Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

Module Identifier
EN10520
Module Title
CONTEMPORARY WRITING
Academic Year
2012/2013
Co-ordinator
Dr Megan Owen
Semester
Semester 2
Other Staff
 

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Seminars / Tutorials One x one-hour weekly seminar
Lecture Two x one-hour lectures each week
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Continuous Assessment: 2000 word essay  50%
Semester Exam 2 Hours   (Answer two questions on a two hour examination paper)  50%
Supplementary Exam 2 Hours   RE-SIT EXAM  Resit examination  100%

Learning Outcomes

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

1. Demonstrate an informed critical understanding of selected examples of contemporary writing.

2. Relate these texts to contemporary cultural concerns.

3. Write about contemporary literary texts in a structured and disciplined manner.

Brief description

This module introduces a range of contemporary writing in English covering a wide variety of forms, styles, and linguistic registers but concentrating on the genres of poetry and the novel. The set texts raise a number of critical issues concerning literary form and language, cultural positioning and social identity. They are arranged under four thematic headings: 'Nation and Community', 'Place and Ethnicity', 'Sexualities and Dissidence' and Twenty-First Century Traumas'. This approach will enable students to engage with the sort of theoretical work they will encounter at a higher level in Part Two.

Content

Lectures 1-3 and Seminars 1-3: Nation and Community
Text: Ed. Richard Gwyn, 'The Pterodactyl's Wing'

Lectures 5-10 and Seminars 4-5: Place and Ethnicity
Texts: Mohsin Hamid 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist'; Anne Enright 'The Gathering'

Lectures 11-15 and Seminars 6-8: Sexualities and Dissidence
Texts: Jackie Kay 'The Trumpet'; Jeanette Winterson 'The Stone Gods'

Lectures 16-20 and Seminars 9-10: Twenty-First Century Traumas
Texts: Tom McCarthy 'Remainder'; James Meek' We Are Now Beginning Our Descent


Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number n/a
Communication Written - developing a sustained critical argument Oral - group discussions adn seminar presentations
Improving own Learning and Performance Independent research and reading
Information Technology Use of word-processing packages, 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, communication and research skills
Problem solving Evaluative analysis and critical skills
Research skills Independent research ad synthesizing information in an evaluative argument
Subject Specific Skills Reading, writing and researching 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

Reading List

General Text
(c2003.) The pterodactyl's wing :Welsh world poetry /edited by Richard Gwyn. Parthian Books Primo search Enright, Anne (2009.) The gathering /Anne Enright. Vintage Primo search Hamid, Mohsin (2008.) The reluctant fundamentalist /Mohsin Hamid. Penguin Primo search Kay, Jackie (1999) Trumpet /Jackie Kay. Picador Primo search Meek, James (2009.) We are now beginning our descent /James Meek. Canongate Primo search Winterson, Jeanette (2008.) The stone gods /Jeanette Winterson. Penguin Primo search
McCarthy, Tom (Feb. 2007) Remainder Vintage [Imprint] Primo search

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 4