Module ENGL2131: AMERICAN FICTION LEVEL 2

Department: English Studies

ENGL2131: AMERICAN FICTION LEVEL 2

Prerequisites

• At least one of the following modules: Introduction to Drama (ENGL1011), Introduction to the Novel (ENGL1061), Introduction to Poetry (ENGL1071).

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• American Fiction Level 3.

Aims

• To introduce a selective range of US fiction, within a variety of cultural, historical and intellectual contexts.

Content

• An introductory survey of the novel in the United States, c 1840s-2000s.
• The main emphasis in lectures will be on offering starting-points for further reading, and on suggesting cultural, historical and intellectual frameworks and contexts NOT upon close explication of individual texts.
• Some lectures will take up general questions others will concentrate on specific texts by selected writers or groups of writers.
• Works grouped together in a unit will be linked by a general argument.
• The following issues will remain important throughout the module: the problematics of reading a novel within the nationalist frame; changing representations of the United States; gender and multicultural perspectives; rhetorical constructions of identity; debates about the literary canon.
• Handouts, slides, overheads and other audio-visual material are used where appropriate to help students read the literature within broader cultural contexts.
• The module is supported on duo.
• Sample texts may vary from year to year but will normally include works from a selection of the following writers: James, Gilman, Chopin, Wharton, Fitzgerald and Hemingway, Stowe, Alcott, Douglass and Slave Narratives, Twain, Faulkner, Morrison, Cather, Cooper, Melville, Hawthorne, Steinbeck, Erdrich.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of a selected range of US fiction
• Display analytical-critical skills in approaching specific texts and show some awareness of issues raised by reading fiction within wider cultural, literary and intellectual contexts, and within a national frame.

• Students studying this module will develop:
• critical skills in the close reading and analysis of texts
• an ability to demonstrate knowledge of a range of texts, authors, and critical approaches within this literary period
• an informed awareness of formal and aesthetic dimensions of literature and an ability to offer cogent analysis of their workings in specific texts relating to this literary period
• a sensitivity to generic conventions and to the shaping effects on communication of historical circumstances, and to the affective power of language
• an ability to articulate and substantiate an imaginative response to literature
• an ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of concepts and theories relating to this literary period
• skills of effective communication and argument
• a command of a broad range of vocabulary and an appropriate critical terminology
• an awareness of literature as a medium through which values are affirmed and debated

• Students studying this module will develop:
• a capacity to analyse critically
• an ability to acquire complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way involving the use of distinctive interpretative skills derived from the subject
• a competence in the planning and execution of essays
• a capacity for independent thought and judgement, and ability to assess the critical ideas of others
• skills in critical reasoning
• an ability to handle information and argument in a critical manner
• information-technology skills such as word-processing and electronic data access information
• organisation and time-management skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures: enable students to gain subject-specific knowledge of cultural, aesthetic and intellectual issues in relation to individual works and authors, an area or period, or a theoretical or language-related topic; encourage students to be aware of the range and variety of approaches to literary study; present ideas and information to encourage, on the part of students, further thought and discussion
• Tutorials: enable students to explore, in a selective way, through small-group discussion, specific texts and topics (many of which will be addressed by lectures); to focus on selected literary issues and problems; and guide them in developing subject-specific analytical skills and knowledge
• Formative essay: written on a text or texts, or a literary topic, it requires the student to demonstrate appropriate subject-specific knowledge and skills, such as the ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of concepts and theories relating to literary study. The essay is carefully marked and returned to students individually for further comment and discussion in a 15-minute essay-returning session. Formative essays allow for students to explore and try out without risk different approaches to and perspectives on literary texts; both essays are useful for revision purposes. A considerable element of choice of essay topics encourages development in students of their capacity for independent thought and judgement.
• Essay handbacks: encourage students to reflect critically and independently on their work
• Independent but directed reading in preparation for lectures and tutorials provides opportunity for students to enrich subject-specific knowledge and enhances their ability to develop appropriate subject-specific skills.
• Coursework: tests the student's ability to argue, respond and interpret, and to demonstrate subject-specific knowledge and skills such as appreciation of the power of imagination in literary creation and the close reading and analysis of texts; test that students have achieved stated learning outcomes; they also test the ability to present word-processed work, observing scholarly conventions.
• Examination: test the student's ability to present subject-specific knowledge, to select appropriate materials, and to construct and manage clear and effective arguments in a timed period; to demonstrate independent thinking, and test that students have achieved stated learning outcomes.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One essay 1500-2000 words.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University