Module Identifier EN30630  
Module Title RESTORATION AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE  
Academic Year 2006/2007  
Co-ordinator Dr Louise Marshall  
Semester Semester 2  
Other staff Miss Rebecca Sioned Davies, Dr Sarah H Prescott, Dr Louise Marshall  
Pre-Requisite EN10420 , EN10320  
Course delivery Lecture   30 Hours.  
  Seminars / Tutorials   10 Hours. Seminar.  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam3 Hours  75%
Semester Assessment Essay: 1 x 2,500 word essay25%
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. 

Learning outcomes

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

1. demonstrate a detailed knowledge of a range of texts drawn from the period 1660-1780;

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 scholarly and/or critical debates about the texts studied.

Aims

This module aims:

1. to introduce students to a range of poetry, drama, and fiction from the period from the 1660s to the 1780s;

2. to locate this writing in the literary, socio-historical and cultural contexts in which it was produced and read;

3. to encourage students to reflect critically on the texts chosen for special study;

4. to encourage students to explore the relations between literary texts and between texts and their contexts;

5. to encourage students to familiarize themselves with recent critical debates about the writing of this period.

Brief description

This module covers a representative range of writing published between the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 and the American War of Independence in the 1780s; a wide span of history, and a period in which there were substantial changes in modes of literary production and reception. Rather than seeking to offer a comprehensive coverage of the period, the module aims to introduce students to the range and variety of the writing of the period under four key-headings.

Content

Topics

1. Dramatic Comedy
 We shall examine the changing shape of dramatic comedy as the libertine Restoration theatre gave way to new codes of politeness.

2. Poetry
 We shall focus upon the contrast between 'Town and Country' to explore a shift from neo-classical imitation towards more realistic, 'modern' and sentimental poetic forms.

3. Satire
 We shall explore this dominant literary mode of both the late seventeenth-century, when party politics emerges, and the early eighteenth century, when literary professionalism, including an increase in female authorship, generated a new climate of public criticism.

4. Prose Fiction
 We shall examine the development of sophisticated forms of prose fiction that accompanied the rapid expansion of the literary marketplace.

Lectures and seminars

Lectures (three per week) on this module are primarily concerned with mapping generic and cultural contexts and suggesting ideological and critical consequences, whilst the weekly seminars provide a forum for close textual analysis and the discussion of critical issues. Each Tutor will present a seminar programme covering material under all four headings. Subject to availability, etc., titles will be selected from the recommended editions listed below.

Assessment

Assessment is by one 2,500 word essay (which will contribute 25% of the module mark), and a three-hour, two question examination paper. The examination answers should be from any two sections of the module not chosen for the essay topic. The examination will contribute 75% of the module mark.

Reading Lists

Books
** Should Be Purchased
Alexander Pope Selected Poetry Oxford 0192834940
David Fairer and Christine Gerrard (eds.) Eighteenth-Century Poetry: An Annotated Anthology (2nd Edition) Blackwell 1405113197
Eliza Haywood Love in Excess Broadview 1551113678
Henry Fielding Joseph Andrews and Shamela Oxford World's Classics 019283343X
Jonathan Swift Gulliver's Travels Penguin 0141439491
Samuel Richardson Pamela Penguin 0140431403
Scott McMillin (ed.) Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Comedy Norton 0393963349

Web Page/Sites
** Essential Reading
John Dryden, 'Absalom and Achitophel' & 'Mac Flecknoe': texts available online

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6