EARLY MODERN LITERATURE - 2020/1

Module Overview

This optional module develops knowledge and skills introduced at Level 4 and gives students a wider and deeper understanding of key material from the Early Modern period of literature in English. There are two key points of continuation from Level 4: first, a sense of historical contextualisation that focuses on important political and intellectual contexts; and second, a generic pathway that covers drama, poetry, and prose.The module also ensures that students have a solid basis for understanding English literature of the Early Modern period. This knowledge will be extended and deepened through optional modules at Levels 5 and 6.

Module provider

School of Literature and Languages

Module Leader

WYNNE-DAVIES Marion (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 5

Module cap (Maximum number of students): 49

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None.  

Module content

Indicative content includes:

 

Week 1. Topic: The Renaissance I

Text: Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (1532)
 
Week 2. Topic: The Renaissance II

Text: Thomas More, Utopia (1516)

Week 3. Topic: The Reformation I

Text: Speeches from the Scaffold, excerpts from Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, Thomas Cranmer before he's burnt at the stake, excepts from Foxe's Book of Martyrs

Week 4. Topic: The Reformation II

Text: Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus (1592)

Week 5. Topic: The Rise of Capitalism I

Text: William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (1598)
 

Week 6. Employability Week.


Week 7. Topic: The Rise of Capitalism II

Text: Ben Jonson, The Alchemist (1610)

Week 8. Topic: The Private Self I
 Text: Selection of Sonnets (Wyatt, Shakespeare, Lady Mary Wroth)

Week 9. Topic: The Private Self II

Text: Selections of poems by John Donne
 
Week 10. Topic: Towards Modernity I

Text: Francis Bacon, New Atlantis (1627)
 
Week 11. Topic: Towards Modernity II

Text: John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667)

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate achievement of the module learning outcomes.

 

Seminar discussion with ongoing tutor feedback is designed mainly to assess transferable skills in communicating ideas orally and in working individually and in a group. It also assesses subject knowledge in Early Modern literature and ideas of identity as well as theoretical/critical methodologies, and cognitive/analytical skills in using critical material and theoretical concepts in relation to close textual analysis and critical thinking.

 

Both the essay and the exam assess subject knowledge in Early Modern literature and ideas of identity as well as theoretical/critical methodologies; cognitive/analytical skills in in using critical material and theoretical concepts in relation to close textual analysis and critical thinking; transferable skills in communicating ideas in written form, and in planning and implementing timetables for essay deadlines and exam revision. The exam further assesses professional/practical skills, namely the ability to present ideas coherently under time constraint.

 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

Exam (2-hours, 100%)

• 
  Seminar discussion with ongoing tutor feedback in seminar
  

Module aims

• The module aims to deepen and expand students’ understanding of:
• English Literature of the Early Modern period;
• the conventions of literary genres in this period;
• the theoretical and critical methodologies that underpin the study of Early Modern literature;
• key writings and themes in English literature of the Early Modern period;
• individual authors’ writing;
• the development of literary, cultural, and social ideas about the self and identity
• The module aims to develop and strengthen students’ skills in:
• close reading, analysis, and critical thinking;
• oral and written communication;
• independent work (including research) and group work in seminars;
• time management through essay planning and submission.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to deliver subject knowledge, to develop cognitive/analytical skills, and to develop in-depth transferable, practical and professional skills. Specifically, the weekly lectures deliver subject knowledge related to literature and ideas of identity in the Early Modern period and to develop cognitive/analytical skills in using critical material and theoretical concepts in relation to close textual analysis and critical thinking. The weekly seminars offer student-led discussions that develop skills in communication and in working individually and as a group. The seminars also provide students with instruction on planning and implementing timetables, on conducting research in an organised and critical fashion, and on presenting ideas coherently under time constraint.

 

This relates to the programme learning and teaching strategy, which, at FHEQ Level 5, is designed to continue the delivery of subject knowledge through lectures and SurreyLearn and to develop in-depth transferable, practical and professional skills, with a greater emphasis on student-led involvement, critical analysis, discussion and rhetorical ability.

 

The learning and teaching methods include:

 

• 
  1-hour lecture per week x 11 weeks
  


• 
  1-hour seminar per week x 11 weeks
  


• 
  3-hour revision session in Week 12
  

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ELI2039

Other information

This module has a capped number and may not be available to ERASMUS and other international exchange students. Please check with the International Engagement Office email: ieo.incoming@surrey.ac.uk

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2020/1 academic year.