Official website of IMCB F-10/4, ISLAMABAD

Official Website of IMCB F-10/4, Islamabad

IMCB F-10/4

Official Website

English

Study Skills

Course Description

The main purpose of this course is to guide students in their first year of learning and impart basic study skills. It is designed with the view to enable them to take immediate control of their learning. The course will enable students to devise and follow “study systems” and equip them with the ability to think critically and adopt effective learning strategies. With the help of various study techniques and styles and other available resources, the students will be able to improve their academic performance.

Course Objectives

  • To help students learn basic self-management and study skills
  • To enable them to use combination of skills to minimize risks of failure
  • To make them become confident and successful in the new learning environment

Course Contents

  1. Seeking Success in University
  2. Knowing your campus and its resources
  3. Form An Academic Support Group
  4. Know Where to Find  Help
  5. Stay Informed
  6. Get Involved
  7. Motivating Yourself to Learn
  8. Assess Academic Strengths and Weaknesses
  9. Discover and use your learning style
  10. Develop Critical Thinking & Study Skills
  11. Adapt learning style to teaching method
  12. Using Critical Thinking Strategies
  13. Examine Your Assumption
  14. Make Predictions
  15. Read With A Purpose
  16. Sharpen Your Interpretations
  17. Find Implications in What You Learn
  18. Read and Understand Graphics
  19. Evaluate what you learn
  20. Setting Goals and Solving Problems
  21. Set goals for success in college
  22. How to develop a positive attitude
  23. Sharpening Your Classroom Skills
  24. Prepare for Class
  25. Become an Active Listener
  26. Develop A Personal Note-Taking System
  27. Guidelines for Note Taking
  28. The Informal Outline/Key Words System
  29. The Cornell Method
  30. Matching Note-Taking Style and Learning Style
  31. Learn To Make Effective Presentations
  32. Making the Most of Your Time
  33. How to GRAB Some Time
  34. Scheduling Your Time
  35. Time Management and Learning Style
  36. Procrastination
  37. Creating Your Study System
  38. SQ3R:  The Basic System
  39. Devising Your Study System
  40. Organizing Information for Study
  41. Memorization
  42. Concept or Information Maps
  43. Comparison Charts
  44. Time Lines
  45. Process Diagrams
  46. Informal Outlines
  47. Branching Diagrams
  48. Controlling Your Concentration
  49. Concentrations
  50. Eliminate Distractions
  51. Use A Study System
  52. Strategies to Improve Concentration
  53. Preparing for Tests
  54. How To Prepare for Tests: Three Steps
  55. Develop a Test-taking Routine
  56. Master Objective Tests
  57. Know How  to Answer Essay Questions
  58. Becoming an Active Reader
  59. Reading Actively
  60. Find the Main Idea, Details, and Implications
  61. Using a Textbook Marking System
  62. How to use a dictionary
  63. Building Career Skills
  64. Working in the New Economy  
  65. Where the Jobs will be
  66. Choosing Your Future
  67. Your course of Study
  68. Your Plan
  69. What Employers Want
  70. Career Skills to Develop
  71. Workplace Ethics
  72. From University to Work
  73. Your Resume and Cover Letter
  74. The Interview

Recommended Readings

  • Bain, Ken. (2012). What the best college students do.
  • Kanar, Carol C. (2001). The Confident Student. Houghton Mifflin Co.
  • Mcmillan, Kathleen. (2011). The Study skills book. Pearson.
  • Pauk, Walter. How to Study in College.
  • Wallace, M.J. (1980). Study Skills in English.

English-I: Reading and Writing Skills

Course Description

The course is designed to help students take a deep approach in reading and writing academic texts which involve effective learning strategies and techniques aimed at improving the desired skills. The course consists of two major parts: the ‘reading section’ focusses on recognizing a topic sentence, skimming, scanning, use of cohesive devices, identifying facts and opinions, guess meanings of unfamiliar words. The ‘writing section’ deals with the knowledge and use of various grammatical components such as, parts of speech, tenses, voice, narration, modals etc. in practical contexts.    

