HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE I - 2021/2

Module Overview

This module introduces students to the main periods in literary history from the Medieval period to the late Eighteenth Century by examining some key texts from these periods. Students will study texts in English from the Medieval period, the Early Modern period, the Restoration, and the neo-Classical period. Throughout the module students will learn to interpret literature by focusing on aspects of its historical (including social and cultural) context, and to consider the interplay between historical background and texts. How does historical change and how do specific historical events impact on the production and reception of literature? What distinguishes imaginative literature from other textual historical documents? Students will also be encouraged to reflect on the academic practice of dividing history into key ‘moments’: the ‘politics’ of periodization, in other words. At what point does one period end and another begin? Why have literary critics chosen to mark the parameters of certain literary-historical periods as they have? While the focus is on English literature, the module will remain sensitive to the interplay between English literary traditions and those in other countries [and the increasingly multicultural dimension of English literary history]. Lectures will introduce students to key features of the literary period in question, to theoretical concepts which have proved useful in historicist approaches to literary criticism, and provide readings of set literary texts from a historical perspective. Seminars will enable students to discuss issues raised in the lectures and secondary reading and their own interpretations of the set texts. By enabling students to gain the critical skills and knowledge required to study literature historically this module will provide a foundation for their study of literature in levels 2 and 3.

Module provider

School of Literature and Languages

Module Leader

MORGAN Amy (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): 100

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None.  

Module content

Indicative content includes:

Week 1: The Politics of Periodization: Literary History
Weeks 2 and 4: Medieval Literature
Weeks 5 and 7: Early Modern Literature
Week 8: The Restoration
Weeks 9: The Neo-Classical / Augustan Period
Weeks 10: Eighteenth-Century Fiction
Week 11: a lecture and seminar presenting a retrospective on the module and providing information on assessment and revision.

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 independent learning, time management, the ability to structure and communicate complex arguments in writing and effective oral communication. It also assesses subject knowledge in historical and cultural developments in the chosen literary periods, the set primary texts and their historical contexts, key terminology and literary criticism, and cognitive/analytical skills in researching, interpreting, and evaluating sources, debates, and ideas

Both the close reading and the essay assess subject knowledge in historical and cultural developments in the chosen literary periods, the set primary texts and their historical contexts, key terminology and literary criticism; cognitive/analytical skills in researching, interpreting, and evaluating sources, debates, and ideas; and transferable skills in independent learning, time management, the ability to structure and communicate complex arguments in writing.

 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

·         500-word close reading

·        1500-word essay

 

Formative assessment and feedback

·         Seminar Group Presentation (10 mins) with oral tutor feedback at end of session

·         Seminar discussion with ongoing tutor feedback in seminar

 

Students receive verbal feedback on their presentation that informs the final summative essay and self-evaluative report. In addition, all students receive ongong verbal feedback in seminars that informs the final summative asessments.

Module aims

• To help students acquire a knowledge of knowledge of key periods in English literature from the Medieval period to the late Eighteenth Century;
• To help students gain critical skills in analyzing literary texts from a historical perspective;
• To introduce a range of critical and theoretical approaches useful to literary-historical study;
• Analyse critically a varied selection of texts by a range of writers making use of specific reading strategies and theoretical concepts;
• Critically assess concepts of literary tradition, canon and periodization;
• To help students to think and learn independently, and to manage and organise their time efficiently;
• To train students to research and evaluate sources, debates, and ideas, and to communicate their conclusions clearly and accurately in writing;
• To enable students to discuss, debate, and exchange complex ideas as part of a group.

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 the historicisation of literature from the Medieval period to the 18th Century, and develop cognitive/analytical skills in analysing, interpreting, and evaluating sources, debates, and ideas within a historical context. 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 4 students are introduced to subject knowledge through lectures and SurreyLearn content and to develop transferable, practical and professional skills, with an introduction to student-led involvement, critical analysis, discussion and rhetorical ability.

The learning and teaching methods include a combination of lecture materials, seminars, captured content, guided learning and independent learning, as well as revision/essay writing drop-in sessions 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: ELI1018

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 2021/2 academic year.