Every week, in addition to the novels, stories, poems, etc. that you are assigned, you are required to read the lecture material for that week. I recommend you read it early, even before you read the fiction; it will often give you some ideas to look for as you are reading. But if you fear that reading about the works in advance will spoil the surprise, you are welcome to read them after reading the fiction.
You can also get to each week's lecture(s) from the course Class Schedule page.