2023/24 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL3032 Tragedy: Classical to Neo-Classical

20 creditsClass Size: 24

School of English

Module manager: Professor Paul Hammond
Email: p.f.hammond@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2023/24

Module replaces

ENGL32999 Tragedy: Classical to Neo-Classical

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

From the time of the ancient Greeks, tragedy has been a genre through which human beings have asked some of their most profound and searching questions. This module will study classical, Renaissance, and neo-classical plays, exploring their theatrical methods and the philosophical questions which they raise about free will, agency, guilt, justice, and the relations between gods and human beings.

Objectives

To enable students to acquire, through the study of a selection of texts, an understanding of what 'tragedy' has meant, in theory and practice, in the history of the theatre and of literature before 1700. Greek, Latin and French texts will be read in translation, but students who know these languages will be welcome to make use of them, and students will be expected to develop an understanding of the texts in their cultural contexts. Seminar discussion will be supported by online video talks.

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:
1. identify and analyse key features of tragedy as a genre;
2. understand the dramatic transmission of mythic stories from the classical world to the seventeenth century;
3. engage with the philosophical questions which these plays pose;
4. articulate your understanding in dialogue with peers and in a carefully argued academic essay.

The module develops students’ skills as readers of drama, and their appreciation of the cultural differences which emerge within a shared classical tradition. Students will test their ideas through engagement with their peers in seminar discussion, and will sharpen their analytical abilities through the writing of an extended essay.

Skills outcomes
The module develops students’ skills as readers of drama, and their appreciation of the cultural differences which emerge within a shared classical tradition. Students will test their ideas through engagement with their peers in seminar discussion, and will sharpen their analytical abilities through the writing of an extended essay.

Syllabus

The first part of the module focuses on Greek tragedies by Aeschylus and Sophocles. The second part moves to the Renaissance and the seventeenth century, when classical stories and motifs are adapted by both English and French playwrights to articulate questions which trouble their societies. Recurring issues may include: how tragedy imagines the individual in conflict with society; how society's language and values are called into question; how revenge, madness and death are treated in different cultures; and how humans attempt to understand the gods.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	5	1.00	5.00
Seminar	10	1.00	10.00
Private study hours			185.00
Total Contact hours			15.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

185 hours

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Weekly dialogue in small-group seminars; opportunities for one-to-one meetings with module tutor as required; opportunities to meet with departmental Writing Mentors; individual written feedback on mid-semester unassessed assignment.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	4000 words	100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 28/04/2023 14:39:49

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