will follow Orwells own chronology, starting with Burmese Days, a novel inspired by his time with the Indian Imperial Police, followed by his picaresque memoir of dishwashing, tramping and living on the breadline, Down and Out in Paris and London. Other works studied will include: Homage to Catalonia; Coming Up for Air; Animal Farm; and Orwells death-bed masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty Four. Orwells profound and far-reaching influence will be discussed throughout. Join us to become expert at distinguishing Orwell the man from Orwell the myth.Programme details
Week 1: Orwell's Early Life and BackgroundWeek 2: Burmese Days
Week 3: Burmese Days/ Keep the Aspidistra Flying
Week 4: Keep the Aspidistra Flying
Week 5: Road to Wigan Pier
Week 6: Homage to Catalonia
Week 7: Animal Farm
Week 8: Animal Farm/ Nineteen Eighty-Four
Week 9: Nineteen Eighty-Four
Week 10: Conclusions
Background Reading:
Students are encouraged, but not required, to access the many secondary sources on George Orwell available in the Continuing Education Library. Copies of articles and short book chapters will be distributed in class for discussion. The chief reading will be the primary texts.
Students may also wish to look at one of the biographies of Orwell. Recommended are:
Taylor, DJ: Orwell: The Life
Bowker, Gordon., Inside George Orwell (Palgrave MacMillan, 2003)
Meyers, Jeffrey., Orwell: Wintry Conscience of a Generation (W.W. Norton & Co., 2000)
Staff
Dr Carol Peaker
Role: Tutor
Dr Carol Peaker, formerly an arts correspondent, teaches English at Oxford. She has written on Orwell, fin de sicle revolutionaries, and WWII...more
Course aims
Course Aim:To trace the development of George Orwells political ideology through six of his major works and to demonstrate the breadth of Orwells influence.
Course Objectives:
1. To show how our understanding of Orwells works can be deepened by a combination of critical approaches: literary, historical, and biographical.
2. To demonstrate, using Orwells works as examples, a variety of methods for analysing political literature.
3. To show, through an examination of Orwell's wide-ranging cultural, political, artistic influence, that his works have been interpreted and appropriated in diverse ways.
Assessment methods
Students will be expected to submit three short pieces of written work (approx. 330 words each) at intervals during the course. Each piece will be based on one of the learning outcomes. The tutor will circulate a list of assignment topics and provide examples of completed assignments.Alternatively, students may offer class presentations lasting about ten minutes. The text of the presentation, or the notes on which it is based, will need to be submitted to support assessment.
Teaching methods
Presentation/exposition by the tutor.Guided class discussion.
Class debate.
Short class presentations from students (approx. 10 minutes).
Small group analysis of particular passages.
Comparison of scenes from certain novels with film versions on video (subject to availability)
Teaching outcomes
By the end of the course the students should expect to:1. Describe the life events and political backdrop behind each of the six texts studied.
2. Construct their own interpretation of Orwell's aims in writing each of the set texts with reference to features such as characterisation, allegory, metaphor and narrative technique.
3. Critically evaluate ways in which Orwell's ideas have been interpreted and appropriated since his death.
Apply for this course
Sorry, this course is not currently accepting applications. If you have any questions about this course, please use the course enquiry form.