Module ENGL2631: U.S. Cold War Literature and Culture

Department: English Studies

ENGL2631: U.S. Cold War Literature and Culture

Prerequisites

• Any Single or Joint Honours finalist student wishing to take this Special Topic module must have satisfactorily completed the required number of core modules. Combined Honours and Outside Honours students must have satisfactorily completed either two Level 1 core introductory modules, or at least one Level 1 core module and one further lecture based module in English at Level 2.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To introduce students to a range of U.S. cultural texts that respond to the unique historical conditions of the Cold War (1945-1991) and its aftermath
• To introduce students to the literary, theoretical and historiographic questions raised by the Cold War
• To expose students to critical concepts characteristic of the literary and cultural representation of war/conflict (e.g. the ‘enemy’, internal dissent) and those unique to the Cold War (e.g. ‘containment’, ‘mutually assured destruction’)

Content

• Surveys U.S. cultural responses (fiction, non-fiction, film, drama and poetry) to the Cold War
• Addresses topics such as: early and ongoing responses to the nuclear age; the rise of McCarthyism and domestic ‘containment’ culture; reactions to the Rosenberg case; the various conventional wars of the period; and the aftermath of the Cold War
• Addresses major writers of the Cold War period, such as John Hersey, Sylvia Plath, Don DeLillo, and Joan Didion
• Combines close reading of individual texts with a wider investigation into the historical contexts and theoretical positions that help to shed light on those texts

Learning Outcomes

• Students studying this module will develop:
• Detailed knowledge of a selection of U.S. Cold War texts, and of the culture that produced them
• Insight into the complex relationships among textual representations, historical contexts and theoretical claims

• 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 and critical approaches
• informed awareness of formal and aesthetic dimensions of literature and ability to offer cogent analysis of their workings in specific texts
• 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 literary studies
• command of a broad range of vocabulary and an appropriate critical terminology
• awareness of literature as a medium through which values are affirmed and debated

• Students studying this module will develop:
• a capacity to analyse critically
• skills of effective communication and argument
• 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
• competence in the planning and execution of essays
• awareness of conventions of scholarly presentation, and bibliographic skills including accurate citation of sources and consistent use of scholarly conventions of presentation
• 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

• Seminars: encourage peer-group discussion, enable students to develop critical skills in the close reading and analysis of texts, and skills of effective communication and presentation; promote awareness of diversity of interpretation and methodology
• Consultation session: encourages students to reflect critically and independently on their work
• Independent but directed reading in preparation for seminars provides opportunity for students to enrich subject-specific knowledge and enhances their ability to develop appropriate subject-specific skills.
• Typically, directed learning may include assigning student(s) an issue, theme or topic that can be independently or collectively explored within a framework and/or with additional materials provided by the tutor. This may function as preparatory work for presenting their ideas or findings (sometimes electronically) to their peers and tutor in the context of a seminar.
• 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; they also test the ability to present word-processed work, observing scholarly conventions. In individual Special Topics, the essay may, where appropriate to the subject, take an alternative form, such as 'creative criticism'.
• Feedback: The written feedback that is provided after the first assessed essay allows students to reflect on examiners' comments, giving students the opportunity to improve their work for the second essay.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Before the first essay, students will have an individual consultation in which they will receive feedback on their essay plan.

■ 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