Course Catalogue

View Specification Document | Reading List

This course considers the diverse literature produced during a transitional era stretching from the Restoration of the British monarchy in 1660 to the eve of American independence. It addresses a wide range of genres that flourished during this period, including poetry, novels, drama, travel writing and life writing.

1 x 1hr lecture and 1 x 1hr seminar per week over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus

OR

1 x 1hr lecture per week over ten weeks and 7 x 90min seminars over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus.

This is one of the Honours options in English Literature and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into English Literature, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

ENGLIT4007  Inventing the Modern

Close reading exercise (1500 words): 25%

Essay (3000 words): 50%

Seminar contribution: 10%

Seminar presentation of 7 minutes: 15%

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below.

This course will provide the opportunity to:

■ increase awareness of the culture and aesthetic context of literature in the period 1660-1780.

■ deepen understanding of the critical methodologies that have been used to engage with a range of authors and texts from the period.

■ expand knowledge of the stylistic, generic and formal developments that characterise the literature of the period.

■ read widely in order to develop individual areas of specialist inquiry.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ assess the cultural, political and aesthetic contexts of the period and their impact upon literary texts.

■ chart the development of a conception of 'modernity' throughout the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, particularly at the level of language and form.

■ cultivate a range of skills suited to advanced literary criticism, including an engagement with original sources and close reading of technique.

■ critique and assess long-held views of the literature of the period through exposure to a wide range of theoretical interpretations.

■ communicate responses to the material studied on the course both orally and in written form through coherent and sustained argument.

■ demonstrate resilience and time management through effectively planning, undertaking and submitting coursework.

■ deal with change and new challenges by applying their disciplinary skills and knowledge to previously unfamiliar research areas and questions.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.