Module ENGL2081: LITERATURE OF THE MODERN PERIOD

Department: English Studies

ENGL2081: LITERATURE OF THE MODERN PERIOD

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

• None.

Aims

• To introduce students to the literature, thought and culture of the Modern Period.
• To cultivate a critical understanding of the work of a selection of British, Anglo-American and Anglo-Irish writers and to explore the literature of the period 1900 -1950 within its historical, intellectual and cultural contexts.

Content

• Focusing on creative writing in two genres (poetry and fiction), but including some polemical, philosophical and autobiographical texts, this module considers developments in twentieth-century literature in English in the contexts of social change, personal politics and historical crisis (including the end of empire and two world wars). Considering principally the works of British, Anglo-American and Irish writers, it raises issues relating to individual authorship as well as issues relating to the place of writers in modern culture and the range of representation available to women and men. The syllabus will include work written between c.1900 and the mid-century: typically, it will include work by such writers as Auden, Bowen, Conrad, Eliot, Forster, Hamilton, Hardy, Isherwood, Joyce, Lawrence, MacNeice, Mansfield, Yeats, Orwell, Owen, Waugh, Wells, Woolf, and Yeats.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will be expected to demonstrate a close knowledge and understanding of a range of authors of the Modern Period, and to be able to engage with the concept of Modernism.
• Students will be expected to show a knowledge of useful and precise critical terminology.
• Students will be expected to show knowledge of the range and variety of critical approaches to modern literature.

• 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 ability to discuss texts in their intellectual, historical and cultural contexts
• 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 in critical reasoning, including the ability to assess other critical readings
• 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 complex works of literature sensitively and 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 essays: are written on a text or texts, or a literary topic, and they require 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. Written feedback is offered on all formative work. The first essay is carefully marked and returned to students individually in one 15-minute feedback 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 feedback: encourages 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.
• Examination: tests 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, test that students have achieved stated learning outcomes.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

2 essays 1500-2000 words each. The second essay is optional.

■ 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