English

English

Past and Present 1 (TRU1502)

Staff	Professor Marion Gibson - Convenor
Credit Value	30
ECTS Value	15
NQF Level	6
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
Duration of Module	Term 1: 11 weeks;

Module aims

This module will provide students with an introduction to modes of reading and critical analysis broadly informed by an attention to questions of history, intertextuality and theory. The module will deal with major conceptual themes including geographical and political space, nationhood, colonialism, genre, identity and subjectivity. Students will read some of the earliest texts which have influenced subsequent traditions of English language, literature and other media, before moving on to consider texts from the Medieval period to the beginning of the eighteenth century. The module will also include classes on practical writing skills.

ILO: Module-specific skills

1. basic knowledge of significant and influential literary texts and their historical contexts
2. ability to recognise the importance of genre in analysing literary texts
3. ability to locate and analyse intertextual relationships among those texts

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

4. the ability to analyse literary texts in their historical and intertextual contexts
5. the ability to understand the ways in which certain fundamental themes and questions are historically explored, re-explored and transformed through processes of cultural production
6. the acquisition of essay-writing skills

ILO: Personal and key skills

7. the ability to work independently and in groups, and the acquisition of fundamental communication skills
8. Through preparation and submission of written work. they will demonstrate further refinement of communication skills and development of conceptual and organisational skills (including the meeting of deadlines).
9. Through peer-assessment, they will demonstrate the development of greater self-confidence in critical abilities.

Syllabus plan

The module consists of a weekly one-hour lecture, sometimes delivered as a video-lecture, a two-hour weekly seminar and a one-hour study group. Lectures are designed to convey general historical and theoretical material, and students are helped to develop skills at listening and retaining information. The seminars are designed to encourage students to participate in guided group discussions. The (tutorless) study group session is designed to help students develop skills in group work and to become more confident in debate and argument with their peers. These formal learning structures will be supplemented by an interactive course web-site

Week 1

introductory week: lecture, seminars

Week 2

Genesis (Authorised Version) ( A.I.)

Week 3

The Odyssey (Lattimore translation) (O Brother Where Art Thou?)

Week 4 Hughes,

Tales from Ovid (An American Werewolf in London)

Week 5

Beowulf (Heaney translation) (Beowulf)

Week 6

Ballads (module reader) ( Robin Hood episodes)

Week 7

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Armitage translation) (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

Week 8

Chaucer, ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’ from The Canterbury Tales (BBC Chaucer)

Week 9 More,

Utopia (Adams translation) (Brazil)

Week 10 Shakespeare,

Hamlet (Almereyda’s Hamlet)

Week 11 Pope,

The Rape of the Lock and Swift, A Modest Proposal (The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover)

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
33	267	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled activity	11	11 x one hour lectures
Scheduled activity	22	11 x two hour seminars
Guided independent study	267	Private Study

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
50	40	10

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	10	1000 words	1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8	Written
Essay	40	2000 words	1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8	Written
Seminar participation	10	ongoing	1,2,3,4,5,7	Verbal
Exam	40	2 hours	1,2,3,4,5,6,8	Written

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay	Essay	1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8	Refer/Defer period
Exam	Exam	1,2,3,4,5,6,8	Refer/Defer period
Seminar participation	Report	1,2,3,4,5,7	Refer/Defer period

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Students should purchase

The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8

^{th edition, volume 1, ed. M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt,}et. al., (New York and London: W.W. Norton, 2006) in which will be found:

Beowulf

Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’,

Thomas More,

^{^Utopia}

Jonathan Swift,

^{^{A Modest Proposal}}

Alexander Pope,

^{^{The Rape of the Lock}}

Students should also purchase:

The Bible

^{^{(‘King James’ or ‘Authorised’ version only)}}

Homer, The

^{^{Odyssey, translated by Richmond Lattimore (Harper Collins, 2007)}}

Ted Hughes,

^{^{Tales from Ovid (Faber, 1997)}}

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

^{^{, translated by Simon Armitage (Faber, 2007)}}

William Shakespeare,

^{^{Hamlet (any good edition)}}

Note:

^{^{The Norton Anthology will also be used for other English modules. The reading for week 6 will be supplied in photocopies.}}

Module has an active ELE page?

Yes

Available as distance learning?

Origin date

2010

Last revision date

March 2012