Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Seminar | 10 x 2 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Science Fiction Short Story 1 x 1500 word Science Fiction Short Story | 38% |
| Semester Assessment | Critical Commentary 1 x 1000 word critical commentary with bibliography (bibliography is not included in the word count) | 12% |
| Semester Assessment | Fantasy Short Story 1 x 1500 word fantasy short story | 38% |
| Semester Assessment | Critical Commentary 1 x 1000 word critical commentary with bibliography (bibliography is not included in the word count) | 12% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate, in both creative and evaluative writing, an increased awareness of the thematic and structural possibilities of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
2. Demonstrate, in both creative and evaluative writing, an increased command of a variety of techniques of Science Fiction and Fantasy writing.
3. Demonstrate, in critical prose, an awareness of their own writing processes.
4. Demonstrate, by the revision of work previously discussed in workshops, an ability to improve their writing in response to criticism
Aims
The module will enhance the coverage of fiction-writing by offering an introduction to two closely related modes that are critically and commercially important.
Brief description
This module falls into two halves with five weeks being devoted to Science Fiction and five to Fantasy. Each workshop will deal with a key theme. Students will be given a brief introduction to each theme and asked to produce a piece of writing, typically a short story, based on it. These stories will then be discussed in the workshops.
Content
1. Other Worlds (1): Space Travel and Alien Planets.
2. Other Beings (1): Extraterrestrials and Mutants.
3. Other Beings (2): Robots, Cyborgs, Androids, and Artificial Intelligence.
4. After the Apocalypse.
5. Dystopias.
6. Other Worlds (2): Portals and Fantasy Realms.
7. Other Beings (3): Wizards, Witches, Fairies.
8. Other Beings (4): Shapeshifters (Vampires, Werewolves, etc.)
9. The Quest.
10. Alternat(iv)e histories.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | N/A |
| Communication | Interaction in group discussion will be essential to the seminars, which will take the form of workshops. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Students will be expected to improve their work in response to criticism from the tutor and other students. |
| Information Technology | Students will draw on resources located on Blackboard and the Internet. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Developed through self-reflection on one’s own creative practice and through transferrable communication and research skills. |
| Problem solving | Students will, with the help of the tutor, learn to overcome such problems of writing technique (inaccurate language, faulty structure, uninvolving writing etc.) as become apparent in the seminars and assessments. |
| Research skills | Developed through the encounter with issues of genre and language that underpins the creative work, and through the synthesizing of information in the reflective critical commentary. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Creative imagination, plot construction, characterization, prose style, revision and editing, critical analysis, understanding of genres of Fantasy and Science Fiction. |
| Team work |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6