ENG4583 - Writing, Performance and Persuasion

Objectives:

Assessment tasks are designed to enable students to demonstrate the Learning and Employability outcomes for the relevant level of study. Level Learning Outcomes are embedded in the assessment task(s) at that level. This enables a more integrated view of overall student performance at each level.

Content:

Students will study political speeches and debates, in multi-media format. The focus will be on the power of words to persuade and influence. They will be introduced to the theory of rhetoric, e.g. classical material, and recent theory. Students will construct and perform speeches as part of debates on seminal cultural topics. They will further explore the projection of character in fictional situations in Semester 2, as a kind of rhetoric. Students will acquire skills in speaking; articulating argument; making a case; and the importance of language and style in persuasion. They will learn the value of the reflective process, by writing up their study week by week. These skills will be valuable to them as students for making a case in their assessed presentations and essays; as professionals, by increasing confidence in public speaking, in the ability to put ideas succinctly and persuasively into words, and to make a case; and as citizens, in heightened awareness of how marketing, politics and PR work.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Workshops
Hours: 50
Intended Group Size: 30

Guided independent study
Hours: 250

Further details relating to assessment
Portfolio: this will be developed from a series of exercises carried out during the semester, on the topic of speeches and/or dramatic monologues.
Presentation: This will be a group exercise, in which students will write and present speeches on a topic of their choice, OR a short scene illustrating what they have learned about persuasion and motivation.
Integrated Assessment will be formulated according to English and Creative Writing LOs and will be delivered at Programme Level.
Classes within the first 4 weeks of each semester will be devoted to unpacking assessment, with peer and tutor formative feedback and practice in giving presentations to increase confidence.

Assessment:

001 Portfolio; 3,000 words; end of semester 1 50%
002 Group presentation; 10 mins; end of semester 2 20%
003 Integrated assessment; 2,000 words or equiv; end of semester 2 30%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Amina Alyal
Level - 4
Credit Value - 30
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 4YL

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