Course Objectives

  • To enable students to identify main/topic sentences.
  • To teach them to use effective strategies while reading texts.
  • To acquaint them with cohesive devices and their function in the text.

Course Contents

1.      Reading Skills

   •        Identify Main Idea / Topic sentences

   •        Skimming, Scanning, and Inference / Find Specific and General Information Quickly

   •        Distinguish Between Relevant and Irrelevant Information According to Purpose for Reading

   •        Recognise and Interpret Cohesive Devices

   •        Distinguish Between Fact and Opinion

   •        Guess the Meanings of Unfamiliar Words Using Context Clues

   •        Use the Dictionary for Finding out Meanings and Use of Unfamiliar Words

   •        Practice Exercises with Every Above Mentioned Aspect of Reading

2.      Writing Skills

   •        Parts of Speech

   •        Phrase, clause and sentence structure

   •        Combining sentences

   •        Tenses: meaning and use

   •        Modals

   •        Use of active and passive voice

   •        Reported Speech

   •        Writing good sentences

   •        Error Free writing

   •        Paragraph writing with topic sentence

   •        Summary writing

Note: Teachers need to include practice activities, exercises and worksheets on the provided topics.

Recommended Readings

   •        Howe, D. H, Kirkpatrick, T. A., & Kirkpatrick, D. L. (2004). Oxford English for undergraduates.  Karachi: Oxford University Press.

   •        Eastwood, J. (2004).  English Practice Grammar (New edition with tests and answers). Karachi: Oxford University Press.

   •        Murphy, R. (2003).  Grammar in use.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Introduction to Literary Studies

Course Description

This course introduces literature as cultural and historical phenomena. This entails a study of history of various periods of English Literature from Renaissance to the present. The course also, very briefly, touches upon different theoretical approaches to literature to introduce the student to literary critique and evaluation. A general understanding of literary theory as a broad field of philosophical concepts and principles is also crucial to the understanding of literary piece.           

Course Objectives

   1.      To study the history and practice of English as a scholarly discipline.

   2.      To study the history and development of each genre through excerpts of literary texts.

   3.      To do close reading of texts and analyze them with different critical frameworks.

   4.      To analyze and criticize the works of literature in their cultural and historical contexts.

   5.      To assess the influence of literary movements in Britain on English literature from all parts of the world.

Course Contents

      1.  William Henry Hudson. Introduction to the Study of Literature (1913)

      2.   Andrew Sanders. The Short Oxford History of English Literature(1994)

      3.   Mario Klarer. Introduction to Literary Studies (1999)

      4    J. H. Miller. On Literature (2002)

Note: The teacher will use Sander’s history with any one of the three books on literature as core texts.

Suggested Readings

  • Albert, E. (1979). History of English Literature (5th ed.). Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Alexander, M. (2000). A History of English Literature. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Blamires, H. (1984). A Short History of English Literature. London: Routledge.
  • Carter, R., & McRae, J. (1997). The Routledge History of Literature in English, Britain and Ireland.London: Routledge.
  • Chin, B. A., Wolfe, D., Copeland, J., & Dudzinski, M. A. (2001). Glencoe Literature: British Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
  • Compton-Rickett, A. (1912). A History of English Literature. London: T. C. and E. C. Jack.
  • Daiches, D. (1968). A Critical History of English Literature. London: Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd.
  • Fletcher, R. H. (1919). A History of English Literature. Boston: R. G. Badger.
  • Legouis, E., & Cazamian, L. (1960). A History of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent and Sons.

Introduction to Language Studies

Course Description

Language is central to human experience. This course provides a comprehensive overview of language origin, evolution of language as human faculty, and traces the history of English language in order to provide an idea how languages developed. The part on the history of the English language covers story of English language from beginning to the present. The course also includes a brief introduction of the history of linguistics with special reference to various schools of thought that have contributed significantly to the development of Linguistics.

