Module Identifier
EN30930
Module Title
READING THEORY/ READING TEXT
Academic Year
2008/2009
Co-ordinator
Professor Sarah C Hutton
Semester
Semester 1
Pre-Requisite
EN20120
Other Staff
 

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Seminars / Tutorials 10 x hour seminar
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment 1 X 4000 WORD ESSAY  50%
Semester Exam 2 Hours   A PREVIOUSLY RELEASED 2 HOUR EXAMINATION  50%
Supplementary Assessment Resubmit or resit failed elements and/or make good any missing elements 

Learning Outcomes

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

1. Analyse the relationships between different theoretical approaches.

2. Reflect on their own critical practice in a theoretically informed way.

3. Employ particular theoretical approaches in the critical analysis of literary text.

4. Evaluate the significance of particular theoretical approaches for the practice of literary criticism.

Content

We will be using four broad headings and studying four literary texts. At least three of these texts will be chosen from a designated list of eleven 'core' texts; the fourth text may (if desired) be the free choice of individual group tutors.
The eleven 'core' texts from which seminar texts will be selected are as follows:

1. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
2. William Shakespeare, The Tempest
3. Daniel Defoe, Roxana
4. Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
5. Alfred Tennyson, selected poems
6. Herman Melville, Billy Budd
7. Henry James, The Turn of the Screw
8. James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
9. Virginia Woolf, Between the Acts
10. Toni Morrison, Beloved
11. Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse 5
The four broad theoretical headings, which all groups will use, are:
1. Politics and History
2. Language and Textuality
3. Gender and Sexuality

Tutors will decide individually on the order of treatment of these topics, and will match topic to text according to their own judgement. Tutors may wish to touch on several of the topics for a given text, rather than matching each of the four literary texts to just one of the four broad topics.

The module is assessed by one piece of course work (contributing 50% of the module mark), and one formal previously released 2 hour examination. The assessment tasks will be designed so as to allow students to demonstrate (i) their grasp of relevant aspects of critical theory, (ii) their skill in applying theory to text, and (iii) their understanding of the problems and opportunities entailed in doing so.

Brief description

The aim of this module is to enable students to explore the relationship between literary theory and literary analysis by means of a weekly two-hour 'workshop', building upon the experience gained in previous theory modules. Thus, the key notion of the module is the provision of opportunities to gain experience of the practical application of literary theory to literary texts. The module proposes to examine a selection of texts under three broad theoretical headings, making analysis of the texts and the critical ideas the prime material for investigation.

Aims

1. to build upon the experience gained in the previous theory module, EN20120 Reading Theory/Reading Text 1;
2. to enable students to explore the relationship between literary theory and literary analysis;
3. to enable students to gain experience of the practical application of literary theory to literary texts.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number n/a
Communication Students' writing in an academic context will be developed and assessed in the coursework and examination assignments. Oral skills will be developed in individual and group work in seminars, but not assessed
Improving own Learning and Performance This will be developed during the course of the seminars and in the assessment tasks
Information Technology Students will be expected to present their work in word processed form (and will edit PC generated text); they will also be required to make use of computerized library resources
Personal Development and Career planning This will be addressed in the module's emphasis on independent and group work, and its attempt to develop professional presentational skills
Problem solving This will be developed during the course of the seminars and in the assessment tasks
Research skills This will be developed during the course of the seminars and in the assessment tasks
Team work This is built into the pedagogy of the module - all students will work in pairs and/or groups to comment on theories in relation to texts

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6