Module Identifier EN20720  
Module Title NINETEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE  
Academic Year 2007/2008  
Co-ordinator Dr Damian Walford Davies  
Semester Semester 1  
Other staff Dr Jonathan Shears, Mr Michael J Smith, Dr Richard J Marggraf-Turley  
Course delivery Lecture   20 x 1 hour lecture  
  Seminars / Tutorials   10 x 1 hour seminar  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment 1 X 2000 WORD ESSAY to show knowledge of at least one text taught in the first half of the module.33%
Semester Exam 2 QUESTION EXAM Question 1 on a single text from Section A; Question 2 to show knowledge of at least two texts.67%
Supplementary Assessment100 Hours Resubmit or resit failed elements and/or make good any missing elements.100%

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
demonstrate knowledge of a range of literary texts from across the period

locate texts in appropriate cultural and historical contexts

articulate a detailed critical analysis of individual texts from the period that shows an understanding of their distinctive qualities

relate texts from the period either to each other or to a common theme

Content

Seminars and Lectures
1. Introductory Seminar: Romanticism
Lectures: Module Rationale and Outline & Introduction to Romanticism
2. Wordsworth and Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads
Lectures: Lyrical Ballads (1) & (2)
3. Keats, The Odes, Lamia, Eve of St Agnes, Isabella
Lectures: The Odes & Lamia, Eve of St Agnes, Isabella
4. De Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
Lectures: Romantic Addictions & Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
5. Jane Austen, Persuasion
Lectures: Persuasion (1) & (2)

6. Introductory Seminar: Victorian Writing
Lectures: Victorian Writing (1) & (2)
7. Dickens, Hard Times
Lecture: Hard Times (1) & (2)
8. Tennyson, Maud
Lectures: Maud & Maud and the Dramatic Monologue
9. Various authors and texts, Victorian Women's Poetry
Lectures: Victorian Women's Poetry (1) & (2)
10. Conan Doyle, Selected Sherlock Holmes stories
Lectures: Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes stories & Fin de Siecle: Degeneracy and Writing

Brief description

This revised module seeks to introduce students to a representative range of writing across the Romantic and Victorian periods. The seminar texts dramatise a number of key social and political issues (the impact of revolution, industrialism, imperialism) and map changing notions of the self, gender, sexuality and identity. The module familiarises students with a range of literary forms: poetry, the novel, periodical literature and the short story.
For each seminar text there will be 2 lectures: one closely focused on the text, and the other locating that text in wider contexts (social, political, biographical, critical, theoretical). Two lectures will also accompany each of the 2 "Introductory" seminars which introduce the 2 periods covered by this module.

Module Skills

Problem solving In essays and examination answers: by formulating and putting into practice a critical approach appropriate to text and topic set  
Research skills In preparation for seminars, essays, and exams: by investigation of literary texts, associated critical and scholarly writing, and the relationship of literary texts to historical and cultural contexts  
Communication (Written) in essays and examination answers students are encouraged to express their ideas articulately and fluently (Oral) seminars drawn on group discussion and, if the tutor so wishes, brief student presentations  
Improving own Learning and Performance Students are encouraged to take more personal initiative in the planning and conduct of their preparation for assignments than at Level 1, and to make use of a broader range of resources; formal feedback on essays and informal feedback on seminar participation help students measure their improvement  
Team work Informal group work in seminars  
Information Technology Substantial use is made of electronic text-databases (EEBO, LION), of electronic journals, and of Blackboard, and students are encouraged to familiarise themselves with these  
Personal Development and Career planning Only insofar as the module covers key areas of literature in which students intending to teach English would need to demonstrate competence; or which might be related to future academic research. The module develops transferable analytical skills  
Subject Specific Skills Close reading of literary texts; grasp of generic and intertextual relationships between texts; identification and analysis of appropriate historical and cultural contexts  

Reading Lists

Books
** Should Be Purchased
Austen, Jane (2003.) Persuasion /Jane Austen ; edited with an introduction and notes by Gillian Beer. Penguin Books 0141439688
De Quincey, Thomas (1998) Confessions of an English opium-eater and other writings /Thomas De Quincey ; edited with an introduction and notes by Grevel Lindop. Oxford University Press 0192836544
Dickens, Charles (1998) Hard Times, ed Law, Graham Oxford UP
Doyle, Arthur Conan (2001.) The adventures of Sherlock Holmes & the memoirs of Sherlock Holmes /Arthur Conan Doyle ; introduction by Iain Pears ; notes by Ed Glinert. Penguin 0140437711
Keats, John (1988 (1999 prin) Selected poems /John Keats ; edited with an introduction and notes by John Barnard. Penguin Books 0140437258
Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson (1991.) Selected poems /Alfred Lord Tennyson ; edited by Aidan Day. Penguin Books 0140445455
Wordsworth, William (2003.) Lyrical ballads and other poems /Wordsworth & Coleridge, with an introduction and notes by Martin Scofield. Wordsworth Editions 1840225351
** Supplementary Text
(2002.) A companion to Victorian poetry /edited by Richard Cronin, Alison Chapman, and Antony H. Harrison. Blackwell Pub. 0631222073
(2005.) Romanticism :an Oxford guide /edited by Nicholas Roe. Oxford University Press 0199258406
Armstrong, Isobel. (1993.) Victorian poetry :poetry, poetics and politics /Isobel Armstrong. Routledge 0415030161
Barrell, John. (1991.) The infection of Thomas De Quincey :a psychopathology of imperialism /John Barrell. Yale University Press 0300049323
Blades, John. (c2004.) Wordsworth and Coleridge :lyrical ballads /John Blades. Palgrave Macmillan 1403904790
Butler, Marilyn (1981.) Romantics, rebels and reactionaries :English literature and its background 1760-1830 /Marilyn Butler. Oxford University Press 0192891324
Kestner, Joseph. (c1997.) Sherlock's men : masculinity, Conan Doyle, and cultural history /Joseph A. Kestner. Ashgate 1859283942
Pykett, Lyn (2002.) Charles Dickens /Lyn Pykett. Palgrave 0333728025
Roe, Nicholas. (1988.) Wordsworth and Coleridge : the radical years /Nicholas Roe. Clarendon 0198128681
Shaw, Marion. (1988.) Alfred Lord Tennyson /Marion Shaw. Harvester Wheatsheaf 0710810776
Tanner, Tony. (1986.) Jane Austen /Tony Tanner. Macmillan 0333323181
Turley, Richard Marggraf (2004.) Keats's boyish imagination /Richard Marggraf Turley. Routledge 0415288827

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5