Module Identifier EN30920  
Module Title READING THEORY/READING TEXT 2  
Academic Year 2001/2002  
Co-ordinator Dr Sean Matthews  
Semester Semester 2 (Taught over 2 semesters)  
Other staff Mrs Carol Marshall, Dr Damian Walford Davies, Dr David Shuttleton, Dr Elizabeth Oakley-Brown, Dr Helena Grice, Mr Matthew Jarvis, Mr Michael Smith, Dr Tiffany Atkinson  
Pre-Requisite EN20120  
Course delivery Workshop   20 Hours (10 x 2 hr workshop/seminars)  
Assessment Continuous assessment   2 x 2,500 word essays   100%  
  Resit assessment   Resubmit any failed elements and/or make good any missing elements.    

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. This will be done by using four broad headings and studying four literary texts. At least three of these texts will be chosen from a designated list of ten 'core' texts; the fourth text may (if desired) be the free choice of individual group tutors.


The ten '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


The four broad theoretical headings, which all groups will use, are:
1) Politics
2) Literary Context and Authorship
3) Textuality
4) Sex and Gender


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 two pieces of course work (each contributing 50% of the module mark), and there is no 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.


All teaching associated with this module is completed in semester 1. The deadline for the second assessed essay will be the first day of semester 2 and the mark for the module will be released with the semester 2 results.

Aims and objectives


to build upon the experience gained in the previous theory module;
to enable students to explore the relationship between literary theory and literary analysis;
to enable students to gain experience of the practical application of literary theory to literary texts.

Learning outcomes


On completion of this module students should typically be able to:
distinguish between different theoretical approaches;
evaluate the significance of particular theoretical approaches for the practice of literary criticism;
employ particular theoretical approaches in the critical analysis of literary text.