LIFE WRITING - 2025/6
Module code: ELI2058
Module Overview
The module asks students what it means to write a life. We consider the function of auto/biography and the ways in which its writers have reflected on the possibilities of truth-telling, the significance of subjectivity and the distillation of narrative from the everyday. It explores writing that bears witness to war and injustice, that blurs the lines between fact and fiction, and re-makes the self through bold experimentation with language.
The module examines a variety of forms and modes that Life Writing might take - biography, autobiography, diaries, poetry, journals and others ¿ and gives students the opportunity to create and/or analyse these forms in their assessment.
Module provider
Literature & Languages
Module Leader
LAZZARI Gabriele (Lit & Langs)
Number of Credits: 15
ECTS Credits: 7.5
Framework: FHEQ Level 5
Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A
Overall student workload
Independent Learning Hours: 98
Lecture Hours: 11
Seminar Hours: 11
Guided Learning: 22
Captured Content: 8
Module Availability
Semester 2
Prerequisites / Co-requisites
None
Module content
Indicative list of topics to be covered:
Myth-making and Myth-Busting; Bearing Witness
Poetry as Life-Writing; Letters, Diaries, Journals, Memoirs, Interviews; Collective biography; Autofiction; Metabiography and Formal Experimentation
Assessment pattern
| Assessment type | Unit of assessment | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | 2000 word critical essay OR 1600 word Life Writing piece (fictive or non-fictive) plus 400 word critical commentary | 80 |
| Coursework | Collective biography (500 words or one slide) | 20 |
Alternative Assessment
n/a
Assessment Strategy
The assessment strategy is designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate critical and/or creative engagement with forms of life writing and to enable the achievement of the module¿s learning outcomes. It builds on the self-reflexive work undertaken in several previous modules on the programme and promotes student resilience and confidence in their own critical or creative voice. Assessment PatternFormative assessment and feedbackAll students will have the opportunity to receive feedback in class discussion and may submit plans or draft work for formative feedback (up to 250 words). Peer and tutor feedback will be provided for Creative Writing students within the workshop sessions.All students will be encouraged to keep a regular diary. This is a significant creative practice for many an and can be an important reflexive tool for all. Summative: - 2000 word critical essay or 1600 word Life Writing piece (fictive or non-fictive) plus 400 word critical commentary. If you wish to submit a creative piece in a form other than prose you are welcome to (see further guidance for word-lengths/duration) (80%)- Collective biography (500 words or 1 slide) (20%) The collective biography is a group task undertaken early on in the semester which encourages students to work collectively and supportively and to value each other¿s input. Students experience first hand some of the difficulties and benefits of writing biographically and the ethical complexities of life writing are unearthed and discussed.The essay or life writing piece can build on the collective biography or students can take this piece in a different direction of their choosing following one of the themes or forms of life writing we have discussed. Students have the capacity to develop their own essay question in conversation with the tutor or they can choose from a selection of questions designed by the module convenor.
Module aims
- Become sophisticated and sensitive readers of life writing texts
- Gain an enhanced and theorised understanding of the relationships between a writer¿s life and their work
- Analyse and appraise styles and techniques used in life writing and apply these critical insights to their own writing practices or published texts
- Engage with the conceptual frameworks of a variety of life writing texts
- Research and evaluate a range of textual sources, debates, and ideas, and to communicate their conclusions clearly and accurately in writing
- Discuss, debate, and exchange complex ideas as part of a group whilst also work independently on individual projects
Learning outcomes
| Attributes Developed | ||
| 001 | Analyse and appraise styles and techniques used in life writing and apply these critical insights to their own writing practices and/or the works of other authors | CK |
| 002 | Engage with a range of research methodologies and creative practices through work within and beyond the seminar setting | CKP |
| 003 | Understand, describe and explain the nature, role and significance of the creative and/or critical choices they make as writers and critics | CKP |
| 004 | Locate their own critical and/or creative writing in relevant theoretical, literary and historical contexts | CPT |
| 005 | Work as a group in the production of collaborative responses in the workshop context | PT |
Attributes Developed
C - Cognitive/analytical
K - Subject knowledge
T - Transferable skills
P - Professional/Practical skills
Methods of Teaching / Learning
The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:
- Hone and develop students' writing skills in academic writing, and/or creative writing by helping students understand the context of various types of life writing
- Assist students in locating life writing and their own critical and/or creative work in historical, cultural or theoretical contexts by developing a strong sense of the various techniques and modes of life writing.
- Equip students with the research and writing skills they will need to produce critically informed academic writing and/or creative life writing by helping them gain significant confidence and ability in critical analysis and thinking and/or an ability to use specific compositional skills that will have practical application to their practices as writers of biography, autobiography, or other forms of life writing.
- Two contact hours per week over the semester.
- Teaching will take the form of a 1 hour lecture followed by a 1 hour seminar or 1 hour creative writing workshop per week.
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: ELI2058
Other information
Surrey's Curriculum Framework is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills and capabilities in the following areas:
Global and Cultural Capabilities: This module engages students with examples of Life Writing from across several continents and time periods -- from seventeenth-century Japanese haibun to the social media of contemporary Britain. It asks students to consider what writing a life means in those times and spaces and to compare and contrast the ways in which individuals (and groups) have gone about the work of life writing through various genres and forms.
Digital Capabilities: Students are asked to examine their own social media usage and to consider the ways in which a blog post or a tiktok video might be considered a form of life writing. Considering social media in this self-reflexive way is an important skill in understanding motivations for its usage and appreciating its benefits and risks.
Resourcefulness and Resilience: Students on this module are encouraged to keep a diary, to help them understand (through undertaking) one of the most significant forms of life writing. A further benefit of the diary exercise is the self-reflection opportunities afforded and the ability to perceive the growth, change and development by looking back through diary entries from across the module. The collective biography exercise further develops resourcefulness and resilience by offering students peer-support from an early stage of the module.
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 2025/6 academic year.