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2017/18 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL3286 Fictions of Fallen Women, 1850-1922

20 creditsClass Size: 40

School of English

Module manager: Dr Katy Mullin
Email: k.e.mullin@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2017/18

This module is mutually exclusive with

ENGL3420Fictions of Fallen Women, 1850-1922

Module replaces

ENGL3420

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Objectives

On completion of this module, students should be able to:
- understand how attitudes to women and sexuality changed during the nineteenth and twentieth century;
- perceive how novelists responded to and produced fictions of female proper and improper conduct;
- analyse the complicated dialogue between fiction and other cultural sources.

Learning outcomes
Students will have developed:
- the ability to use written and oral communication effectively;
- the capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse;
- the ability to manage quantities of complex information in a structured and systematic way;
- the capacity for independent thought and judgement;
- critical reasoning;
- research skills, including the retrieval of information, the organisation of material and the evaluation of its importance;
- IT skills;
- efficient time management and organisation skills;
- the ability to learn independently.

Skills outcomes
- Skills for effective communication, oral and written.
- Capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse.
- Ability to acquire quantities of complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way.
- Capacity for independent thought and judgement.
- Critical reasoning.
- Research skills, including information retrieval skills, the organisation of material, and the evaluation of its importance.
- IT skills.
- Time management and organisational skills.
- Independent learning.


Syllabus

This module explores a wide range of fictions of proper and improper feminine conduct. It takes as its starting point a novella of unmarried motherhood, Elizabeth Gaskell’s 'Lizzie Leigh'. Lizzie's ‘fall’ stands as a point of reference for later texts concerned with the hazards and exhilarations of vice. Other novels on this module present many different aspects of female sexual misconduct, as we encounter unfaithful wives, unmarried mothers, prostitutes, divorcees, bigamists and murderesses. We shall explore how female sexuality is both constructed and contained within these novels, paying particular attention to recurring tropes such as the love of ‘finery’, the perils of seduction, strategies of deception or masquerade, the possibilities of female sexual desire and pleasure, and the redemptive powers of motherhood.

Teaching methods

Delivery typeNumberLength hoursStudent hours
Lectures11.001.00
Tutorial101.0010.00
Private study hours189.00
Total Contact hours11.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)200.00

Private study

Reading; preparation for seminars/essays.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

- Seminar contribution.
- Feedback on unassessed essay of 1700 words.

Methods of assessment


Coursework
Assessment typeNotes% of formal assessment
EssayThis module will be assessed by one essay of 4000 words (including quotations and footnotes). One unassessed essay of 1700 words is also required. This does not form part of the assessment for this module, but is a requirement and MUST be submitted. Students who fail to submit the unassessed essay will be awarded a maximum mark of 40 for the module (a bare Pass).100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)100.00

One unassessed essay of 1700 words is also required. This does not form part of the assessment for this module, but is a requirement and MUST be submitted. Students who fail to submit the unassessed essay will be awarded a maximum mark of 40 for the module (a bare Pass).

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 26/04/2017

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