Course Objectives

This course aims to:

  • Give students a comprehensive overview of language as human faculty.
  • Familiarize students with different stories about the origin of language.
  • Provide students an overview of how a language develops through a comprehensive exposure to English language development.
  • Enable students to identify major theoretical formulations in the development of linguistics.

Course Contents

  1. Language Origin
  2. Language as a divine gift
  3. Natural sound source theories
  4. Social interaction source theories
  5. The Physical adaptation sources
  6. The genetic source
  7. Speech vs Writing
  8. Primacy of speech
  9. Speech vs. Writing
  10. Origin of writing
  11. Types of writing systems
  12. Language as Human Faculty
  13. Human Language vs animal communication
  14. Characteristics of Language: Design features
  15. Animals lack language: A controversy
  16. Language Families
  17. What is a language family?
  18. Language Families in the World: A Brief Overview
  19. Historical Linguistics
  20. What is linguistics?
  21. What is historical linguistics?
  22. What does historical linguistics study? (phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic changes)
  23. Methods of Language reconstruction

Evolution of English Language

  • Old & Middle English Periods
  • Grammatical categories
  • Inflections
  • Grammatical gender
  • Renaissance
  • Old, Middle, and Modern English (grammatical categories)
  • Shakespeare
  • 18th Century
  • Major characteristics of the age
  • Problem of refining and fixing the language
  • Swift’s proposal
  • Johnson’s Dictionary
  • Grammarians
  • Vocabulary formation
  • Introduction of passives
  • 19th Century
  • Important events and influences
  • Sources of new words
  • Pidgins   and Creoles
  • Spelling reforms
  • Development of Dictionary
  • Verb-adverb combination
  • English Language in America
  • Americanism
  • Archive Features
  • Difference between the British and American English

Development of Modern Linguistics

  1. Modern Linguistics
    1. Emergence of Modern Linguistics: Saussure
    1. Structuralism
    1. American Structuralism
  2. The Prague School
  3. Contemporary Approaches to Linguistics
  4. Functional Linguistics

Recommended Readings

  • Bough, A.C. & Cable, T. (2002). A History of English Language. London: Prentice Hall, Inc.
  • Campbell, L. (2001), ‘The history of linguistics’, in M. Aronoff and J. Rees-Miller (eds),The  Handbook of Linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, pp. 81-104. 
  • Joseph, J.E. (2002), From Whitney to Chomsky: essays in the history of American linguistics. 
    Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
  • Yule, George. (2006). The Study of Language: 4th/ 5th Edition, Cambridge University Press.

English-II: Composition Writing

Course Description

This course aims at inculcating proficiency in academic writing through research. It guides students to develop a well-argued and well-documented academic paper with a clear thesis statement, critical thinking, argumentation and synthesis of information. This course also teaches students how to use different systems of citations and bibliography. It allows students to become independent and efficient readers armed with appropriate skills and strategies for reading and comprehending texts at undergraduate level.

Course Objectives

To enable the students to:

  • Improve literal understanding, interpretation & general assimilation, and integration of knowledge
  • Write well organized academic texts including examination answers with topic/thesis statement and supporting details.
  • Write argumentative essays and course assignments

Course Contents

Reading and Critical Thinking

1. Read academic texts effectively by:

  • Using appropriate strategies for extracting information and salient
  • points according to a given purpose
  • Identifying the main points supporting details, conclusions in a text of intermediate level
  • Identifying the writer’s intent such as cause and effect, reasons, comparison and contrast, and exemplification.
  • Interpreting charts and diagrams
  • Making appropriate notes using strategies such as mind maps, tables, lists, graphs.
  • Reading and carrying out instructions for tasks, assignments and examination questions

2.      Enhance academic vocabulary using skills learnt in Compulsory English I course

3.      Acquire efficient dictionary skills such as locating guide words, entry words, choosing appropriate definition, and identifying pronunciation through pronunciation key, identifying part of speech, identifying syllable division and stress patterns

