LIFE WRITING - 2025/6
Module code: ELI3058
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 from different global and cultural settings 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
PALMER Beth (Lit & Langs)
Number of Credits: 15
ECTS Credits: 7.5
Framework: FHEQ Level 6
Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A
Overall student workload
Independent Learning Hours: 100
Seminar Hours: 22
Guided Learning: 20
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 and Life-Writing
* Letters, Diaries, Journals, Memoirs, Interviews
* Collective biography
* Autofiction, Metabiography and Formal Experimentation
Assessment pattern
| Assessment type | Unit of assessment | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Collective biography (500 words or 1 slide) | 15 |
| Coursework | 2600 word critical essay OR 2100 word LifeWriting piece with 500 word commentary | 85 |
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 Pattern
Summative:
- 15% collective biography.
Group submission of a collective biography, approx. 500 words/one powerpoint slide for each member of the group.
AND
- 85% 2600 word critical essay OR 2100 word Life Writing piece (fictive or non-fictive) plus 500 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)
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 auto/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 demonstrating their increased confidence and understanding at final year.
Formative:
creative/critical journal to be kept weekly and discussed in class in written/audio/video/text/image form – or a variety of those methods.
Keeping a regular diary is a significant creative practice for many writers and can be an important reflexive tool for all. These diaries will not be submitted or assessed but we will use them as springboards for discussion in some sessions.
Module aims
- The module aims to help students: 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 to 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 | By the end of the module students will be able to: 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 | KC |
| 002 | Engage with a range of research methodologies (including action-based research) and creative practices through work within and beyond the seminar setting | KCP |
| 003 | Understand, describe and explain the nature, role and significance of the creative and/or critical choices they make as writers and critics | KCP |
| 004 | Locate their own critical and/or creative writing in relevant theoretical, literary and historical contexts | KCP |
| 005 | Work as a group in the production of collaborative responses in the collective biography and throughout the workshop context | CP |
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.
The learning and teaching methods include:
Two contact hours per week over the semester. Classes will take the form of 2 hour seminars.
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.
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: ELI3058
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.
Programmes this module appears in
| Programme | Semester | Classification | Qualifying conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| English Literature with Creative Writing BA (Hons) | 2 | Optional | A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module |
| English Literature and Spanish BA (Hons) | 2 | Optional | A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module |
| English Literature and French BA (Hons) | 2 | Optional | A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module |
| English Literature BA (Hons) | 2 | Optional | A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass 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.