The 19th Century in Literature

Code

LL215

Level

2

Credit rating
(points)

20

Prerequisites

None

Type of module

Taught

Aims

The aims for this module are set into the context of the QAA National Qualifications Framework and they relate to the SEEC descriptors for level 2 study.  These are:

• to study examples of English fiction and poetry written up to the end of the 19th century, and to reflect on their meanings and reception at the time of writing, and their meanings and reception today
• to consider the relationship between text production and the reading public.

Learning outcomes

In relation to the National Qualifications Framework and the SEEC descriptors for level 2 study, by the end of the module students should be able to:

• demonstrate critical understanding of selected texts read comparatively;
• demonstrate critical understanding of the ways that literature from the 19th century can be read in the present time in relation to how it was read earlier;
• demonstrate critical understanding of the ways in which 19th century literature can both reflect and subvert cultural conventions of the time.

Content

Indicative content:

• the rise of the novel and the novel-reading public
• the social and intellectual contexts of the production of 19th century literature
• the relationship between author, reader and text, and the expectations of the reading public
• Romanticism and the effects of the French revolution
• The ‘woman question’ and Victorian sexual attitudes
• Others and doubles in Victorian literature.

Learning and teaching strategies

Discussion in seminars of texts studied

Reading of texts and critical materials in non-contact time
Tutorial support for assignment

Learning support

Books:

Butler, M.  (1981)  Romantics, Rebels and Reactionaries  Oxford: Oxford University Press
Carter, R. and McRae, J.  (1997)  Routledge History of Literature in English  London: Routledge
Gilbert, S. and Gubar, S.  (1979)  The Madwoman in the Attic  New Haven: Yale University Press
Guy, J.M.  (1998)  The Victorian Age; an Anthology of Sources and Documents London: Routledge
Jacobs, R.  (2001)  Beginner’s Guide to Critical Reading: an Anthology of Literary Texts  London: Routledge
Roe, N.  (2005)  Romanticism: an Oxford Guide Oxford: OUP
Showalter, E.  (1987)  The Female Malady London: Virago
Walder, D.  (1995)  The Realist Novel  London: London: Routledge
Wu, D.  (1994)  Romanticism: an Anthology Oxford: Blackwell
Wu, D  (1995)  Romanticism: a Critical Reader  Oxford: Blackwell
Williams, R.  (1973)  The Country and the City  London: Chatto

Journals:

ELH [English Literary History] in JSTOR
Nineteenth-Century Literature in JSTOR
RES [Review of English Studies] in JSTOR

Electronic sources:

The Victorian Web homepage www.victorianweb.org/(Accessed May 2009).

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 task:

An essay incorporating a comparative analysis, drawing on two or more texts from the period, with the emphasis on how new meanings emerge over time and on how conventional and subversive meanings or readings can co-exist in a text.  

Students will be expected to develop some of the ideas discussed in class. (2500 words The assessment will be percentage graded.)

Referral task: Reworking of original task.

Assessment criteria

General criteria for assessment are framed by the SEEC descriptors for level 2.  Against specific criteria, credit will be awarded for:

• ability to make sense of texts by comparing them with other texts in the light of the development of some of the ideas discussed in class (LO1);
• critical understanding of the ways that new meanings and readings of texts develop over time (LO2, LO3);
• critical understanding of how 19th century texts can both reflect and subvert the cultural conventions of the period or how conventional and subversive readings can illuminate the text (LO2, 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 gives students an opportunity to enjoy and critically reflect upon a range of both conventional and subversive 19th century texts, and to reflect on their reception and readership both at the time and today.

Area examination board to which module relates

BALAST Media and English AEB

Module team/authors/co-ordinator

Richard Jacobs

Normal module duration

One semester

Site where delivered

Falmer

Date of first approval

June 2007

Date of last revision

N/A (module code amended from KE215 in August 2008)

Date of approval of this version

June 2009

Version number

2

Replacement for previous module

N/A

Route for which module is acceptable and status in that Route

BA (Hons) Language Studies (English Language, French, German, Linguistics) and English Literature – required
BA (Hons) English Literature and Sociology – required
BA (Hons) English Literature and Education – required

Course(s) which module is acceptable and status in course

BA (Hons) Language Studies (English Language, French, German, Linguistics) and English Literature – required
BA (Hons) English Literature and Sociology – required
BA (Hons) English Literature and Education - required

School home

School of Humanities

External examiner(s)

Dr Andrew Maunder