Inhalte

For the last decade, Patrick Ness has established himself a reputation as a highly acclaimed writer of young adult fiction, whose novels have deservedly and repeatedly won some of the most prestigious awards, including the Carnegie Medal. His themes are not only concerned with ‘typical’ young adult topics - such as coming of age, friendship, love, anxiety of the future (e.g. The Rest of Us Just Live Here), but frequently also address the darker sides of life - death, illness and disorder or loss (e.g. A Monster Calls or More Than This). The protagonists of Ness’s novels are often plunged into a world in which good and bad are not crystal clear and where, therefore, they have to make difficult choices. His award winning Chaos Walking Trilogy, for instance, is a remarkable dystopia that - unlike some popular blockbusters - does not eventually lead its readers to easy, sugarcoated solutions.

In our seminar, we are going to explore this complexity of Patrick Ness’s fiction, looking at his strong, peculiar characters, his complex narrative strategies and humorous storytelling, as well as his thoughtful and critical treatment of issues that are by no means too advanced for young adult readers.

 

Zwingende Voraussetzung

Bitte beachten Sie, dass dies ein Kurs im Masterstudiengang ist, d.h. Sie können in diesem Kurs nur SL und PL erwerben, wenn Sie Ihr Bachelorstudium bis zum Stichtag 30. Mai komplett (d.h. ALLE Fächer) erfolgreich abgeschlossen haben. Ein Voraberwerb von später anzurechnenden Punkten ist nicht möglich.
Studierende, die zum Zeitpunkt der Kurseinschreibung in Unisono noch nicht ihren BA komplett abgeschlossen haben, werden daher nicht den Status "zugelassen" erhalten.
Wenn ein Abschluss bis 30.5. absehbar ist, können Sie aber nach Rücksprache mit der Dozentin und  unter Vorbehalt des erfolgreichen Abschlusses bis 30.5. - einen Platz erhalten, wenn Sie in der ersten Sitzung erscheinen und wenn noch Plätze im Kurs verfügbar sind.
Eine Kursteilnahme rein interessehalber - d.h. ohne Erwerb von SL oder PL - ist nach Rücksprache mit der Dozentin gerne möglich, solange im Raum genügend Plätze sind.

Zu erbringende Prüfungsleistung

For a Prüfungsleistung, students are expected to submit an academic term paper.

Zu erbringende Studienleistung

For a Studienleistung, students will be expected to read all the novels listed under "Literatur", to contribute actively to all sessions, and to act as experts for one of the novels (or to introduce one of the volumes of the trilogy which we will not discuss in detail).

Literatur

Participants are expected to buy their own copies of and read the following novels by Patrick Ness:

The Rest of Us just Live Here
A Monster Calls
(illustrated edition!)
More Than This
The Ask and the Answer
(= volume II of the Chaos Walking trilogy. If you wish to read the entire trilogy, you are welcome to also read volume I: The Knife of Never Letting Go and volume III: Monsters of Men)

In order to cope with the reading load, participants should have read The Rest of Us just Live Here by the beginning of the term and they should have begun reading A Monster Calls (at least).