Gwybodaeth Modiwlau
Course Delivery
Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
---|---|
Seminars / Tutorials | 10 x 2 hour seminars. Discussion-based. |
Assessment
Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
---|---|---|
Semester Assessment | ESSAY 1: 2,500 WORDS | 50% |
Semester Assessment | ESSAY 2: 2,500 WORDS | 50% |
Supplementary Assessment | RESUBMIT FAILED ELEMENTS Resubmit any failed elements and/or make good any missing elements. Where this involves re-submission of work, a new topic must be selected. |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of a range of texts drawn from the module;
2. Articulate this knowledge in the form of a reasoned critical analysis of particular texts;
3. Locate the texts studied in appropriate literary, historical, and/or cultural contexts;
4. Explain and engage with relevant aspects of recent critical debates about the texts studied;
5. Demonstrate developing skills in oral presentation, both individually and in small group presentations.
Aims
This module is designed for all 2nd/3rd year BA students in English/American Studies. It is an optional module within the portfolio of options available to students on the Department's various undergraduate degree schemes - including American Studies. The module investigates the representation of New York City in a selected body of modern and contemporary literature and examines the texts from a range of critical and theoretical perspectives.
Brief description
Few cities have inspired as much innovative writing as New York. Indeed, the literature of New York is extraordinary for both its diversity and volume. But why exactly has 'The Big Apple' had such a deep impact on the literary imagination? This module examines the representation of New York City in a selected body of modern and contemporary literature. In particular, the module will consider how writers as diverse as Henry James, Zora Neale Hurston, and Paul Auster have used the city to explore issues of gender, class, nation, and ethnicity. Theoretical ideas from a range of thinkers - including Walter Benjamin, Michel de Certeau, Lewis Mumford, and George Simmel - will be used to frame and inform our analysis of the texts.
Content
_PART ONE: 1890-1940
_2 Old New York
Selected writings by Henry James, Edith Wharton, William Dean Howells, Edgar Allan Poe, Jacob Riis, and Walt Whitman, in Writing New York: A Literary Anthology
_3 The Ghetto
Abraham Cahan, Yekl
_4-5 The Modern City
John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer
_6 Harlem Renaissance
Selected writings by Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, and Ralph Ellison, in Writing New York: A Literary Anthology
_PART TWO: 1940-1990
_7 Meandering Manhattan
J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
_8 El Barrio
Piri Thomas, Down These Mean Streets
_9 Contemporary Bohemia
Tama Janowitz, Slaves of New York
_10 The Postmodern City
Paul Auster, City of Glass
Module Skills
Skills Type | Skills details |
---|---|
Application of Number | n/a |
Communication | Written communication in extended essay |
Improving own Learning and Performance | Developing time/work management skills |
Information Technology | Using electronic research and bibliographic resources |
Personal Development and Career planning | n/a |
Problem solving | Formulating and developing an extended argument |
Research skills | Developing independent study |
Subject Specific Skills | n/a |
Team work | Group presentations (in seminar) |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6