Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Seminars / Tutorials | 5 x 2-hour seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | A portfolio of one or two complete short stories, to a total length of 3500 words, with a 1500-word commentary. It is expected that the finished product will be derived substantially from material produced for class discussion, though there will be some flexibility on this point | 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Resubmit any failed elements and/or make good any missing elements. Where this involves re-submission of work, a new topic must be selected. | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. demonstrate, both in their creative work and through their evaluative writing, an understanding of topics relevant to the writing of fiction. An indicative list of such topics might include: narrative structure; the significance of myth; the importance of autobiographical writing and the necessity of expanding imaginatively beyond it; and the importance of place in fiction;
2. demonstrate, both in their creative work and through their evaluative writing, an appropriate level of relevant factual research;
3. reveal, both in their creative work and through their evaluative writing, an awareness of their intended readership;
4. reveal, both in their creative work and through their evaluative writing, an appropriate understanding of the wider context of literary fiction;
5. reveal, both in their creative work and through their evaluative writing, an appropriate awareness of the meaning and implications of words and the rules governing their use;
6. identify problems in their own writing and that of others, and apply themselves to discovering solutions to those problems;
7. engage effectively in group discussion, offering stringent but supportive criticism of the work of their fellow-students, and responding appropriately to criticism offered by others.
Aims
Though ENM5020 is not technically a prerequisite, this module is intended to broaden out from ENM5020's concentration on method and technique to create a fuller understanding of issues and approaches relevant to the craft of writing.
Brief description
Like Writing Fiction 1, this module provides a forum in which students will assess and practice a range of approaches to the writing of fiction, with appropriate reference to the work of contemporary writers, but adds to earlier discussions of technique an exploration of wider issues related to the practice of writing. Members of the group will be expected to pursue a relevant but non-prescriptive programme of reading (a list of suggested reading is supplied); and to present weekly, for comment and supportive criticism by the group, anticipatory work carried out during the preceding week and geared to the focal concerns of the coming session.
Content
Focussing on a range of relevant excerpts, we shall address the structuring of fictions, with a particular emphasis on openings.
_Session 2: Endings
Focussing on a range of relevant excerpts, we shall address the structuring of fictions, with a particular emphasis on closure.
_Session 3: Memory
Focussing on work produced by the students over the preceding week, we shall examine the operation of memory, and its importance for the production of both autobiographical and fictional writings.
_Session 4: Imagination
Focussing on work produced by students over the preceding week, we shall explore further the power of the imagination to transform the autobiographical into the fictional.
_Session 5: A sense of place; conclusion
Focussing on work produced by students over the preceding week, we shall examine the importance of a sense of place in the writing of fiction, and conclude with a broad recapitulation of the year's work.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Communication | Yes: interaction in group discussion |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Yes: development of understanding both of the subject of the work and the process of writing |
| Problem solving | Yes: the assessment will require attention to issues of a broadly problematic nature |
| Research skills | Yes: the assessment will require research |
| Subject Specific Skills | Yes: Engagement in practical skills and reflection upon those skills |
| Team work | Yes: see 3 |
Reading List
No specific set texts, but MA students receive a substantial advisory reading list at the beginning of the year. This includes works relevant to this module.
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7