4. Writing Academic Texts:

1.      Plan their writing: identify audience, purpose and message (content)

2.      Collect information in various forms such as mind maps, tables, charts, lists

3.               Order information such as:

  • Chronology for a narrative
    • Stages of a process
    • From general to specific and vice versa
    • From most important to least important
    • Advantages and disadvantages
    • Comparison and contrast
    • Problem solution pattern

5. Write argumentative and descriptive forms of writing using different methods of developing ideas like listing, comparison, and contrast, cause and effect, for and against

  • Write good topic and supporting sentences and effective conclusions
    • Use appropriate cohesive devices such as reference words and signal markers

6.      Redraft checking content, structure and language.

7.      Edit and proof read

8.      Grammar in Context

  • Phrase, clause and sentence structure
    • Combining sentences
    • Reported Speech

Recommended Readings

  • Eastwood, J. (2004). English Practice Grammar (New edition with tests and answers). Karachi: Oxford University Press.
  • Fisher, A. (2001). Critical Thinking. C UP
  • Goatly, A. (2000). Critical Reading and Writing: An Introductory Course. London: Taylor & Francis
  • Hacker, D. (1992). A Writer’s Reference. 2nd Ed. Boston: St. Martin’s
  • Hamp-Lyons, L. & Heasley, B. (1987). Study writing: A course in written English for academic and professional purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Howe, D. H, Kirkpatrick, T. A., & Kirkpatrick, D. L. (2004). Oxford English for Undergraduates. Karachi: Oxford University Press.
  • Murphy, R. (2003?). Grammar in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Smazler, W. R. (1996). Write to be Read: Reading, Reflection and Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Wallace, M. (1992). Study Skills. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Yorky, R. Study Skills.

Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

Course Description

This course explores speech sounds as physical entities (phonetics) and linguistic units (phonology). In viewing sounds as physical elements, the focus is on articulatory description. In this part of the course, the goal is to learn to produce, transcribe, and describe in articulatory terms many of the sounds known to occur in human languages. In the next part of the course, the focus is on sounds as members of a particular linguistic system.

Course Objectives

This course aims to:

  • assist students learn a number of technical terms related to the course
  • familiarize students with sounds and sound patterning, particularly in English Language
  • develop knowledge of segmental and supra-segmental speech
  • help students understand the features of connected speech

Course Contents

  1. Basic definitions
  2. Phonetics
  3. Articulatory, Auditory & Acoustic Phonetics
  4. Phonology
  5. Phoneme
  6. Vowels
  7. Consonants
  8. Diphthongs
  9. Triphthongs
  10. Voicing
  11. Aspiration
  12. Minimal pairs
  13. Organs of Speech
  14. Phonemes
  15. Consonants(place and manner of articulation)
  16. Vowels (vowel trapezium/quadrilateral)
  17. Monophthongs
  18. Diphthongs
  19. Triphthongs
  20. Rules
  21. Rules of Voicing
  22. Rules of /r/
  23. Rules of /ŋ/
  24. Practice of phonemic transcription
  25. Definitions
  26. Homophones
  27. Homographs
  28. Homonyms
  29. Homophenes
  30. Fluency Devices
  31. Assimilation
  32. Elision
  33. Weak forms/Strong forms
  34. linking

8.       Sound Values

9.  Stress and Intonation

10. Practice of phonemic transcription

Recommended Readings

  • Collins, B. and Mees, I. (2003) Practical Phonetics and Phonology: A Resource Book for Students. London & NY: Routledge (Taylor & Francis)
  • Clark, J and Yallop, C. (1995). An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. 2nd edition. Cambridge, Mass: Blackwell.
  • Davenport, Mike & S. J. Hannahs. (2010). Introducing Phonetics & Phonology, 3rd edition. Hodder Education

Roach, Peter. (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course. 4th Edition. Cambridge.

