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Powerful Texts

Code

LL112

Level

1

Credit rating

20

Pre-requisites / Co-requisites / Entry criteria for freestanding modules

None

Type of module (Taught, Independent study, Supervised study, Work-related or placement)

Taught

Aims

The aims for this module are set into the context of the QAA Framework for Higher Education Qualifications and they relate to the SEEC level descriptors for level 1.

This module aims to:

  • develop students' initial explorations both of reading and writing and of themselves as readers
  • complement and extend ideas and themes followed in other level 1 modules
  • engage students as readers and writers in the critical processes of meaning-making
  • enable students to explore their own reading practices across genres and in different contexts.

Learning outcomes

In relation to the QAA Framework for Higher Education Qualifications and the SEEC level descriptors for level 1 study, by the end of the module students should be able to:

  • Make close, informed, critical readings of fiction and/or non-fiction.
  • Identify how texts can exert a ‘powerful’ influence upon the reader.
  • Articulate a critical response to ideas presented.

Content

Indicative content:

  • Class, Northernness, and Masculinity in Tony Harrison,
  • Tragi-Comic Journeys Through Time in Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard
  • The Limits of Language – Verbal and Non-Verbal Identifiers in J. M. Coetzee, Foe
  • The ‘Real Event’ - How coincidental is history in determining politics? – e.g. Don DeLillo, Libra (with film/ICT element)
  • The Multiplicity of Identity in Bharati Mukherjee, Jasmine
  • Post-Modern Mini-Narratives in Douglas Coupland, Generation X
  • Sacrifice, Neurosis, and Psychoanalysis in Pat Barker, Regeneration (with film element)
  • Urbex and the Millennial Eco-Thriller in Cormac McCarthy, The Road
  • The Literature of 9/11 in Don DeLillo, Falling Man

It is anticipated that filmic and/or television texts will also be used where available and applicable.

Learning and teaching strategies

In contact time, students will:

  • take part in lectures, seminars, workshops, and tutorials to gain insight and experience which will strengthen their ability to read, reflect, and write critically
  • participate in discussions on different aspects of reading and writing, as well as on identifying the ‘powerful’ nature of texts
  • consider similarities and differences between the written text and the moving image, where appropriate

In non-contact time, students will undertake a variety of tasks such as:

  • read various core and satellite texts, as well as critical and theoretical works
  • view filmic and/or television texts, where appropriate
  • reflect on the development of their own reading
  • use the resources of Information Services and Student Central

Learning support
(Indicate 8-12 key resources, and ensure that all resources, including electronic sources, are fully referenced, and indicate the date last accessed for all electronic sources)

Books:

Attridge, D. (2005) J. M. Coetzee and the Ethics of Reading: Literature in the Event. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Banerjee, M. (2002) The Chutneyfication of History: Salman Rushdie, Michael Ondaatje, Bharati Mukherjee, and the Postcolonial Debate. Heidelberg: C. Winter
Boxall, P. (2006) Don DeLillo: The Possibility of Fiction, Abingdon: Routledge
Childs, P. (2005) Contemporary Novelists: British Fiction Since 1970, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Gottlieb, V. and  P. Allain (eds.) (2000) The Cambridge Companion to Chekhov. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Gupta, S. and D. Johnson (eds) (2005) A Twentieth-Century Literature Reader: Texts and Debates, London: Routledge
Kumar, N. (2004) Away: The Indian Writer as an Expatriate. London: Routledge
Rawlinson, M. (2007) Pat Barker. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Electronic Sources:

Websites:  (All accessed May 2009)
www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/engl/theory/

Chekhov Three - Time (2003) Available from: http://script.vtheatre.net/chekhov3.html.

Assessment task

Assessment will be in the context of the University of Brighton Assessment Policy and the Faculty Code of Practice in Assessment, and students will be required to complete the following tasks:
 
Task 1 (100% weighting )

An essay of 2500 words, comparing and contrasting any two of the powerful texts studied on this module and reflecting upon ideas discussed.

The  task will be marked on a percentage basis

Referral task: Reworking original task

Assessment criteria

General criteria for assessment are framed by the SEEC descriptors for level 1.  Against specific criteria, credit will be awarded for:

  • A close, informed, and critical reading of fiction and/or non-fiction (LO1)
  • Identifying how texts can exert a ‘powerful’ influence upon the reader (LO2)
  • Articulating a critical response to ideas presented (LO3)

All learning outcomes must be achieved in order to pass the module at the threshold level.

Brief description of module content and/or aims for publicity

This module introduces a range of powerful texts (with filmic and/or television texts, where appropriate) of fiction and/or non-fiction. This includes the close reading of works which have a substantial effect on their readers and the creation of written responses to these and to critical works.

Area examination board

English Literature, Linguistics, and Media in School of Humanities

Module co-ordinator

Nigel Foxcroft (Co-ordinator) and Dr Katy Shaw

Normal module duration (e.g. one or two semesters)

One semester

Site where delivered

Falmer / Hastings

Date of first approval

June 2006

Date of last revision

June 2007

Date of approval of this version

June 2009

Version number

3

Replacement for previous module

N/A

Route(s) for which module is acceptable and status in Route (Mandatory, Compulsory or Optional)

Options route on:
BA (Hons) English Language and Linguistics, English Literature, or Media
BA (Hons) English Studies and Linguistics, English Literature, or Media
BA (Hons) Media and English Literature
BA (Hons) English Literature (Optional)
English Literature route on UCH Joint Honours degrees (Compulsory)

Course(s) for which module is acceptable and status in course (Mandatory, Compulsory or Optional)

BA (Hons) English Language and Linguistics, English Literature, or Media (Optional)
BA (Hons) English Studies and Linguistics, English Literature, or Media (Optional)
BA (Hons) Media and English Literature (Optional)
BA (Hons) English Literature (Optional)
UCH Joint Honours degrees – English Literature (Compulsory)

School home

School of Humanities

External examiner(s)

Dr Andrew Maunder