Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

Module Identifier
WL10120
Module Title
Re-imagining Nineteenth-Century Literature
Academic Year
2019/2020
Co-ordinator
Dr Katy Birch
Semester
Semester 1
Other Staff
 

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Viewing 1 x 2 Hour Viewing
Lecture 10 x 1 Hour Lectures
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Portfolio / Essay 1  1 x 2,000-word essay OR 1 x 1,500 words of fiction and a 1,000-word commentary OR 60-90 lines of poetry and a 1,000-word commentary  50%
Semester Assessment Portfolio / Essay 2  1 x 2,000-word essay OR 1 x 1,500 words of fiction and a 1,000-word commentary OR 60-90 lines of poetry and a 1,000-word commentary  50%
Supplementary Assessment Students who fail the module will be required to make good any missing assessment elements and/or resubmit any failed coursework assignments (written on a fresh topic). 
Supplementary Assessment Portfolio / Essay 1  1 x 2,000-word essay OR 1 x 1,500 words of fiction and a 1,000-word commentary OR 60-90 lines of poetry and a 1,000-word commentary  50%
Supplementary Assessment Portfolio / Essay 2  1 x 2,000-word essay OR 1 x 1,500 words of fiction and a 1,000-word commentary OR 60-90 lines of poetry and a 1,000-word commentary  50%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1.Demonstrate awareness of different approaches to adaptation and the ability to analyse the choices authors have made and/ or to analyse the choices they themselves have made as authors.

2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the ideological work of literature and the cultural values involved in adaptation.

3. Demonstrate knowledge of nineteenth-century fiction and an ability to relate texts to relevant historical, generic and cultural contexts.

4. Structure effective comparative textual analyses, either in a critical essay or a commentary on their own creative work.

5. Demonstrate critical and interpretative skills appropriate to Level 1 and deploy an appropriate critical vocabulary.

Brief description

This module focuses on three canonical nineteenth-century texts that have been adapted multiple times: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. For each text we will focus on one adaptation that exemplifies a particular approach to reimagining literary texts. Gurinder Chadha’s Bollywood-inspired film Bride and Prejudice transposes the plot of Pride and Prejudice onto modern-day India. Jean Rhys’s novel Wide Sargasso Sea retells Jane Eyre from the perspective of Bertha Mason, the ‘madwoman in the attic’. Brian Henson’s film The Muppet Christmas Carol has been described as the most faithful film adaptation of A Christmas Carol, raising questions of what we understand by fidelity in literary adaptations. Through an examination of these texts we will explore what the adaptations tell us about the original texts and about the cultural values involved in the process of adaptation. Teaching delivery will consist of ten 50-minute lectures and ten 2-hour seminar/workshops. This is a dual-assessment module, meaning that students will be able to choose to write comparative essays on these texts or to create their own textual adaptations.

Content

Week 1: Introduction

Wek 2: Pride and Prejudice

Week 3: Bride and Prejudice

Week 4: Comparing Pride and Prejudice and Bride and Prejudice

Week 5: Jane Eyre

Week 6: Wide Sargasso Sea

Week 7: Comparing Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea

Week 8: A Christmas Carol

Week 9: The Muppet Christmas Carol

Week 10: Comparing A Christmas Carol and The Muppet Christmas Carol

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number
Communication (written) By developing a sustained critical argument (oral) Through group discussions and seminar presentations (not assessed).
Improving own Learning and Performance Through independent research and reading. Through reflecting on and responding to feedback from workshops. 
Information Technology By using word-processing packages and making use of Blackboard and other e-resources to research and access course documents and other materials.  
Personal Development and Career planning Through increased critical self-reflection and the development of transferable, ICT, communication and research skills.
Problem solving By evaluative analysis and critical skills.
Research skills By independent research and synthesizing information in an evaluative argument.  
Subject Specific Skills Through reading and writing skills, and the study of literary texts. Introductory critical/theoretical analysis of literary and film texts and evaluation of broad intellectual concepts. Comparative textual analysis. 
Team work Through group work in seminars.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 4