Literary Forms and Movements

Course Description

This course covers two foundational schemes regarding the study of literature: 1) Forms, and 2) Movements. The term “forms” refer to the study of literary genres and their subtypes in such a way as to introduce the students to their structures and styles with its focus on the following:

1) Poetry;   2) Fiction; 3) Drama; 4) Prose/Non-fiction; and 5) Short Story.  The term “movement” is rather loosely used to characterize literary texts produced in different cultures under the influence of or for the propagation of certain ideas as their hallmarks/signatures.  The course has been designed to intellectually groom the students  for a broad understanding  of the major literary movements in the history of world literature, especially British and American: Idealism (Greek), Renaissance/Early Modern,  Neoclassicism,  Enlightenment, Romanticism,  Victorianism, Raphaelitism,  Realism,  Transcendentalism,    Modernism, Colonialism, Symbolism, Imagist and post-Colonialism, Feminism and post-Feminism.  

Course Objectives 

  • Build students’ capacity for grasping the meaning of a literary text in terms of a given historical period/dominant idea. 
  • Develop their ability for understanding the major ideas that played a key role in shaping the works of different groups of writers.
  • Provide them with a workable tool for interpreting and analyzing a literary text.

Suggested Readings

Berman, Art. Preface to Modernism. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1994.
Dirks, B Nicholos.  Colonialism and Culture. Michigan:    Michigan Univ Press. 1992.
Fowler, Alastair. Kinds of Literature : An Introduction to the Theory of Genres and Modes.  Oxford: Clarenden, 2002.
Galea, Ileana. Victorianism and Literature. California. Dacia, 2008.
Gura, Philip. American Transcendentalism.  NP:  Farrar, 2008.
Hagger, Hagger.  A New Phlsophy of World Literature. The Universlaist Literary Tradtion. Ropley: John Hunt Publishing, 2004.
Hooks, Bell. Feminist Theory.  London: Pluto Press, 2000.
Hudson, William Henry.  An Introduction to the Study of Literature.  New Delhi : Rupa, 2015.
Marcuse, J Michael.  Arefence Guide for English Studies. Los Angeles: Univ of  California Press, 1990.   
Osborne, Susan. Feminism. NP: Product Essentials, 2001.
Philips, Jerry , Andrew Ladd, and K H Meyers. Romanticism and Transcendentalism.  New York:  DWJ Books: 2010.
Tandon, Neeru. Feminism: A Paradigm Shift. New Delhi: Atlantic, 2008.

English-III: Communication and Presentation Skills

Course Description

For professional growth and future development, effective presentation skills and interactive and interpersonal communicative skills are very important. This course offers methods, techniques, and drills significant and useful in optimising communication and presentation skills of the learners, enabling them to face divergent groups of audience with poise and confidence. The course has been divided into modules relating to the essentials, contents, gestures, technology, and variety associated with communication and presentations skills. The presentation skills part focuses on preparing students for long-life skill of preparing and giving presentations. Communication is a vital part of our daily routine. The communication skills part focuses on developing good communication skills among students.

Course Objectives

The course aims to:

  • help students identify essential components of a presentation
  • develop the awareness, knowledge, skills and attitudes required to deliver effective academic presentations and communicate clearly
  • help students learn various presentation and  communication styles and techniques
  • provide techniques to facilitate effective interpersonal and interactive communication
  • guide how to build stronger relationships through powerful communication

Course Contents

1. Introduction

  • Understanding the purpose of Communication
  • Analyze the Audience
  • Communicating with words as well as with body language
  • Writing with a Purpose

2. Presentation skills  

3. Delivering your presentation

4. Speaking with Confidence

5. Communicating Effectively

6. Job Interviews and Communicating Skills

7. Communicating with Customers

8. Communication in a Team

Recommended Readings:

  • Carnegie, Dale. ( ). How to Win Friends & Influence People.
  • Giblin, Les. Skill with People.
  • Newton, Paul. How to communicate effectively.
  • Tracy, Brian. Speak to Win.

