Module ENGL3171: Writing Prose Fiction

Department: English Studies

ENGL3171: Writing Prose Fiction

Prerequisites

• Successful completion of either ENGL2011 Theory and Practice of Literary Criticism or ENGL2021 Shakespeare.

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To enable students to read and analyse prose fiction with a writer's eyes, with a particular sensitivity towards style
• To introduce students to the array of literary techniques available to the writer of prose fiction and also a descriptive vocabulary for discussing these techniques
• To enable students to produce (i.e. draft and edit) original pieces of prose fiction with a full awareness of the technical and aesthetic choices made in the process of writing
• To analyse the creative writing of students alongside extracts from literary texts, revealing close reading as a method for learning how to write, and, vice versa, creative writing as a method for understanding both the stylistic qualities and historical content of canonical works
• To introduce students to a range of prose fiction that showcases a wealth of styles

Content

• Students will approach a range of authors, beginning with James Joyce, from the perspective of both a student of literature and a creative writer on the lookout for usable techniques. Seminars will be structured around close readings of multiple literary extracts. We will focus on prose style, coming to understand how the very shape of sentences expands into considerations of character, plot and theme; also how the historical context of literary works is expressed by the way in which they are written. From these examples, students will learn techniques they can use in their own writing, and think about the interaction between prose style and their chosen subject-matter.
• Each seminar will be accompanied by a writing challenge, allowing students to put what they have learned into practice. The final seminar will take the form of a writing workshop in which all students submit some original prose fiction for discussion and critique by the rest of the students on the module.

Learning Outcomes

• students are expected to acquire a critical awareness of, and a descriptive vocabulary for discussing, the stylistic techniques of prose fiction.
• students are expected to acquire an awareness of the aesthetic decisions made by writers and their relationship to matters of intellectual and historical context.

• close reading skills
• editing skills
• the ability to evaluate literary works in terms of their success as works of art (as well as providing a thematic or contextual analysis) and express this evaluation in analytical terms
• the ability to compose original works of fiction and delineate their aesthetic aims
• an informed awareness of the formal dimensions of literature – which is the product of specific aesthetic choices – and their manifestation in particular texts

• Students studying this module will develop:
• a capacity to analyse critically
• skills of effective communication and argument
• competence in the planning and execution of prose compositions
• the ability to articulate constructive criticism in a workshop setting
• a capacity for independent thought and judgement, and an ability to assess the critical ideas of others
• skills in critical reasoning
• an ability to handle information and argument in a critical manner
• organisation and time-management skills

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

• Students will come to understand the intimate connection between reading the work of others and writing their own fiction; techniques of close reading applicable within literary studies will enrich and complicate the ‘workshop’ format of creative writing.
• Students will be assessed by a 3,000 word essay on published works of literary fiction (focussing on effects of style); also a portfolio of 4,000 words comprising both fiction they have written specifically for this module and at least 1,000 words on their technical choices and the reasons behind their creative methods. Their fiction will be assessed in the light of the following criteria: demonstration of appropriate formal and technical skills; aesthetic coherence; originality; imagination; sensitivity to audience / context.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Each student will receive a 15-minute individual consultation, and the final seminar will take the form of an extended ‘workshop’ of creative writing which will then be revised for the student Portfolio.

■ 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