The latvian academy of culture

The name of the Course Introduction into the Language History of the chosen speciality

The author of the Course lecturer Mag.paed.. Sandra Kalniņa

The Objective of the Course The Objective of the course is to give an insight into the history of the English language within the context of systematized development of the IE languages. The Course fosters language awareness, gives the students a possibility to understand the origins of the English, to see the links with other IE languages and the related languages, in particular. The course also aims at developing the skills for better interpretation of contemporary English using the knowledge of the historical development of the language as a basis.

Preconditions for the The acquisition of the language courses of Terms 1 and 2,Year1:

Acquisition of the Course Geography of Great Britain, Conversation and Grammar

The Scope of the Course 1 term, 32 hours of practical classes, two academic hours a week, delivered in Term 1, Year 2

The Number of Credit Points 1 point

The Type of Assessment An examination in written form at the end of the term preceded by two midterm tests.

The Contents of the Course see Appendix

Appendix

No.	Themes	Hours
1.	Indo-European language family. Germanic languages.	2
2.	Chronological and linguistic periodization of the English language. Old English period. The historical background.	2
3.	The historical dialects of English.	2
4.	Development of writing. The literary heritage through centuries.	2
5.	The literary heritage. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Beowulf, the role of G.Chaucer in the development of English.	2
6.	The Development of the vocabulary. Native words and their etymological layers.	2
7.	Borrowings (from Celtic, Scandinavian, Latin, Greek)	2
8.	Borrowings (from Norman French and modern languages)	2
9.	Middle English period, its characteristisation.	2
10.	Shakespeare’s contribution to the language development.	2
11.	English phonetic system, its character and historical development.	2
12.	English Grammar system and its tendencies- a gradual transition from a flexive type towards analytical type of the language.	2
13.	Developmental tendencies of grammar.	2
14.	Changes concerning morphology and syntax.	2
15.	Expansion of contemporary English, different varieties of English.	2
16.	Peculiarities of English as an international communication means.	2

Literature

1. Baugh A. and Cable Th. 1996. A History of the English Language. London and New York: Routledge.

2. Treilona M. 1988. Development of the English vocabulary (VII-XiX centuries). Rīga: LU.

3. Rastorguyeva T. 1985. History of English. Moscow: Prosveshenye

4. Quirk R. and Stein G. 1994. English in Use. Cambridge: CUP.

5. Medgyes P. 1990. A Light of History. Cambridge: CUP

6. Peridicals from the British Council Library: The Times, The Independent, The Guardian and others (the selected articles are photocopied with the kind permission of the British Council Library).

The Name of the Course The Modern Short Story: Convention and Innovation

The Author of the Course Lect. Inga Strautiņa

The Objective of the Course The objective of the course is to give an insight into the development of the short story as a separate literary genre since the end of the nineteenth century. The course aims at examining the formal aspects, the main principles, the specific characteristics and functions of genre. The course also addresses innovations and experimentation with the form and content in the context of the short story.

Preconditions for the Acquisitions of the Course The acquisition of the compulsory courses of Term 1, 2 and 3, Year I and II, the acquisition of the English language courses of Term 1, 2 and 3, Year I and II.
The Scope of the Course 1 term, 32 hours of practical classes, two academic hours a week, delivered Term 4, Year II.

The Number of Credit Points 1 point

The Type of Assessment A test in written form at the end of the term, preceded by two midterm tests.

The Contents of the Course see Appendix

Appendix

No	THEMES	HOURS
	Introduction. The historical context of the short story. The development of the short story as a separate genre.	2
	The formal aspects and characteristics of the short story. Unity of action. Unity of impression.	2
	Realism. A contrastive study of two short stories: Guy de Maupassant’s “The Piece of String” and Anton Chekhov’s “Easter Eve”.	2
	Modernism. James Joyce: Dubliners: a cycle of short stories. Epiphany.	2
	The dramatization of duality. The theme of the subconscious. D. H. Lawrence. The authorial presence.	2
	Revolt against realism. Experimentation. Inner monologue. Questioning of the traditional literary concepts. Virginia Woolf.	2
	Liricism. The importance of language. Katherine Mansfield.	2
	Symbolism and allegory. Irony. Ernest Hemingway.	2
	The sociological context. Flannery O’Connor.	2
	Socio-psycological realism. Doris Lessing.	2
	Abstraction. The rejection of narrative strategies. Samuel Beckett’s “Ping”.	2
	The collapse of distinctions between the veracious and the invented. Surrealism of the cause-and-effect. Sylvia Plath.	2
	Post-modernism. Tendencies in the contemporary short story: depersonalization of the contemporary world and the human condition.	2
	Defamilarization. Fragmentation. Collage. Metaliterature. Ian McEwan. B. S. Johnson.	2
	Intensity of self-consciousness. The fantastic mode. Angela Carter. Emma Tennant.	2
	The reader as the author of the short story. Adam Mars-Jones. Clive Sinclair. Prospects for a further development of the genre.	2

Literature

Collections of short stories

1. 
   Bradbury M. (ed.) 1988. Modern British Short Stories. London: Penguin Books.
   
2. 
   Hemingway E. 1993. The Essential Hemingway. London: Arrow Books.
   
3. 
   Joyce J. 1990. Dubliners. New York: Bantam Books.
   
4. 
   Lawrence D. H. 1989. Selected Short Stories. London: Penguin Books.
   
5. 
   Lessing D. 1994. To Room Nineteen. Collected Stories. Volume One. London: Flamingo.
   
6. 
   Mansfield K. 1977. The Garden Party and Other Stories. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
   
7. 
   O’Connor F. 1995. A Good Man is Hard to Find. Stories. London: Women’s Press.
   
8. 
   Plath S. 1979. Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams. London: Faber & Faber.
   
9. 
   Woolf V. 1993. Selected Short Stories. London: Penguin Books.
   

Secondary works

1. 
   Current-Garcia E. and Walton P. R. (eds.) 1981. What is the short story?: Case Studies in the Development of a Literary Form. Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman and Company.
   
2. 
   Nicholls P. 1995. Modernisms: A Literary Guide. London: MacMillan Press.
   
3. 
   Perrine L. and Arp T. R. [1959] 1993. Story and Structure. Fort Worth: Harcour Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.
   
4. 
   Roberts E. V. and Jacobs H. E. 1992. Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
   

NORWAY SPECIALITY
The Name of the Course International Cultural Relations: Latvia-Norway: Background studies: History

The Author of the Course Lecturer Snorre Karkkonen Svensson.

The objective of the Course The aim of the course is to give the students extensive knowledge about the history of Norway, and lays emphasis on the relationship between the development of politics and society and the hisory of culture. The course motivates the students to find paralels in the history of Latvia and make use of their knowledge in a broader context.