Short Fictional Narratives

Course Description

This course is a fertile field for students to broaden their vision with respect to English literature in general and short fiction in particular, written in different cultures and languages. It focuses on students’ critical engagement with different texts that represent a variety of cultures. The short stories in this course have been selected from a wide range of cultures with a view to highlighting the similarities and differences in the writings of different short story writers and how different writers reflect the social and cultural events through their writing with a variety of themes in different styles. The authors included in this course belong to different parts of the world so the works included are quite diverse not only in their form and language but also in themes. The issues and themes reflected or implied in these stories are illusory love, conformity, poverty, the power of words, transformation of identities, feudal structure of rural Punjab, racism in the backdrop of Civil War, political imprisonment, appearance vs reality, feminism, female violence, insanity, women’s emotional complexity, and slavery, to mention a few.

In this course, students will concentrate on seminal short fictions in English written by writers from the different regions of the world who have contributed significantly to literature in English through their narrative form and structure, thematic content, and articulation of human experience.

Narrative studies prepares students for the development and evaluation of original content for short fictions and other narrative platforms. To recognise a good story, to critique, to help shape, realise and transform requires a background in the history of narrative, cross-cultural and contemporary models.

The selection of the primary texts will take into consideration that they are united by their engagement with the struggle for the expression of human identity. Consequently, the selection of the short fictions will keep two things in the foreground: representation of diverse regions and narrative structure.

Course Objectives 

The objectives of this course are

  1. To provide an exposure to some classics in short fiction both in theme and form
  2. To familiarize students with short fiction in English literature by the most recognized and awarded authors
  3. To nurture the ability to think critically and promote intellectual growth of the students
  4. To develop sensitivity towards cultural diversity through a critical study of the selected works and involve them on a personal and emotional level by relating the stories with their own experiences
  5. To make them experience a genuine language context through these stories from different parts of the world

Course Contents

  1. The Nightingale and the Rose Oscar Wilde
  2. The Three StrangersThomas Hardy
  3. The Cask of AmontilladoEdgar Allan Poe
  4. The Darling Anton Chekhov
  5. Hearts and Hands O’ Henry
  6. The Necklace Guy De Maupassant
  7. The Secret Sharer Joseph Conrad
  8. The Other Side of the Hedge E. M. Forster
  9. Eveline James Joyce
  10. The Three Questions Leo Tolstoy
  11. A Hunger Artist  Franz Kafka
  12. A Very Old Man With Enormous WingsGabriel Garcia Marquez
  13. Two WordsIsabel Allende
  14. A Cup of Tea Katherine Mansfield
  15. Everything that Rises Must ConvergeFlannery O’ Connor
  16. The Story of An Hour Kate Chopin
  17. The Richer The Poorer Dorothy West
  18. The Prisoner Who Wore GlassesBessie Head
  19. Lamb to the SlaughterRoald Dahl
  20. BingoTariq Rahman
  21. The Kingdom of CardsRabindranath Tagore
  22. The MartyrNgũgĩ wa Thiong’o
  23. A Watcher of the DeadNadine Gordimer.
  24. RevelationFlannery O’Connor
  25. Nawabdin ElectricianDaniyal Mueenuddin

