OPEN WRITING I - 2025/6

Module Overview

This optional module provides students with the opportunity to produce EITHER an English Literature study in an area of their choice (thematic, genre, period or author based, for example), OR a creative writing portfolio and accompanying critical commentary on an area, and in a creative form, of their choice.

English Literature option:
Students are facilitated in the conducting of independent literary research at postgraduate level. Students identify their area of research and then work with an assigned tutor, who will be an experienced researcher in a relevant field of literary studies, to devise a research question, carry out a small-scale and focused programme of research, and write and submit a 3000-word essay. Through planning and completing their research programme, students will develop skills in time management, researching, and writing.

OR 

Creative Writing option:
Students are facilitated in the devising, writing and reflection upon an extended piece of creative writing exploring ideas, forms, themes, and approaches of their own choosing. This piece could, for example, be a short story, a chapter of a novel or a portfolio of poems. Students will identify their chosen theme, subject and literary form and then work with an assigned tutor, who will be an experienced creative writer with appropriate creative interests and writing experience. This module enables students to explore the subject matter and aspects of creative practice most important to them, while their tutors guide them through the key stages in producing a polished and effective piece of creative writing. The tutor will help them to engage with the specific technical and creative challenges that their chosen piece, as well as encouraging them to reflect on the literary, critical and theoretical contexts in which their work locates itself. Through planning and completing this creative piece, students will develop skills in time management, research, planning and structuring, writing, editing and redrafting, plus critical self-reflection.

Module provider

Literature & Languages

Module Leader

SZCZEPANIAK Angela (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None.

Module content

The content of the module depends in each case on the specific topic being researched, or on the specific subject, literary mode and genre of writing, as chosen by the student in consultation with their tutor.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

None

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate: 
• the development in their critical writing skills in analyzing texts from a range of genres, or in their creative writing skills in prose fiction, poetry, or other literary forms as well as productive and informed critical reflection on their original creative project.
• their understanding of the context of their work in historical and cultural terms, and to familiarize themselves with the history of literary production, or their understanding of the context of their creative work in historical and cultural terms, as well as in terms of other creative writing in the field.
• their development of research and writing skills and, specifically, an understanding of matters relating to the dissemination of research and/or publishing
• productive and informed critical reflection on both critical and political agendas of literary studies and on their own place within theoretical positions, or their ability to identify a creative project area, to realise this in specific prose, poetic or other writing form or forms and their creative ability in writing on themes or in techniques related to their own interests as creative writers
Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

EITHER:

* End of semester Essay (3000 words) (100%)

OR

* End of semester Creative Writing Portfolio (2500 words creative prose or equivalent for poetry or other literary forms plus 500 words of critical commentary) (100%)

Formative assessment and feedback 

English Literature option:
Verbal feedback in tutorial sessions, on the secondary reading covered and the research context explored, as well as written and/or oral feedback on up to 1000 words of essay plan and annotated bibliography, leading up to, and informing, the summative assessment at the end of the module.

Creative Writing option:
Verbal feedback in tutorial sessions on the creative process and the primary and secondary reading covered and the research context explored, as well as written and/or oral feedback on up to 1000 words of prose (or equivalent) of creative and/or critical writing, leading up to, and informing, the summative assessment at the end of the module.

Module aims

• The module aims to help students: develop students' autonomy and confidence as learners and writers, through supervision and guidance from an experienced researcher or an experienced creative writer, whether it be in formulating and researching literary critical ideas, or in producing an extended and polished pieced of creative writing via the tutorial model of delivery
  
• train students to gather knowledge of the current state of scholarship on a specific subject of literary research, or to gather knowledge of the current state of scholarship in order to locate their work in literary, critical and theoretical context, and to better understand the history and creative demands of the form in which they are working
  
• help students plan and structure a complex argument in written form, and/or plan and structure an extended piece of creative writing
  
• equip students with the skills needed to frame working hypotheses, to evaluate them in the light of counter-arguments and counter-evidence, and to revise them, and/or with the skills needed to plan, draft, edit and revise their work
  
• help students design a small-scale and focused programme of literary research, or design a small-scale and focused writing schedule, and to help them develop the writing habits needed to produce an effective extended piece of creative writing
• encourage students to acquire more productive habits of critically-informed self-reflexion on their critical or creative work, in order to improve both this piece and their future critical or creative endeavours, which will feed forward into other modules that require independent research, writing, and project design, such as the Dissertation module

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy, which uses tutorial supervision to tailor highly individualised teaching is designed to: 

• Hone and develop students’ critical skills in analyzing texts from a range of genres: prose, fiction, poetry, drama, etc by developing their ability to write fluently, persuasively, and unambiguously, or hone and develop students’ writing skills in prose fiction and/or poetry by assisting them gaining experience in planning, structuring, writing and revising a piece of creative writing on a subject chosen by them, as well as in identifying the specific creative challenges posed by different kinds of writing, and in thinking productively in different techniques and approaches for engaging with these challenges.
• Assist students in locating literary texts in historical and cultural contexts, and to familiarize themselves with the history of literary production by developing in them the ability to present a complex argument that takes due note of the current state of scholarship in the relevant field of literary studies, or assist students in locating their work in historical and cultural contexts by enabling them in producing a highly-polished, well-researched and effective piece of creative writing.
• Equip students with the research and writing skills they will need to produce critically informed analyses of literary texts and engage with contemporary literary criticism by developing their ability to incorporate relevant primary and secondary evidence in an essay and document this evidence using a specified system of referencing, as well as to frame, evaluate, and revise hypotheses based on their research, or equip students with the research and writing skills they will need to produce both critically informed prose or poetry and creative criticism by assisting them in demonstrating an ability to work independently and manage their time effectively, and thinking carefully about the writing habits that best suit them.
• Facilitate in students productive reflection on both the critical and political agendas of literary studies and on their own place within theoretical positions by assisting them in developing and demonstrating their ability to design, implement, and complete a small-scale and focused programme of literary research, and to work independently and manage their time effectively, or facilitate in students productive reflection on both the creative process itself and the finished work that has resulted from it by assisting them in reflecting critically on the writing process and the work produced, and drawing conclusions which will help them in further developing this piece and in planning and producing future pieces of creative writing.
• Engage students in exploring and effectively realising their critical or creative ideas as practical and inventive critical or creative projects, and help students produce innovative, imaginative and exciting publication standard critical or creative work.

The learning and teaching methods include:

Small-group or single-student tutorials, the exact timing of which, over the course of the semester, is to be agreed between student and tutor.

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: ELIM042

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 2025/6 academic year.