Module Information
Module Identifier
WR32120
Module Title
Writing and Place
Academic Year
2021/2022
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1
Other Staff
Course Delivery
Assessment
Due to Covid-19 students should refer to the module Blackboard pages for assessment details
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Creative Writing Portfolio 3250 word portfolio (creative piece 2000, commentary 1,250) | 80% |
| Semester Assessment | fieldwork presentation fieldwork presentation | 20% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Creative Writing Portfolio 3250 word portfolio (creative piece 2000, commentary 1,250) | 80% |
| Supplementary Assessment | fieldwork presentation fieldowrk presentation | 20% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Demonstrate an ability to carry out a range of research, including fieldwork.
Apply to their own writing a knowledge and understanding of appropriate creative techniques used in writing place.
Demonstrate an awareness of individual, social, historic and political approaches to place.
Situate their own writing processes within a broad critical context relevant to literary representations of place.
Make constructive critical responses to their own and other students' writing, and engage in appropriate revisions/reflections of their own work.
Aims
This module will encourage students to develop a sense of place in their creative writing
Brief description
This module pays equal attention to places as geographical and human realities, as well as symbolic constructs. On the first, realist level, students will be asked to remember and describe places they have known, and to explore known and new places. On the second, imaginative level, they will be asked to think about the symbolic resonances of certain categories of place (city, forest, seascape, etc.). They will read and discuss texts which evoke a range of different places and create new fictional places of their own making as well as writing observational pieces. All of which, are based around fieldwork and research.
While these two levels will be distinguished for teaching purposes, the interaction between them will also be emphasised: symbolic ideas colour our attitude to real places, and our experience of real places informs the creation of fictional ones. At all times, the essential writing skills of prose and poetry will be borne in mind.
While these two levels will be distinguished for teaching purposes, the interaction between them will also be emphasised: symbolic ideas colour our attitude to real places, and our experience of real places informs the creation of fictional ones. At all times, the essential writing skills of prose and poetry will be borne in mind.
Content
Seminar Schedule:
1. There’s nowhere like home: An introduction to place and identity, exploring the nature of home from symbolic and personal perspectives.
2. Fieldwork: The art and practicalities of observation and the role of observation in writing. Small groups will plan a task to be carried out for the following week.
3. The Art of Activism: Nature Writing and Ecocriticism.
Workshop short report on planned observation task.
4. How does it make you feel?: Exploring harmonious and antagonistic landscapes and how these can be used across genre and form.
Workshop: Nature Writing essay.
5. Exploring Cities: introduction to psychogeography.
Presentation workshop 1: First round of workshops where students report findings from their recent fieldtrip. This will form the basis of the portfolio.
6. Passing through: an introduction to travel writing.
Presentation workshop 2: Second round of individual fieldwork reports.
7. Liminal spaces: thresholds and nowhere places.
Presentation workshop 3: Third round of individual fieldwork reports.
8. Poetry and the environment: an introduction for all writers.
Presentation workshop 4: Fourth round of individual fieldwork reports.
9. Bringing it all together: Decision making, planning and writing the assignment.
Workshop: on work in progress.
10. A celebration of place: Recap of elements covered on module.
Workshop.
1. There’s nowhere like home: An introduction to place and identity, exploring the nature of home from symbolic and personal perspectives.
2. Fieldwork: The art and practicalities of observation and the role of observation in writing. Small groups will plan a task to be carried out for the following week.
3. The Art of Activism: Nature Writing and Ecocriticism.
Workshop short report on planned observation task.
4. How does it make you feel?: Exploring harmonious and antagonistic landscapes and how these can be used across genre and form.
Workshop: Nature Writing essay.
5. Exploring Cities: introduction to psychogeography.
Presentation workshop 1: First round of workshops where students report findings from their recent fieldtrip. This will form the basis of the portfolio.
6. Passing through: an introduction to travel writing.
Presentation workshop 2: Second round of individual fieldwork reports.
7. Liminal spaces: thresholds and nowhere places.
Presentation workshop 3: Third round of individual fieldwork reports.
8. Poetry and the environment: an introduction for all writers.
Presentation workshop 4: Fourth round of individual fieldwork reports.
9. Bringing it all together: Decision making, planning and writing the assignment.
Workshop: on work in progress.
10. A celebration of place: Recap of elements covered on module.
Workshop.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | N/A |
| Communication | Through workshop and seminar discussion, and through writing the assignments and delivery of presentation. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Through independent reading and research. |
| Information Technology | Use of digital resources for research and presentation |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Develop awareness of personal skills, improving work in response to peer and tutor feedback. |
| Problem solving | Through dealing with problems of writing and research. |
| Research skills | Understand and apply a range of research methods. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Use appropriate critical and/or evaluative skills in presenting a written argument. Use appropriate organisational, observational, critical, and writing skills to produce and deliver presentation based on fieldwork research. |
| Team work | Play an active part in group activities in the seminar workshop and on fieldwork trips |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6