Suggested Readings

  1. Chekhov, Anton P, and Ralph E. Matlaw. Anton Chekhov’s Short Stories: Texts of the Stories, Backgrounds, Criticism. , 1979. Print.
  2. Ellmann, Richard. James Joyce. New York: Oxford University Press, 1959. Print.
  3. Ellmann, Richard. Oscar Wilde; a Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1969. Print.
  4. Forster, E M, Mary Lago, Linda K. Hughes, and Elizabeth M. L. Walls. The Bbc Talks of E.m. Forster, 1929-1960: A Selected Edition. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008. Print.
  5. Gillon, Adam. Joseph Conrad. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1982. Print.
  6. Hardy, Thomas, Michael Millgate, Florence E. Hardy, and Florence E. Hardy. The Life and Work of Thomas Hardy. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1985. Print.
  7. Long, E H. O. Henry, the Man and His Work. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1949. Print.
  8. Maupassant, Guy , Clara Bell, Florence Crew-Jones, and Fanny Rousseau-Wallach. The Works of Guy De Maupassant. New York: Printed privately for subscribers only, 1909. Print.
  9. Maupassant, Guy , George B. Ives, and Guy . Maupassant. Guy De Maupassant. , 1903. Print.
  10. Poe, Edgar A. The Cask of Amontillado. Charlottesville, Va: University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center, 1993. Internet resource.
  11. Rubenstein, Roberta, and Charles R. Larson. Worlds of Fiction. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall, 2002. Print.
  12. Symons, Julian. The Life and Works of Edgar Allen Poe. , 2014. Print
  13. Tolstoy, Leo, and Robert Court. Leo Tolstoy Collected Short Stories. Mankato, MN: Peterson Pub, 2002. Print.
  14. Wilde, Alan. Art and Order: A Study of E.m. Forster. New York: New York University Press, 1964. Print.
  15. Wilson, Kathleen. Short Stories for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Short Stories. Detroit: Gale, 1997. Print

Introduction to Morphology

Course Description

The key aim of the course is to introduce the students to the basic word structure in Pakistani languages. It engages them to have an understanding of words and parts of words. It will help them to understand word structure in Pakistani languages. 

Course Objectives

The objectives of this course are to enable the students to:

  • define and describe the terms like morphemes, morphology etc. 
  • understand basic concepts and principles in morphology
  • apply these principles in analyzing word structures in Pakistan languages
  • compare word formations in Pakistani languages.

Course Contents

  • Introduction to morphology (with examples from Pakistani languages)                      
    • free morphemes: roots and stems
    • bound morphemes: affixes: prefixes, suffixes, infixes, interfixes, circumfixes
    • morphological productivity: productivity of affixes, prefixes, suffixes, infixes
  • Basics of Phonetic Transcription of Words
  • Inflectional Morphology
    • Pluralization, Degree Marking, Verb Forms
  • Derivational Morphology
    • Formation of Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs and Adverbs
    • Minor processes of derivation: blending,  clipping, backformation, acronym, Reduplication
    • derivation by compounding: endocentric, exocentric and copulative compounds
    • derivation by modification of base
  • Morphology of Pakistani Languages
    • word forms in Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and other Pakistani languages
    • Descriptive analysis of word forms in Pakistani languages
  • Morpho-Semantics- semantic change in word formation processes
  • Morphology Interface with Phonology and Syntax
  • Morphology-Syntax Interface

Recommended Readings

  1. Aronoff, M.  (1994). Morphology by itself.  MIT Press, Cambridge.
  2. Bauer, L. (2003). Introducing Linguistic Morphology–Edinburgh University Press
  3. Booij, G. (2005) The Grammar of Words–An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology
  4. David et al. (2009). Urdu Morphology. Oxford University Press, London
  5. Mangrio, R. A. (2016). The Morphology of Loanwords in Urdu: the Persian, Arabic and      English Strands, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne.
  6. McCarthy, A. C (2002). An Introduction to English Morphology-Words and their Structure,    Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh
  7. Plag, I. (2002). Word Formation in English -Cambridge University Press. Cambridge
  8. Ayto, J. (1999). Twentieth Century Words, Oxford: OUP .
  9. Bauer, L. (2001). Morphological Productivity, Cambridge University Press
  10. Halpern, A. (1995). On the placement & morphology of clitics. CSLI

Publications, Stanford

  1. Yu, A. C (2006) A Natural History of Infixation. Oxford University Press, Chicago
  2. Zwicky, A. (1985b). ‘How to Describe Inflection.’ Proceedings of the BerkeleyLinguistics Society 11: 372-386.  Berkeley, California.
  3. Zwicky, A and Pullum, G. (1992). A misconceived approach to morphology. InProceedings of WCCFL 91, ed. D. Bates. CSLI, Palo Alto, 387-398.

