Module Information
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Engagement and Contribution with the lecture component of teaching on the module 120 Minutes | 10% |
| Semester Assessment | Assessed Coursework Critical response to a theoretical concept and approach 1500 Words | 45% |
| Semester Assessment | Assessed Coursework Critical response to a theoretical concept and approach 1500 Words | 45% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Engagement and Contribution with the lecture component of teaching on the module 120 Minutes | 10% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Assessed Coursework Critical response to a theoretical concept and approach 1500 Words | 45% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Assessed Coursework Critical response to a theoretical concept and approach 1500 Words | 45% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
explain in detail some of the key ideas that are explored by specific theoretical concepts and approaches;
distinguish between a selection of theoretical concepts and approaches;
describe the impact of chosen theoretical concepts and approaches on the practice of literary criticism;
employ elements of chosen theoretical concepts and approaches in the critical analysis of short literary texts.
Brief description
This module introduces students to a range of theoretically driven approaches to literary study, drawing on the diverse research specialisms in the department. It builds upon the initial exposure to literary-theoretical concepts that students have had in Part 1, especially on EN11320. Considering literary theory to be an organically evolving set of concepts rather than a fixed toolkit or canon, the module places students in direct contact with theoretical work as it is being actively employed by experts in their fields. Over the course of the module, seminars introduce students to four theoretical areas. In-class discussion enables students to understand the detail of each theoretical position addressed, as well as giving them the opportunity to develop their own critiques. Short literary examples are deployed to enable students to gain practical experience of using each theoretical concept/approach to serve their developing skills as literary critics. The lecture stream of the module provides a parallel set of materials for students to enhance their understanding of the theories that they address in class as well as connections to other theoretical positions.
Aims
1. to introduce students to some of the major concerns in literary theory by working on specific problems of interpretation at the level of text and concept through reding examples.
2. to acquaint students with a range of important literary-theoretical approaches.
3. to investigate how different theories interrelate, inform and confront other theoretical and literary texts
4. to prepare students for the applied theory module EN30120 Reading Theory/Reading Text
Content
1. A video portfolio which covers a wide array of theoretical issues and perspectives – such as (for example): textuality, queer theory, historicism, materialism, the author, ecocriticism, deconstruction, feminism, identity, and post-colonial theory. This material introduces students to the breadth of relevant literary theoretical discourses, and provides the overall context within which their more focused seminar discussions will take place.
2. Weekly seminars which facilitate a sustained engagement with a more focused series of theoretical concepts and approaches. The seminars offer students the chance (a) to engage in detail with theoretical writing, and (b) – by using short literary examples – to explore how the theoretical writing under consideration impacts on their developing skills as literary critics.
The module is divided into two blocks of five weeks each. Each block contains the following pattern of scaffolded learning:
• Week 1/6: Introducing Ideas
Via discussion of bite-size examples chosen from relevant theoretical texts, the first seminar of each five-week block introduces students, to the ideas that the rest of the block will consider in more detail. This session gives the students an initial breadth of understanding of the issues in question, and starts to explore how they can be applied to literary-critical practice itself.
• Weeks 2 & 3/7 & 8: Concepts
In these two weeks, students are introduced to a key theoretical concept (e.g. textuality, agency, identity) through engagement with at least one piece of theoretical writing which is studied in detail.
(a) The first week concentrates primarily on exploring the theoretical text itself, but with some practical application to one or two short literary-textual examples.
(b) The second week encourages students to review and deepen their understanding of the theoretical text being addressed, and asks them to undertake more substantial literary-critical application of the concepts explored (through attention to two or more literary texts presented in-class).
• Weeks 4 & 5/9 & 10: Approaches
In these two weeks, students are introduced to a key theoretical approach (e.g. ecocriticism, historicism, psychoanalysis) or ‘school’ of theoretical thought, through engagement with at least one piece of theoretical writing which is studied in detail. The approach/school chosen builds on, complements, or provides a theoretical contrast with the materials studied over Weeks 2 & 3/7 & 8.
(a) The first week concentrates primarily on exploring the theoretical text itself, but with some practical application to one or two short literary-textual examples.
(a) The second week encourages students to review and deepen their understanding of the theoretical text being addressed. Through attention to two or more literary-textual examples, and in dialogue with the concept explored in the first half of this block, students are asked to undertake more substantial literary-critical application of the approach/school that is being explored.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Communication | By developing a sustained critical argument (written) Through group discussions and seminar presentations (not assessed) |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Through independent research and reading. |
| Information Technology | 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 | Increased critical self-reflection and the development of transferable, ICT, and communication and research skills. |
| Problem solving | By evaluative analysis and critical skills |
| Research skills | Independent research and synthesizing information in an evaluative argument |
| Subject Specific Skills | Reading, writing and research skills involved in the interrogation of literary texts, and the conceptual/theoretical analysis of works of imaginative literature in relation to a range of other non-literary texts. |
| Team work | Group work in seminars and/or through the preparation of paired presentations for seminars. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5