Introduction to English Literature 1 (Semester 1)

This module gives students an outline knowledge of the history of English Literature from the Anglo-Saxon period to the end of the eighteenth century. It uses a selection of texts taken from volume 1 of The Norton Anthology of English Literature, supplemented by handouts, to give students examples of different literary forms belonging to every period of English literary history prior to the Romantic movement. The juxtaposition of pieces by well known authors such as Chaucer, Marlowe, Milton and Swift with less familiar texts is intended to encourage reflection upon what constitutes the 'canon'. Students are expected to acquire a basic knowledge of the terms used in English literary history ('Medieval', 'Tudor', 'Renaissance', 'Reformation', 'Early Modern', 'Restoration', 'Augusta', 'NeoClassical', 'Enlightenment', 'Sensibility') and are encouraged to think critically about these terms.During the course of this module (and its sister module in semester 2) we want students not only to acquire a sense of literary history and an outline knowledge of the main literary periods. We also hope they will engage in a direct and pleasurable way with a variety of extremely interesting texts. We have chosen a selection of poems, plays, and works of prose fiction which we ourselves find pleasurable and interesting to read and we hope students will find them equally exciting, even if some of them seem difficult at first. The module complements Ways of Reading by offering a broad overview rather than focusing on specific critical approaches but we hope that some of the close reading skills acquired while taking Ways of Reading can also be put into practice on this module. The core book for the module and an essential purchase is Greenblatt, S. et al, eds (2006) The Norton Anthology of English Literature (8th edition), vol. 1, New York and London: W.W. Norton. It can be usefully supplemented by one of a number of recent histories of English Literature. A good and student-friendly one is Alexander, M. (2007) A History of English Literature, 2nd edition Basingstoke: Macmillan. All the texts listed below which will be taught in the first semester are available in the Norton anthology except Etherege, The Man of Mode which will need to be purchased separately. Some references to Anglo-Saxon poetry will be made in the introductory lecture and students are encouraged to look at Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf which can be found in the Norton anthology.[Anglo-Saxon poetry]Geoffrey Chaucer, 'The Miller's Tale', Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, Selected Renaissance lyric poems (including Shakespeare and Donne),John Milton, Paradise Lost Book 1, John Milton, Paradise Lost Book 2, George Etherege, The Man of Mode, John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, selected poems, Aphra Behn, Oroonoko , Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels Book 4, Olaudah Equiano, Interesting Narrative of [his] Life.

Introduction to English Literature 2 (Semester 2)

The core book for the module and an essential purchase is Greenblatt, S. et al, eds (2006) The Norton Anthology of English Literature (8th edition), vol. 2, New York and London: W.W. Norton. All the texts listed below which will be taught in the second semester are available in the second volume of the Norton anthology except Austen, Northanger Abbey; Ibsen, A Doll's House; Woolf, Orlando; and Vonnegut, Slaughter-House Five which will need to be purchased separately. William Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience, Samuel T. Coleridge, 'The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner', Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, Victorian Poetry (the Brownings, Tennyson, Christina Rossetti), Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House,Modernist Poetry (Yeats, Eliot, H.D.), Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebe, 'An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness', Virginia Woolf, Orlando and 'Modern Fiction', Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughter-House Five, Alice Munro, selected short stories.