Classical and Renaissance Drama

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to explore the nature, function, and themes of Classical Greek, Roman and Elizabethan drama in their theatrical, historical and social contexts. Through a detailed study of the texts by the selected dramatists such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Seneca, Plautus, Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Webster the course traces the development of the key features of tragedy and comedy. Ancient opinions on drama, in particular, the views of Plato and Aristotle and their influence on classical drama will also be investigated. A comprehensive and critical background to mythology, drama and society is given in the beginning of the course to prepare students to undertake close reading and analyses of the selected texts.

The first section of the course will focus on representative classical plays which have influenced the development of drama as a genre. It will introduce students to the history of Classical Greek and Roman drama and motivate them to explore how selected texts can be interpreted in a modern context. A comprehensive and critical background to Greek drama and society is given in the beginning of the course to prepare students to undertake a close reading and analysis of the selected texts. Special emphasis will be given in the seminars to examine the role and significance of mythology in Greek drama, the importance of festivals in Greek society, the structure of Greek tragedy, and the difference between tragedy and comedy.

The second section focuses on the selective plays of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and John Webster. Through a critical scrutiny of the recommended plays, students will be made to appreciate the variety and imaginative exuberance of drama written in the age that popularized cultural profundity, humanist tendencies, philosophical excavations and artistic excellence. Qualities such as the poetic richness, absorbing plots, and vivid portrayal of characters will be highlighted to catch the true spirit of Renaissance. Through a selection of plays, this section highlights the characteristic features of various dramatic forms like tragedy, comedy, and history, and their variations.

Course Objectives

Students will be taught to demonstrate:

  • Knowledge of the myths, history, conventions, and major personages of classical theatre through readings of the plays and secondary sources.
  • An insight into the culture, society and political events of the classical periods under study.
  • An understanding of the main objectives, themes and ideas underlying Classical Drama.
  • Sound knowledge of the works of a range of classical dramatists and the ability to relate the primary texts to their socio-cultural and historical contexts.
  • The ability to carry out close reading and literary commentaries on the primary texts.
  • Critically assess the inherent nature of the human condition – its paradoxes, complexities, and conflicts.

Course Contents

  1. Aeschylus – Prometheus Bound
  2. Sophocles – Oedipus Rex
  3. Euripides – The Bacchae
  4. Aristophanes – The Birds
  5. Seneca – Hercules Furens (The Mad Hercules)
  6. Plautus – The Pot of Gold
  7. Shakespeare – King Lear; As You Like It
  8. Marlowe – Tamburlaine the Great (Parts I and II)
  9. Webster – The Duchess of Malfi

Recommended Readings

  1. Aeschylus. (1961).Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes, The Persians, translated by Philip Vellacott. Penguin Books.
  2. Aristophanes. (1962).The Complete Plays of Aristophanes. Edited by Moses Hadas. A Bantam Skylark Book.
  3. Bloom, Harold. (1987). John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi. Chelsea House Pub (L).
  4. Bloom, Harold. (1999). Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. London: Fourth Estate.
  5. Cheney, Patrick. (2004). The Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe. Cambridge: CUP.
  6. Dover, K.J. (1972).Aristophanic Comedy. University of California Press.
  7. Eagleton, Terry. (1986). William Shakespeare. New York: Blackwell.
  8. Erikson, Peter. (1991). Rewriting Shakespeare, Rewriting Our-selves. Berkley: University of California Press.
  9. Frazer, James G. (1922).The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. MacMillan.
  10. Gregory, Justina. (2005).A Companion to Greek Tragedy. Blackwell.
  11. Hackett, Helen. (2012). A Short History of English Renaissance Drama. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.
  12. Herington. (1986). Aeschylus. Yale.
  13. Kitto, H. D. F. (2005).Greek Tragedy. London and New York: Routledge.
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