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2012/13 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL3012 Modern Literature

20 creditsClass Size: 150

School of English

Module manager: Dr Richard Brown
Email: r.h.brown@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2012/13

Pre-requisite qualifications

Grade B at 'A' Level in English Language or Literature or equivalent or an achieved mark of 56 or above in a Level 1 module in English.

PLEASE NOTE:- This module is restricted to Level 3 students.

This module is approved as an Elective

Module summary

The modern literature of the first half of the twentieth century included a self-conscious Modernism that consisted in remarkable revolutions in literary form. This was a period of intellectual and social transformations, of political violence and war. The module encourages detailed study of selected texts from each of the first four decades of the century, in poetry, drama and prose fiction. It aims to draw attention to ideas of Modernism in some key critical texts and to invoke cultural discussions of gender and sexuality, questions of the self and of changing national identities. Such relevant contemporary contexts as the World Wars, the crisis of Empires and the Irish Literary Revival may also be discussed.

Objectives

On completion of this module students should be able to articulate a critical understanding of a range of literary texts and genres produced in British and Irish contexts after 1900, up to the period preceding World War II. The module enables students to gain insights about these texts in terms of their aesthetic character, and in terms of their emerging historical and cultural contexts. This will entail an exploration of revolutionary ideas about the construction of the racial, sexual, gendered and social self, issues of city, nation and empire.

Learning outcomes
Skills outcomes and Graduate Attributes

In terms of Academic Excellence this module develops critical thinking, flexibility of thought and analytical skills. It supports and develops the ability to work autonomously, initiative, planning and organisational skills. Students will learn to analyse information, synthesise views and make connections; students will be critically aware of, and be informed by, current knowledge; and will develop research skills. In short:

- 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.

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

The aim of this core module is to introduce students to the modern literature of the first part of the twentieth century by attention to selected texts across the major literary genres in connection with certain highlighted themes and contexts. English and some Irish early twentieth-century prose fiction, poetry and drama are represented and these works are discussed along with some contemporary critical writings. Works are discussed in relation to certain chosen themes which are supported in lectures and seminars and include various aspects of Modernism and modernity; cities, wars and revolutions; sex, gender and the self.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	22	1.00	22.00
Seminar	10	1.00	10.00
Private study hours			168.00
Total Contact hours			32.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Seminar preparation, reading, essay writing.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Contribution to seminars.

Unassessed assignment.

Methods of assessment

Exams

Exam type	Exam duration	% of formal assessment
Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc)	3 hr	100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)		100.00

One unassessed essay of approximately 1700 words (including quotations and footnotes) is required, for which the deadline is given in the Undergraduate Student Handbook. This does not form part of the examination for this module, but is a module 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: 15/02/2013

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