Tragedy

This module introduces students to the diverse ways in which tragedy has been produced and theorised, from Ancient Greece to the present day. The module begins with a consideration of the staging conventions and cultural contexts of tragic plays produced in Ancient Greece, including a consideration of Aristotle's ideas about tragedy. The module then considers how tragedy has been produced in other times and cultures, with an emphasis on the dramatic output of Renaissance England and the production of tragedy in the modern period. Possible questions for investigation include: what is tragedy? How does tragedy relate to justice, individual identity and society? How might tragedy impact on family structures, love, gender, and sexuality? How does tragedy function in different cultural contexts? Is the 'everyday' tragic? Can tragedy be subversive? How might tragedy impact on spectators? Is violence a necessary part of tragedy? Is tragedy pleasurable? What are the possibilities for producing tragedy following the atrocities, such as the Holocaust, which occurred in the twentieth century? Through this wide-ranging investigation of 'the tragic' students gain knowledge of a variety of tragic plays and theory, develop an understanding of theatre history and conventions, and consider how these materials relate to wider social, cultural and historical issues. In Semester 1, students are assessed by a multi-phase assessment package of two essays on Greek tragedy which allows them to develop their critical and essay writing skills. This comprises a mid-semester essay (10%) in which students analyse a section of text from a Greek play and an end-of-semester essay (25%) on the thematic, cultural and/or theatrical aspects of Greek tragedy. In the second semester, they write another essay (25%), giving a close reading of a scene from a Renaissance play. Students also take an examination (40%) at the end of the semester in which they have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of modern tragedy, alongside texts they explored earlier in the module, in relation to a range of 'tragic topics'. Texts will be studied in the order listed below:Semester 1- Aeschylus. 1966. The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides, trans. R. Fagels, London: Penguin; Sophocles. 1984. Oedipus the King in Three Theban Plays, trans. R. Fagels, London: Penguin; Euripides. 1963. Medea in Medea and Other Plays, trans. P. Vellacott. London: Penguin; Seneca. 1974. Phaedra in Four Tragedies and Octavia, trans. E. F. Watling. London: Penguin. Semester 2- Shakespeare, W. 1995. Titus Andronicus, ed. J. Bate, London: Thomas Nelson; Webster, J. 1997. The Duchess of Malfi, ed. J. R. Brown, Revels Student Edition, Manchester: Manchester University Press [also available in the Norton Anthology Vol. 1]; Chekhov, A. 2003. Three Sisters, trans. M. Frayn. London: Methuen; Beckett, S. 1998. Waiting for Godot. London: Faber; Kane, S. 2002. Phaedra's Love, London: Methuen.

Ways of Reading

This module introduces students to studying English at University and also provides opportunities for students to develop skills such as reading critically and communicating clearly. The first semester offers an overview of the degree structure and an examination of some key critical terms, problems and approaches that concern students of English, including, for example: the literary canon and value; narrative theory; realism and representation; genre; the production of meaning; relationships between literature, history and the world; selected approaches to literature, including formalist, new historicist, feminist, psychoanalytical and postcolonial criticism, and relationships between literature and identity. These topics are explored through a selection of critical texts included in the Module Study Pack and short extracts from plays, novels, short stories and poems (extracts provided). Students attend a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar each week; a library induction session is substituted for one session. This part of the module is assessed by a multi-phase assessment package of two essays which allows students to develop their reflective, critical and essay-writing skills; this assessment comprises part of the student's Personal Development Planning (PDP). In the first stage of this assessment, students write a diagnostic essay (1500 words) in which they reflect on their learning experience. This essay is supported by two essay-writing workshops. In the second stage of this assessment, students develop their essay-writing skills through analysis of a critical text and reflection on this process (1500 words). Both essays are marked with particular attention to the quality of their writing, argument, presentation and referencing apparatus. In the second semester students attend a two-hour seminar each week. In these seminars students develop the ideas and skills introduced in the first semester and receive further guidance on writing essays and presenting work. Topics include referencing and bibliographies; appropriate register, tone and vocabulary; work on clarity, the construction of coherent arguments and the substantiation of points by evidence. In the first part of this semester students are also given guidance on oral presentation skills. They practice these skills and develop their knowledge of topics introduced in the first semester by giving an assessed presentation (5 minutes). As part of this assessment, students are required to produce a one-page handout for members of the seminar group. The later part of the second semester develops some of the ideas introduced in the first semester through additional critical reading and detailed application of ideas to selected literary texts covered in English Literature 1 and 2. This work assists students in preparing the final assignment which consists of a critical analysis of a literary text or concept (2500 words).

Dialogue and Debate 2: More to Milton

Anglia Language Programme

Postcolonialism

History of the book

News and Feature Writing

Special Topic 1

Writing Short Fiction