ENG6522 - Literary Period: Victorian Literature

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
demonstrate detailed knowledge and understanding of distinctive aspects and features of Victorian literature
demonstrate a detailed knowledge and understanding of how to analyse and discuss texts from the period in terms of their relation to particular social / cultural debates of the period
Demonstrate an ability to use appropriate research strategies and resources in order to define and develop an individual research project.
analyse and discuss texts from the period in terms of the relation of content to form and literary genre

Content:

This module encourages students to understand literary texts as documents of their literary period. Students will explore several theories that link socio-historical contexts to the production of literary texts and then select one that will help them define and execute and individual research project, connecting some element of Victorian socio-economic culture, chosen by the student, to the production of specific set of literary texts, chosen by the student from the long set-text list. The set-texts are all from distinctive Victorian genres such as the new or revitalised genres of horror and comedy. There is only a single assignment, but this is developed through workshops, small group tutorials, and individual tutorials.

Learning and Teaching Information:

The opening sessions set out the nature of the project and its parameters. These are followed by some workshops which support trial-runs on sample materials. Then the students work on defining their individual research projects. Once the individual project is defined and approved there is guidance on developing that project and on-going support through workshops and tutorials.

Workshop
Contact hours: 24
Intended Group size: 25

Drop-in sessions
Contact hours: 2
Intended group size: 5

Guided independent study
Hours: 174

Further details relating to assessment
The report is a structured document that can take the form of an essay or a Moodle blog. It must relate some researched aspect of Victorian culture and society to some specific ideas of techniques included in a piece of Victorian genre writing (comedy, sci-fi, or horror).It comprises a section of theoretical analysis of relevant genre theory; annotated quotations to identify generic features in a specific set of texts, some biographical commentary for the chosen set-text and a summary section synthesising all these elements into a critical statement about the chosen set-text.

Other relevant matters
The report is constructed serially over the course of the module and there is opportunity for formative feedback on individual sections. The final report is expected to involve the editing and unification of all the sections.

Assessment: