Department of English
&
Creative Writing
Postgraduate Handbook
MA in English Literary Studies
MA in English Literary Research
MPhil and PhD in English
Course Information
2015/16
CONTENTS
Welcome
About the Department
Who to Contact?
Term Dates
The Library
Departmental Seminars and Reading Groups
 Seminars/Reading Groups
o FASS RTP Programme
o Work in Progress
o Terry Eagleton Lectures, Seminars and Individual Consultations
o Paul Muldoon Lectures, Seminars and Individual Consultations
o The LRB Seminar
o Open Departmental Seminar Series
o Ruskin Seminars
o ENGL201 Lectures
o Reading Groups
Conference Expenses
Student Representatives
Attendance Requirements
 MA Module Seminars
 MA Conference
 Research Methodology
 Work in Progress Seminars
 Notification of Absence
Coursework
 MA Module Essays
o Essay Presentation
o Essay Submission
 MA Dissertations
o Dissertation Presentation
o Dissertation Submission
 Assessment Deadlines
 Extensions
 Mitigating Circumstances
 Penalties for late coursework
 Penalties for mechanical errors
 Word Limits
 Marking Criteria for standard essays
 Marking Criteria for Creative-Critical essays
Breakdown of Overall Course Assessments
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MA IN ENGLISH LITERARY STUDIES - COURSE INFORMATION
Pathway Structure
Modules Available 2015/16
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Pathway Options
Module Descriptions
 ENGL419M and ENGL419LS: Research Methodologies 1 and 2
 ENGL402: Special Subject Module
 ENGL412: Contemporary British Fiction
 ENGL423: Contemporary Gothic: Text and Screen
 ENGL435: Writing the Nineteenth-Century City
 ENGL439: Politics and Place in Early Modern Literature
 CREW401: Writing Fiction
 ENGL422: Posthumanism: Literature after the Human
 ENGL427: Victorian Literature and Other Media
 ENGL428: Romance and Realism: The Evolution of 19th-Century Fiction
 ENGL438: Bodies and Spirits in Early Modern Literature
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MA IN ENGLISH LITERARY RESEARCH - COURSE INFORMATION
Course Description
Assessment
Preliminary Essay
Dissertation
MA by Research Students’ Checklist
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MPhil/PhD IN ENGLISH - COURSE INFORMATION
Annual Panels
Upgrade/Confirmation Panels
Submission and Binding of Theses
The Viva
Student Responsibilities
Supervisor Responsibilities
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WELCOME
Welcome to the Department of English and Creative Writing. This booklet is designed to give you all
the course information you should need during your postgraduate studies with us, including who we
are, what we do and how we can be contacted, as well as course regulations and procedures. Please
keep a copy for your own reference. Further copies can be obtained from the Postgraduate Coordinator’s office (B114, County Main).
For general information regarding university-level information such as fees, careers, student
support services and many other central administration departments, please refer to
www.lancaster.ac.uk/current-students
Please also remember to keep your eye on the PG pages of the Departmental and Faculty websites
where news, events and any changes in procedure or policy will first be posted. PGR students are
reminded that they have access to PURE where they can record their research interests. This site has
been instrumental in making research synergies between staff and students in the Department
visible, and it is in everyone’s interest that we keep it as up to date as possible.
We hope you find your time at Lancaster to be both a stimulating and enjoyable experience.
ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT
English and Creative Writing is now one of the largest recruiters of postgraduate students in the
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Lancaster. In any given year, we have between approximately
70-80 research students on our books (this includes both full and part-time students) and
approximately 80 students taking our various Master’s degree programmes. This means we have the
‘critical mass’ necessary for a buoyant and stimulating postgraduate and research culture, and our
Research Methodology and Work in Progress seminars ensure that there is a regular forum at which
all our research students can meet, socialise and support one another.
The specialist research interests of staff within the Department is also shared, directly, with our
postgraduate students through our Departmental seminars, and students with an interest in cultural
theory and gender studies should request to be put on the mailing lists of the Lancaster Institute for
Contemporary Arts (LICA) and Sociology Department respectively.
In the last few years our PGRs have, themselves, initiated a number of ventures – for example,
conferences on topics related to their research and the on-line journal, The Luminary, which have
helped put postgraduate studies in English and Creative Writing in Lancaster on the national and
international map. Please see the PG pages of the Departmental website for further details.
We believe that the Department of English and Creative Writing at Lancaster is well-placed to offer a
friendly, supportive and intellectually stimulating environment for all its postgraduate students and
we hope this booklet will provide the practical information necessary for you to make the most of
your time here.
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WHO TO CONTACT?
Room
Extension
Email Address
Director of Postgraduate Studies
Convenor of PhD in English
Convenor of MA in English Literary Research
Dr Catherine Spooner (Terms 1&3) B104
(5)94876
Prof Arthur Bradley (Term 2)
B106
(5)94761
c.spooner@lancaster.ac.uk
a.h.bradley@lancaster.ac.uk
Convenor of MA in English Literary Studies
Dr Liz Oakley-Brown
B209
(5)92228
e.oakley-brown@lancaster.ac.uk
Convenor of PhD in Creative Writing
Dr Jenn Ashworth
B102
(5)92354
jenn.ashworth@lancaster.ac.uk
Convenor of MA in Creative Writing by Distance Learning
Prof Graham Mort (Terms 1&2) B95
(5)94166
Dr Eoghan Walls (Term 3)
B89
(5)92410
g.mort@lancaster.ac.uk
e.walls@lancaster.ac.uk
Convenor of Creative Writing Campus MA
Dr George Green
B93
(5)94173
g.green@lancaster.ac.uk
Postgraduate Co-ordinator
Mrs Leila Atkinson
B114
(5)93089
l.j.atkinson@lancaster.ac.uk
Departmental Officer
Mrs Anne Stewart-Whalley
B109
(5)92129
a.stewart-whalley@lancs.ac.uk
Head of Department
Prof Sally Bushell
B203
(5)92249
s.bushell@lancaster.ac.uk
PG Student Representatives
To be appointed. Please see section on Student Representatives.
Director of Postgraduate Studies
The Director of Postgraduate Studies has overall responsibility for all postgraduate matters in the
Department, working closely with the convenors of the ELS MA and the Creative Writing
Programmes. You should contact the Director for advice about doing a research degree and with
respect to any problems or complaints that arise in the course of your studies that cannot be
resolved by your supervisor, if you are having problems with your supervisor, if you are thinking of
suspending your studies for a while (intercalating), or if you need to extend your registration. Please
also note that as well as PGRs (students enrolled to do an MPhil / PhD) the PG Director also looks
after our MAs by Research [ELRs]. Questions concerning the taught MA pathways [ELS students]
should, however, contact the MA Convenor in the first instance.
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MA Convenors
The MA Convenors have overall responsibility for the running of the courses. Students should consult
the individual module tutors with queries relating to a specific module before consulting the
Convenor. Students should consult the MA Convenor if they wish to request an extension for an
assignment, please see page 13.
Postgraduate Co-ordinator
The Postgraduate Co-ordinator has special responsibility for graduate students and can help with
general queries on all matters relating to postgraduate study. She should be the first port of call for
all postgraduate enquiries.
Module Tutors
Individual module tutors can be contacted via email or telephone (see Moodle for details). Each
module tutor will also hold weekly Open Consultation Hours, where students can visit them in their
office to discuss their work – details of days/times will be made available on Moodle.
External Examiners
The MA external examiners for 2015/16 are Prof James Loxley (University of Edinburgh) and Prof
Scott McCracken (Keele University). External examiner reports and the Head of Department
responses are available from the Postgraduate Co-ordinator.
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TERM DATES
Welcome Week: 28 September 2015 - 02 October 2015
Term 1 Michaelmas Term: 03 October 2015 -11 December 2015
Term 2 Lent Term: 09 January 2016 - 18 March 2016
Term 3 Summer Term: 17 April 2016 - 24 June 2016
N.B. University terms, and therefore weeks, notionally run from Friday to Thursday. Teaching
weeks run the normal Monday to Friday. Week 1 of Term 1, for our purpose thus begins on Monday
5 October and Week 10 of Term 1 ends on Friday 11 December.
THE LIBRARY
You must register with the library before you can use its facilities. This should be done at the same
time as you officially register with the University during Welcome Week.
If you would like to make any recommendations for the library holdings this can be done via the
Library’s website. Inter-lending loan requests should be made online. Please see the Library Website
for details.
We warmly encourage you to improve the library by filling in ‘holes’ that you find. Our disciplinary
specialist in the Library is Louise Tripp (l.tripp@lancaster.ac.uk) and she is very willing to help with
individual enquiries.
DEPARTMENTAL SEMINARS/READING GROUPS
It is our hope that students will get to know one another and socialise informally as a result of
attending the various Departmental research seminars, public lectures and conferences, most of
which incorporate opportunities to meet and chat with others.
English Department postgraduates should be aware of the extensive seminar/visiting speaker
programmes and conferences provided by other Research Centres and Departments. See in
particular the listings under Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts and Sociology. Both
these departments regularly invite speakers of national and international renown to come to
Lancaster, and anyone with an interest in gender and/or contemporary culture will thus be well
served. Please contact the secretaries of these departments if you wish to be put on their mailing
lists.
FASS Research Training Programme
This programme of short courses runs throughout the year. Professor Lynne Pearce (from this
Department), teaches several of these courses (thesis writing, conference papers, writing for
publication) and research students are strongly encouraged to attend – not least in order to
experience a wider, cross-disciplinary research environment. If students wish to register on RTP
modules they will need to complete the registration form (which should be downloaded from the RTP
website) and email it to Michaela Scott (fass-rtp@lancaster.ac.uk).
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Work in Progress
The fortnightly seminar is led by the Director of Postgraduate Studies and is open to both new and
continuing research students (i.e. PhD and MAs by Research). The mix of students at different stages
of the writing process is especially productive here, so it is our hope that a substantive number of
second, third and fourth year students will continue to attend the seminars in order that they can
share their experiences with incoming students. The purpose of this seminar is to provide an informal
and relaxed forum in which students can present their ‘work-in-progress’: this may be a draft chapter
from the thesis itself, an upcoming conference paper or journal article, or simply ‘ideas’ they would
like to discuss with the group. Normally papers are circulated ahead of the session and the seminar
time devoted to discussion. In addition, the PG Director will lead a variety of sessions on study skills
(e.g., writing for publication, presenting at conferences) and academic careers training (e.g.
postdoctoral funding, job interview presentations).
These seminars generally take place on Wednesdays afternoons once a fortnight.
Terry Eagleton Lectures, Seminars and Individual Consultations
Terry Eagleton is a Distinguished Professor in the Department. He is a former Thomas Warton
Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford and one of the world's leading literary
critics and theorists. Professor Eagleton's duties include three teaching visits to the Lancaster each
year, and his visits provide our postgraduates with the opportunity to meet and confer with him in
person. As well as having access to a programme of open lectures and seminars (some of them
specifically directed to PG students), postgraduates in the Department have the opportunity of
discussing their own research with Professor Eagleton on a one-to-one basis. Those interested a
tutorial with Professor Eagleton should contact the PG Director.
Paul Muldoon Lectures, Seminars and Individual Consultations
Paul Muldoon, according to the New Criterion 'the most influential poet after Seamus Heaney', is a
Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department. He is a former Professor of Poetry at the
University of Oxford (1999-2004) and currently Howard G. B. Clark '21 Professor at Princeton
University. Professor Muldoon’s work at Lancaster takes the form of a mix of undergraduate
lectures, MA workshops, tutorials with our postgraduates, and public readings. Those interested in a
tutorial with Professor Muldoon should contact the PG Director.
The LRB Tutorials
The Department enjoys a unique collaboration with The London Review of Books, the internationally
acclaimed journal of literary, cultural and political comment. This year the LRB will be sending Chris
Tayler, one of its in-house writers, to Lancaster to offer three one-to-one tutorials on literary
journalism. These will take place in May 2016 and students will invited to compete for them in the
Lent Term. Details to be announced.
Full details of all the above can be found at http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/english/event
Open Department Lectures and Seminars
The Department offers a number of other open lectures and seminars each year. In 2015-16 these
include inaugural lectures from staff within the Department as well as a paper to be given by a
scholar visiting from the University of Toronto.
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Ruskin Seminars
The Ruskin Seminar meets fortnightly throughout the academic year and is open to all those with an
interest in the work of John Ruskin and his circle, and the nineteenth century in general. The group
consists of staff and postgraduates from departments across the university and members of the
public. Each term there are several visiting speakers and reading groups. Visits to the Ruskin Library
exhibitions (on campus) are usually included in the programme. The usual meeting time for this
seminar is Thursday, 4pm–6pm (weeks 1–10 excluding week 6 in the Michaelmas and Lent terms,
weeks 1–4 in the Summer term). For further information, contact the Ruskin Library and Research
Centre (01524 593587) or visit the website on: www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/ruskin/index.php.
ENGL201 Lectures
Students who have not studied within the Department at undergraduate level are strongly
encouraged to attend the lectures for ENGL201: The Theory and Practice of Criticism. Details of
these lectures will be displayed on the ENGL419 Moodle page in due course.
Early Modern Reading Group
Contact: Beth Cortese
Meets fortnightly
Body and Theory Reading Group
Contact: Fumina Hamasaki
Meets 4 times per term
Landscape and Writing Group
Contact: Jo Carruthers
Usually meet 4 times per term on Wednesdays.
Further details: www.lancasterlandscapeandwriting.wordpress.com
Science Fiction Anonymous
Contact: Brian Baker
Usually meet 4 times per term on Wednesdays.
Contemporary Gothic Reading Group
Contact: Catherine Spooner
Meets approximately 3 times per term.
You will receive further details of these seminars (and others that may convene) and their meeting
times from the Director of Postgraduate Studies at the start of the year. Work in Progress sessions
for PhD and MA by Research students are compulsory in the first year and highly recommended in
subsequent years; the others are optional.
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Conference Expenses
In recent times the Department has not had sufficient funds to allocate PGR students a conference
travel allowance as a matter of course. Please note that it is, however, possible to apply for help with
these expenses to the Faculty. See FASS GradSchool website for full details.
Student Representatives
Postgraduate Student Representatives will be appointed at the beginning of each new academic year
(2 MA Reps. and 2 Research Reps.). Details of names and how to contact them will be displayed in
the Department. Postgraduate Representatives will be entitled to attend, propose agenda items and
vote in departmental meetings as well as the Postgraduate and Research Committee meetings which
deal specifically with postgraduate matters. The Postgraduate and Research Committee meets once
a term, whilst departmental meetings usually take place at the beginning and end of each term or at
the discretion of the Head of Department. The Representatives will be kept informed of the times
and agendas of meetings. The PG Director will consult the PG student body about how the
representatives should be elected.
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ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS
MA Module Seminars
Module seminars are an essential part of the course, and attendance at them is compulsory for all
MA students. Attendance is monitored on a weekly basis.
MA Conference
Each year the MA cohort organises and participates in an end-of-year conference. Attendance at the
conference is compulsory for all MA in English Literary Studies and MA in English Literary Research
students.
Research Methodologies
Attendance at ENGL419M and ENGL419LS is compulsory for all MA students and first year PhD
students (unless you have completed an MA with us previously). MA students will take these
modules for credit and therefore submit coursework, PhD students will audit so will not be required
to submit coursework.
Work in Progress Seminars
Work in Progress is compulsory for all first year PhD students and MA in English Literary Research
students.
Notification of Absence
If you cannot attend your seminar for any reason, you must let the Postgraduate Co-ordinator know.
Failure to attend three seminars, without good reason, will result in a letter being sent to you
requiring your attendance at a meeting with the MA Convenor/Director of Postgraduate Studies.
Further failures to attend compulsory seminars may result in your referral to the University Standing
Academic Committee and ultimately exclusion from the University.
COURSEWORK
Module Essays
Written work, in the form of a 5,000 word essay, will be required for each module studied unless
otherwise stated in the module description.
Essay Presentation
Essays must be typed and presented in the style recommended in the Modern Humanities Research
Associations Style Sheet or that of another recognised style guide (please consult with your tutor or
the course convenor if you are not sure about this).
Essay Submission
All essays are required in both hard copy and electronic copy. One hard copy should be submitted to
the essay box in the Student Mixing bay, with a completed Departmental Coursework Coversheet
stapled to the front and one electronic copy should be submitted to the appropriate module Moodle
page.
All essays must be placed in the correct essay box, not given directly to individual tutors.
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Dissertations
Students may seek advice from any of their tutors about their choice of dissertation topic. The only
restrictions are that the topic should fall within the field of your specified pathway, and that we
realistically can supervise it. Students must fix on an area or topic by the end of the Lent Term, after
which supervisors will be assigned. Students will devise their title and formulate a plan for their
dissertation during the ENGL419LS: Research Methodology2 module. NB. Supervisors are permitted
to read a maximum of 5000 words across the supervision period.
Dissertation Presentation
A dissertation (non-returnable, 2 copies) must be typed and presented in the style recommended in
the Modern Humanities Research Associations Style Sheet or that of another recognised style guide
(please consult with your tutor or the course convenor if you are not sure about this).
The title page of the dissertation should include the following details and look something like this:
Title
By
Name of Author
Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment for the
degree of MA in English Literary Studies
Department of English and Creative Writing
Lancaster University
September 2016
MA in English Literary Studies Dissertation Submission
Students are required to submit two soft-bound copies of their dissertation to the Postgraduate Coordinator (a complete coversheet must accompany each copy). A copy should also be submitted
electronically to the ENGL400T Moodle page.
MA in English Literary Research Dissertation Submission
Students are required to submit two soft-bound copies of their dissertation in the first instance to
the Postgraduate Co-ordinator (a complete coversheet must accompany each copy). A copy should
also be submitted electronically to the ENGL400R Moodle page.
Once your MA in English Literary Research dissertation has been ‘passed’ by the external examiner
and all corrections have been completed it must be hard-bound. We therefore suggest you leave a
cheque (made payable to ‘Brady Bookbinders’) to cover the cost of hard-binding with the
Postgraduate Co-ordinator when you submit your soft-bound copies to the Department. The
Postgraduate Co-ordinator will then arrange for the hard-binding of both copies of your dissertation.
We would like to remind all MA in English Literary Research students that the hard-binding of
dissertations is part of the contract they enter into when signing up to do a Higher Degree, and to
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make sure this happens we will advise the Postgraduate Studies Office to withhold the award of a
degree until two hard-bound copies have been received by the Department.
PhD Students
Please refer to the section ‘MPhil/PhD IN ENGLISH - COURSE INFORMATION’ later in this handbook.
Assessment Deadlines
MA in English Literary Studies
The Term 1 coursework essays are due by 5pm on Tuesday 12th January 2016
The Term 2 coursework essays are due by 5pm on Tuesday 19th April 2016
Dissertations are due by 5pm on Thursday 1st September 2016.
MA in English Literary Research
Full time students - preliminary essay due by 5pm on Tuesday 12th January 2016
Part time students - preliminary essay due by 5pm on Tuesday 19th April 2016
Dissertations are due by 5pm on Thursday 1st September 2016.
Research Methodology
The ENGL419M and ENGL419LS: Research Methodology1 and Research Methodology2 modules will
be assessed in the form of short exercises, comprising:
ENGL419M
•
A short piece of theoretical analysis (1000 words)
(Deadline: by 5pm on Tuesday 10th November 2015)
•
A book review (500 words)
(Deadline: by 5pm on Tuesday 8th December 2015)
ENGL419LS
•
An evaluation of a critical/scholarly edition/anthology or website (500 words)
(Deadline: by 5pm on Tuesday 2nd February 2016)
•
A dissertation proposal (500 words)
(Deadline: by 5pm on Tuesday 15th March 2016)
•
A conference paper abstract (250 words)
(Deadline: by 5pm on Tuesday 15th March 2016)
Each piece of coursework is due 4 weeks after the end of the module, with the exception of
ENGL419M and ENGL419LS: Research Methodology1 and Research Methodology2
Extensions
Extensions will not be granted automatically. Poor reasons may result in marks being deducted. If
you have good cause, you will be asked to provide medical or other evidence where possible. In the
first instance, you must contact the MA Convenor to request an extension. Extensions must be
requested before the essay deadline.
Mitigating Circumstances
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Where an incomplete assessment may be the result of good cause, it will be the responsibility of the
student concerned to make the circumstances known to the department and to provide appropriate
evidence. You should also submit a letter addressed to the Mitigating Circumstances Committee by
1st September. Notification later than forty-eight hours after the examination, or after the date at
which submission of the work for assessment was due, will not normally be taken into account unless
circumstances have prevented the student from notifying the department within this time.
Penalties for Late Coursework
The following penalties will be applied unless the Course Convenor decides (if necessary in
conjunction with the Postgraduate Committee) that they can be waived because of mitigating
circumstances:
 Failure to submit by the published deadline without securing an agreed extension will result in
an automatic reduction of 10% points for up to three working days late and a mark of 0 (nonsubmission) thereafter for the assessment, subject to any consideration of mitigating
circumstance.
 If an extension has been granted, these penalties will still apply if the coursework is submitted
beyond the agreed extended deadline.
Penalties for Mechanical Errors
Markers will deduct up to 10 marks for frequent errors in spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and
punctuation. But please note that your marker cannot reward what s/he cannot follow. Unintelligible
writing will have a depressive effect on the overall mark.
Word Limits
1. Footnotes, endnotes and bibliography are NOT included in the word count; however, students
should, of course, use common sense with respect to this ruling, as will tutors when assessing
the overall submission/piece of work. Footnotes, for example, should not be unduly
discursive or used as a means to extend the basic content of an essay.
2. Students who slightly exceed a word limit are not penalised; here again, tutors are expected
to use common sense; students who exceed a word limit beyond what the marker considers
to be reasonable may be penalised as is deemed appropriate by the tutor(s) involved.
3. The only exception to no. 2 (above) is the dissertation, where any exceeding of the word limit
will attract a penalty to be determined by the examiners, in consultation with the MA
convenor (to ensure parity of treatment).
4. Under-length work is considered self-penalising.
For full University regulations, please see www.lancaster.ac.uk/current-students
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Marking Criteria for Standard Essays
All essays and dissertations must present material clearly with the minimum of grammatical, spelling or
typographical errors and provide notes and a bibliography set out in a scholarly manner. Your essay should
relate to the content of the module for which it has been submitted, and should follow any specific
instructions your tutor has issued about length, subject matter, approach and presentation.
70+ represents a distinction.
60+ represents a merit.
The pass mark is 50.
90-100
Marks in the 90s apply to potentially publishable work that challenges and develops existing intellectual
positions, displaying exceptionally high levels of flair, originality, and professionalism.
80-89
Marks in the 80s are given to work that excels in all of these areas: the arguments will be original and
discriminating, there will be a sensitivity to textual detail that is integrated with critical and theoretical tools,
adventurous secondary reading, and expression will be rigorous and stylish.
70-79
A mark in the 70s is given to very good work which demonstrates a sophisticated and persuasive line of
argument and knowledge beyond the module content. The essay will be grounded in an incisive scrutiny of a
range of well-chosen examples from the text(s) and the argument will be reinforced by a rigorous and
discerning engagement with a wide range of secondary material. The writing and presentation will be lucid,
fluent, and accurate.
60-69
A mark in the 60s is given to work that displays a good understanding of a topic and its implications: it
formulates a strong and coherent line of argument; it displays a perceptive and knowledgeable grasp of the
text(s) in question; it makes good use of a range of secondary material; its writing and presentation are clear
and accurate. However, it will display less independence of thought and command of detail than is required
for a mark of 70 or more. At the top end of the scale, it will show some of the characteristics of distinctionlevel work, but without sustaining these to the same extent. At the lower end of the scale the work will be
accomplished but not always nuanced or adventurous.
NB. A mark of 65+ is often taken as an indication of a student with the potential to go on to PhD-level work.
50-59
This essay will demonstrate a satisfactory and competent response to the question that offers appropriate
arguments, displaying a fair knowledge of the text and topic and familiarity with relevant secondary literature.
The essay will be sensible and broadly plausible, but there will be certain drawbacks that prevent it from
achieving a mark in the 60s: the argument may not be fully sustained and coherent or it may lack depth and
subtlety; the writing may lack fluency or be subject to occasional, minor lapses of clarity; the use of secondary
material is likely to be of a kind that suggests dependence rather than critical thinking. There may be a
preference for sweeping generalization over nuanced detail or an accumulation of detail with no integrating
narrative; the readings offered may be cautious and predictable or flawed and inadequately substantiated.
Work in this category often lacks balance, for example by devoting excessive space to secondary reading at the
expense of the primary texts or by engaging only superficially with contextual material; another form of
imbalance occurs when an essay on two texts becomes excessively detailed on one and unsatisfactorily
cursory on the other.
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As we move down the scale, these drawbacks become increasingly prevalent, though the work still conforms
to the definitions given in the first sentence.
40-49 (marginal fail)
This essay will display some promising signs but the overall achievement will be unsatisfactory. It will have the
makings of an argument and show some familiarity with relevant texts – though its textual knowledge is likely
to be shallow, patchy and not always accurate. This is an essay in which naive surface-level description and/or
manifestly implausible generalization have taken the place of analytic/interpretative engagement with the
texts; it will display ignorance of key issues – or misunderstand them. Secondary reading will be inadequate.
The essay may ignore/misunderstand the rubric (e.g. by considering only one text when two were called for);
its writing is unclear or confused. The essay may also be seriously under-length. Presentation is likely to be
careless and unscholarly.
39 and below (fail)
This is seriously substandard work that does not come close to achieving appropriate standards of
competence, and would not be acceptable from an undergraduate. Work in this category will display some or
all of the following qualities: ignorance and/or wholesale misunderstanding of course content and/or set texts;
an entirely misconceived and inappropriate topic and/or methodological approach; incoherent and
disorganised writing; thin or non-existent research. The essay may also be very seriously under-length (i.e.
under half the required length) and very poorly presented.
For ELS Creative and Creative-Critical work, students are referred to the apt Marking Criteria for Standard
Essays.
Marking Criteria also employed in ELS Creative and Creative-Critical work
90-100
Marks in the 90s apply to potentially publishable work. The work will be innovative and highly original with
high impact, achieved artistic and intellectual ambition and striking themes combined with excellent levels of
presentation. Critical elements will meet the criteria regarding quality as noted in the criteria for ELS, above,
although not for any quantitative elements.
80-89
Marks in the 80s are given to excellent work that shows professional levels of control and innovation in the
exploration of formal structures, POV, language and ideas. Critical elements will meet the criteria regarding
quality as noted in the criteria for ELS, above, although not for any quantitative elements.
70-79
Creative aspects of the piece will be very good across the work, demonstrating adventure and thematic
innovation, with both artistic and intellectual ambition. It will show confidence in its exploration of formal
structures, POV, language and ideas. The quality across the creative and critical elements of the work will be
consistent.
60-69
This piece of work will show good technical ability and an awareness of appropriate literary form across the
main range of writing. It will show artistic and intellectual engagement, convincing themes, and a high level of
technical integration that, nevertheless, may not be entirely sustained. It will exhibit themes of impact and
surprise through detailed evocations, deploy convincing POV, and show the development of ideas within its
literary forms. At the lower end of the scale work will show the growth of convincing technique and an
accurate and inventive use of language that will not be sustained across the whole work. It will show
conviction and bring about elements of surprise, exhibiting an awareness of literary forms, POV and narrative
16 | P a g e
technique, though it may demonstrate less thematic originality and intellectual ambition. Critical elements will
meet the criteria regarding quality as noted in the criteria for ELS, above, although not for any quantitative
elements. There may be some minor inconsistencies in level of attainment across the creative and critical
work.
50-59
Work at the top end of this category will show the potential for significant development that has not yet been
realised in terms of conception and execution. While satisfactory and competent, it may suffer from
unevenness, the use of clichéd language, POV, themes and forms, and may lack the convincing deployment of
ideas alongside its strategies to entertain and invoke. Work at the bottom end of the scale will show a
significant lack of technical control and ambition for the work, often exhibiting a pedestrian quality that lacks
surprise or innovation. Critical elements will meet the criteria regarding quality as noted in the criteria for ELS,
above, although not for any quantitative elements. There may be some inconsistencies in level of attainment
across the creative and critical work.
40-49 (marginal fail)
This work will display some promising signs but the overall achievement will be unsatisfactory. The work will
show a significant lack of technical control and ambition for the work, often exhibiting a pedestrian quality
that lacks surprise or innovation. Proofreading errors and solecisms may be evident. Critical elements will
meet the criteria regarding quality as noted in the criteria for ELS, above, although not for any quantitative
elements. There may be inconsistencies in level of attainment across the creative and critical work.
39 and below (fail)
Creative work falling into this category will not have engaged significantly with research, reflective or
developmental aspects of the course and will remain significantly undeveloped or derelict in its creative
expression and critical perspectives. There will be little evidence of the criteria identified in the 40-49 range.
See ELS descriptor for this range, above, for the critical criteria.
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Breakdown of Overall Course Assessments
There will be three classes of awards: distinction, merit and pass. Please see
www.lancaster.ac.uk/current-students for further details.
Only students who have achieved at least a condonable module mark for modules at the first attempt
are eligible for the classes of merit and distinction.
The pass mark for each module is 50%. In order to be awarded the MA, candidates must normally
achieve a mark of at least 50% in each module.
MA in English Literary Studies: Each of the 4 coursework essays will count 20 credits towards the
final assessment, plus a Research Methodology portfolio worth 10 credits; the final 15,000 word
dissertation will count 90 credits. The full MA course is 180 credits.
MA in English Literary Research: A preliminary essay of 5,000 words will count 40 credits towards the
final assessment, plus a Research Methodology portfolio worth 10 credits; the final 30–35,000 word
dissertation will count 130 credits. The full MA course is 180 credits.
For full University regulations, please see www.lancaster.ac.uk/current-students
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MA IN ENGLISH LITERARY STUDIES - COURSE INFORMATION
Pathway Structure
All taught course MA schemes (with the exception of ELLS, see below) follow the same core
structure:
FULL TIME
2 modules in Term 1 (20 credits x 2)
2 modules in Term 2 (20 credits x 2)
+ Research Methods course (10 credits)
(Terms 1, 2 and 3)
+ Dissertation (90 credits)
PART TIME
1 module in Term 1, Year 1 (20 credits)
1 module in Term 2, Year 1 (20 credits)
1 module in Term 1, Year 2 (20 credits)
1 module in Term 2, Year 2 (20 credits)
+ Research Methods course (10 credits)
(Terms 1 and 2, Year 1; Term 3, Year 2)
+ Dissertation (90 credits)
Important: full-time students are expected to take two 20 credit modules per term (Terms 1 and 2);
the compulsory ENGL419M and ENGL419LS: Research Methods courses are taken by all English MA
students and they run across terms 1, 2 and 3. Part-time students complete ENGL419M in their first
year of study and ENGL419LS in their second year of study.
Modules Available 2015/16
Term 1 Modules
Modern and
Contemporary
ENGL412:
Contemporary
British Fiction
ENGL423:
Contemporary
Gothic
Term 2 Modules
Modern and
Contemporary
ENGL422:
Posthumanism:
Literature after
the Human
Romantic/Victorian
Early Modern
Creative Writing
Special Subject
ENGL435: Writing
the NineteenthCentury City
ENGL439: Politics
and Place
CREW401: Writing
Fiction
ENGL402:
Special Subject
Module
Romantic/Victorian
Early Modern
Creative Writing
Special Subject
ENGL427: Victorian
Literature and Other
Media
ENGL438: Bodies
and Spirits
ENGL402:
Special Subject
Module
ENGL428: Romance
and Realism
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As a student you can choose from the following pathway options:
English Literary Studies
This MA scheme is for students who wish to take a generalist MA. It allows you to choose any four
modules + Research Methods. For the dissertation you can choose which specialist area you wish to
write in.
Early Modern Literature
This MA pathway is for students who wish to specialise in Early Modern Literature. If you choose this
MA pathway you MUST take the two modules offered in Early Modern Literature and can then
choose two other modules + Research Methods. You will undertake a dissertation in the specialist
area of Early Modern Literature.
Students following EML must take ENGL439: Politics and Place (Term 1) and ENGL438: Bodies and
Spirits (Term 2) and should take any two other modules (one per term).
Romantic and Victorian Literature
This MA pathway is for students who wish to specialise in Romantic and Victorian Literature. If you
choose this MA pathway you MUST take two modules in Romantic and Victorian Literature and can
then choose two further modules + Research Methods. You will undertake a dissertation in the
specialist area of Romantic and Victorian Literature.
Students must take at least two and up to four Romantic/Victorian modules and up to two other
modules.
Modern and Contemporary Literary Studies (MCLS)
This MA pathway is for students who wish to specialise in Modern and Contemporary Literature. If
you choose this pathway you MUST take two modules in Modern and Contemporary Literary Studies
and can then choose two further modules + Research Methods. You will undertake a dissertation in
the specialist area of Modern and Contemporary Literary Studies.
Students must take at least two and up to four Modern and Contemporary Literature modules and
up to two other modules.
Creative-Critical (CC)
This MA pathway enables students to undertake creative writing modules alongside modules on
literary criticism, and indeed on hybrid or critical-creative writing, thus providing a rare opportunity
to combine creative and critical writing at Masters level.
Students following the CC pathway must normally take two creative writing modules and any other
two modules. Due to staff availability students wishing to take this pathway may have to take
ENGL402: Special Subject instead of a CREW module. It is expected that students will also, if they
wish, request to undertake an extended piece of creative writing as their dissertation.
Qualification for the creative writing modules will be subject to the submission of a 300-500-word
sample of creative writing.
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Combined Taught Course MA Schemes in English
Literary and Cultural Studies (LCS)
(Department of English and Creative Writing with Department of Sociology)
Students taking the combined Literary and Cultural Studies pathway MUST take 2 compulsory
Research methods elements, one from each department:
- Critical Debates in Cultural Studies (Department of Sociology) (20 credits)
- Research Methodology (Department of English and Creative Writing) (10 credits)
You can then choose a further 3 optional modules (20 credits each):
1 module from Sociology
1 module from English and Creative Writing
1 from either department.
E.g.
A student might take:
Critical Debates in Cultural Studies (1 module) + 2 modules in Sociology
Research Methods + 1 module in English
OR
Critical Debates in Cultural Studies (1 module) + 1 module in Sociology
Research Methods + 2 modules in English
MA in English Language and Literary Studies (ELLS)
(Department of English with Department of English Language [Linguistics])
Students taking the combined MA in English Language and Literary Studies follow the 6 module +
short dissertation structure of the Linguistics department and are entered by that department.
Students MUST take
2 modules in English Language
2 modules in English Literature
You can then choose a final 2 modules from either department.
Students can use the pathway scheme to choose between 2 and 4 modules from English Literature.
Students may opt to take the English Language research methods course as one of their modules and
may audit the English department Research Methods course (sit in on the course but not submit
assessment).
NOTE: Students on this combined MA will submit a shorter dissertation of 12,000 words at an earlier
date than students in the English department. This is a 60 credit rather than 90 credit dissertation.
MA in Women’s Studies and English
Please refer to http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/sociology/postgraduate/masters/courses/gender-andwomens-studies-ma/
21 | P a g e
MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
Students should not expect to borrow course-texts from the Library: it is simply not possible to have
multiple copies of all these books available there (though secondary reading should be). The bookshop on campus should have copies of all required seminar texts; be sure to buy or order them well in
advance of when you will be reading them.
Reading and assignments for the course are set on the assumption that full-time students will be
studying for at least the equivalent of a full working week (i.e. 40 hours).
ENGL 419M and ENGL419LS: Research Methodologies
(Terms 1, 2 and 3)
Module Convenors: Dr Liz Oakley-Brown, Dr Catherine Spooner, Prof Arthur Bradley
These modules are intended for all MA students and for new first year Ph.D. students who have not
taken an MA at Lancaster (it is designed in accordance with UK research councils training guidance).
Seminars will run across terms 1 and 2, and dissertation supervision and a conference will take place
in term 3. The modules aim to equip you with a range of skills, approaches and competences to draw
on as early career researchers in the field of English Literary Studies and/or Creative Writing. As
generalist modules, they are designed to complement the more specialist training you receive in
seminars and supervisions. The modules will include sessions on research and writing skills, working
with archives, working with theory, and will encourage reflection on the work of literary research.
The modules will be assessed by a portfolio of tasks (that will be outlined fully within the seminar
sessions). In the summer term, the module will conclude with a conference – organised by the
students themselves – at which they will all give a paper relating to their research.
Details of seminar times and schedules will be posted on the ENGL419M and ENGL419LS moodle
pages. You will also be able to find there details of preparatory tasks and guidelines for
assessment.
The Research Methodology modules will be assessed in the form of a portfolio of exercises,
comprising:
ENGL419M
•
A short piece of theoretical analysis (1000 words)
(Deadline: by 5pm on Tuesday 10th November 2015)
•
A book review (500 words)
(Deadline: by 5pm on Tuesday 8th December 2015)
ENGL419LS
•
An evaluation of a critical/scholarly edition/anthology or website (500 words)
(Deadline: by 5pm on Tuesday 2nd February 2016)
•
A dissertation proposal (500 words)
(Deadline: by 5pm on Tuesday 15th March 2016)
•
A conference paper abstract (250 words)
(Deadline: by 5pm on Tuesday 15th March 2016)
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ENGL402: SPECIAL SUBJECT MODULE
(Terms 1 & 2)
Module Convenor: Dr Liz Oakley-Brown
This module is designed to give students both the freedom and the responsibility of negotiating, with
an assigned tutor, their own area of study and/or writing within the perimeters of the particular MA
pathway they have chosen. This study can be pursued either alone or with other students and takes
the form of a structured series of tutorials with a member of the MA team. The students will share,
with the tutor, the responsibility for designing the course of study and/or writing.
The study and/or writing proposal will be formulated by the student, using a form that can be
obtained from the Department’s postgraduate office. This form needs to be submitted along with
your option form. It must then be approved by both the tutor and the MA convenor (Dr Liz OakleyBrown).
The topic for study and/or writing is entirely open. If creative, it could take the form of a sequence of
poems, short story, or the opening of a novel, along with a piece of reflective writing. If critical, it
could, for example, take the form of a study of a single author (e.g. Emily Dickinson); a particular
period, movement or moment (e.g. Decadence); the literature of a particular nation or region (e.g.
North Africa); or a specific literary theme (e.g. revolutions). Alternatively, it could be linked to a
Research Centre and/or special library collection and/or department reading group and/or
conference hosted at Lancaster, and/or series of guest seminars given by a visiting scholar or writer.
The curator of the Ruskin Library, Professor Stephen Wildman, is available to supervise a special
subject topic. See his research interests at:
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/ruskinlib/Pages/stephen.htm.
This module will involve four 1 hour tutorials or equivalent and the student and the tutor plan these
meetings and work involved on a mutually agreed time-scale, working towards the essay hand-in
date for the term the SSU is undertaken. Since this module is assessed in the same way as other MA
modules the module will occupy one term.
Assessment
One essay or equivalent, normally of 5000 words, is the method of assessment (for creative writing
projects, this word count includes a 1,000-word reflective piece).
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ENGL412: CONTEMPORARY BRITISH FICTION
(Term 1)
Module Tutor: Dr Michael Greaney
This module examines the range and variety of contemporary British fiction. Its five subdivisions are
designed to highlight the different ways in which the sense of time manifests itself in present-day
fiction – from the minimalism of Cusk and McGregor’s 24-hour novels to the temporal panoramas of
Barnes and Mitchell’s fragmented world histories -- and to foster debate about the contemporary
novel’s complex relationship with its modernist and realist forebears.
NB I will not be placing an order for the set texts at the University bookshop because you should be
able to pick them up more cheaply at second-hand bookshops or online.
Please ensure that you have read Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit in preparation for our first
seminar in Week One.
Seminar Programme
The Contemporary Bildungsroman:
Week 1.
Jeanette Winterson, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit
Week 2.
Monica Ali, Brick Lane
Uncanny Histories:
Week 3.
Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger
Week 4.
Jonathan Coe, The House of Sleep
A Day in the Life:
Week 5.
Jon McGregor, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things
Week 6.
Rachel Cusk, Arlington Park
The History of the World:
Week 7.
Julian Barnes, A History of the World in 101/2 Chapters
Week 8.
David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
Alternative Futures:
Week 9.
Jim Crace, The Pesthouse
Week 10.
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
Assessment
One 5000-word essay on two or three of the set texts. Titles/topics to be approved by tutor.
Background Reading
Alexander, Marguerite, Flights from Realism: Themes and Strategies in Postmodernist British and
American Fiction
Childs, Peter, Contemporary Fiction: British Fiction Since 1970
Connor, Steven, The English Novel in History 1950-1995
Head, Dominic, The Cambridge Introduction to Modern British Fiction, 1950-2000
Hutcheon, Linda, A Poetics of Postmodernism
McHale, Brian, Postmodernist Fiction
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ENGL423 - CONTEMPORARY GOTHIC: TEXT AND SCREEN
(Term 1)
Module Tutor: Dr Catherine Spooner
This module addresses the ways that contemporary literature, film and television engage with the
Gothic literary tradition. Focusing specifically on texts produced since 2000, it explores the continuing
relevance of Gothic in contemporary culture. The module aims to demonstrate the diversity and
increasing hybridity of contemporary Gothic and with this in mind, enquires what happens when
Gothic cross-fertilises a range of other modes and genres including musical, soap opera, noir,
documentary, comedy, science fiction and the historical novel. It examines how traditional Gothic
personae from vampires and ghosts to guilty fathers and disturbed children may find new life in the
twenty-first century, and how traditional Gothic spaces from the haunted house to the fairground
may be refigured in postmodern British and American culture. Finally, it reflects on what critics mean
when they talk about Gothic and the ways in which the term is put to work in both popular media
and in academic criticism. The self-reflexively uncanny properties of books, films, DVDs and other
media will be a central feature of many of the texts under discussion, foregrounding the echoes and
continuities between Gothic and postmodern fictional forms.
Each seminar will be based around two parallel strands, covering literature and television/film from
2000 to the present day. Screenings of the relevant films/programmes will be timetabled during the
week preceding the seminar. Students will find it useful to have some prior knowledge of Gothic
literature and/or film, but this is not essential.
Seminar Programme
Week 1. Introduction to Contemporary Gothic
o
Please read the following critical essays (Baldick and Botting can be reserved in the
library; a scan of Spooner will be placed on Moodle; Warwick can be accessed via the
library website):
Chris Baldick, 'Introduction', in The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales (Oxford University
Press 1992)
o
Fred Botting, ‘Aftergothic: consumption, machines and black holes’ in Hogle, Jerrold
(ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction (Cambridge University Press 2002)
o
Catherine Spooner, 'Preface', in Brigid Cherry, Peter Howell and Caroline Ruddell
(eds.), Twenty-first Century Gothic (Cambridge Scholars Press 2010)
o
Alexandra Warwick, ‘Feeling Gothicky’, Gothic Studies 9.1 (May 2007)
Screening: Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton, 2008)
Week 2.
Patrick McGrath, Martha Peake (2000)
Screening: The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez, 1999)
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Week 3.
Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves (2000)
Screening: Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
Week 4.
Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves (2000)
Screening: Black Mirror: Be Right Back (2013)
Week 5.
Scarlett Thomas, The End of Mr Y (2007)
Screening: American Mary (Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska, 2012)
Week 6.
Helen Oyeyemi, White is For Witching (2009)
Screening: Let the Right One In /Låt den Rätte Komma In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
Week 7.
Justin Cronin, The Passage (2010)
Screening: True Blood 1.1, ‘Strange Love’ (2008)
Week 8.
Justin Cronin, The Passage (2010)
Screening: Carnivàle 1.1, ‘Milfay’ (2003)
Week 9.
Karen Russell, Swamplandia! (2011)
Screening: In the Flesh 1.1 (2013)
Week 10: S. G. Browne, Breathers: A Zombie's Lament (2011)
Assessment
One 5000-word essay on one or more of the set texts. Titles/topics to be approved by tutor.
Primary Reading
Fiction:
Patrick McGrath, Martha Peake (2000)
Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves (2000)
Scarlett Thomas, The End of Mr Y (2007)
Helen Oyeyemi, White is For Witching (2009)
Justin Cronin, The Passage (2010)
Karen Russell, Swamplandia! (2011)
S. G. Browne, Breathers (2011)
Films/TV:
Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton, 2008)
The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez, 1999)
Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
Black Mirror: Be Right Back (Channel 4, 2013)
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American Mary (Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska, 2012)
Let the Right One In/Låt den Rätte Komma In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
True Blood 1.1, ‘Strange Love’ (HBO, 2008)
Carnivàle 1.1, ‘Milfay’ (HBO, 2003)
In the Flesh 1.1 (BBC3, 2013)
Secondary Reading
This bibliography comprises useful theoretical works on Gothic and general reading on contemporary
Gothic. For further reading on specific books, films or TV programmes please consult your tutor or
the library catalogue. Please see also the more extensive electronic reading list on the module’s
Moodle site.
Abbott, Stacey, Celluloid Vampires: Life After Death in the Modern World (University of Texas Press
2008)
Abbott, Stacey and Jowett, Lorna: TV Horror: Investigating the Dark Side of the Small Screen (I. B.
Tauris 2012)
Armitt, Lucie, History of the Gothic: Twentieth Century Gothic (University of Wales Press 2010)
Bakhtin, Mikhail, Rabelais and His World (Indiana University Press 1984)
Beville, Maria, Gothic-Postmodernism: Voicing the Terrors of Postmodernity (Rodopi 2009)
Botting, Fred, Gothic (Routledge 1996)
Botting, Fred, Gothic Romanced: Consumption, Gender and Technology in Contemporary Fictions
(Routledge 2008)
Botting, Fred, Limits of Horror: Technology, Bodies, Gothic (Manchester University Press 2008)
Botting, Fred (ed.), The Gothic (D. S. Brewer 2001)
Byron, Glennis and Townshend, Dale, The Gothic World (Routledge 2013)
Clover, Carol, Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film (BFI 1992)
Creed, Barbara, The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis (Routledge 1993)
Edmundson, Mark, Nightmare on Main Street: Angels, Sadomasochism and the Culture of Gothic
(Harvard University Press 1997)
Edwards, Justin and Soltysik Monnet, Agnieszka (eds.), The Gothic in Contemporary Literature and
Culture: Pop Goth (Routledge 2012)
Freud, Sigmund, 'The Uncanny', in Collected Works Vol 14 (Penguin 1985)
Gelder, Ken (ed.), The Horror Reader (Routledge 2000)
Gelder, Ken, New Vampire Cinema (Palgrave 2012)
Grunenberg, Christoph (ed.), Gothic: Transmutations of Horror in Late Twentieth Century Art (MIT
Press 1997)
Halberstam, Judith, Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters (Duke University Press
1995)
Horner, Avril and Zlosnik, Sue, Gothic and the Comic Turn (Palgrave 2005)
Hogle, Jerrold E. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction (Cambridge University Press 2002)
Hughes, William, Punter, David and Smith, Andrew, The Encyclopadia of the Gothic (Blackwell 2013)
Kristeva, Julia, Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (Columbia University Press 1984)
Latham, Rob, Consuming Youth: Vampires, Cyborgs and the Culture of Consumption (University of
Chicago Press 2002)
Olson, Danel (ed.), Twenty-first Century Gothic: Great Gothic Novels Since 2000 (Scarecrow Press
2010)
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Punter, David, The Literature of Terror: A History of Gothic Fictions from 1765 to the Present Day.
Volume 2: The Modern Gothic, revised second edition (Longman 1996)
Punter, David (ed.), A New Companion to the Gothic (Blackwell 2012) [note that the revised ‘New’
Companion has more essays on contemporary topics than the first version]
Royle, Nicholas, The Uncanny (Manchester University Press 2003)
Russo, Mary, The Female Grotesque (Routledge 1995)
Spooner, Contemporary Gothic (Reaktion Books 2006)
Spooner, Catherine and McEvoy, Emma (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Gothic (Routledge 2007)
Watkiss, Joanne, Gothic Contemporaries: The Haunted Text (University of Wales Press, 2012)
Weinstock, Jeffrey, The Vampire Film: Undead Cinema (Columbia University Press 2012)
Wheatley, Helen, Gothic Television (Manchester University Press 2007)
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ENGL435 – WRITING THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY CITY
(Term 1)
Module Tutor: Dr Jo Carruthers
This module seeks to explore textual constructions of nineteenth-century urban spaces and those
who inhabit them. What does it mean to live in the city in the nineteenth century and what might the
city mean to its inhabitants and to the English population at large? We will consider the ways in
which different types of space - the street, the graveyard, the house – are meaningful as well as the
different ways more general conceptions of ‘the city’ are articulated across the century. We will pay
attention to issues such as mobility, transport, technology, Englishness, class, gender, ethnicity, and
religion, and we will engage with different theories of space and place (by authors such as Simmel,
Heidegger, Bachelard and Massey). Throughout the course we will address the relationship between
representation and place and how different types of imaginative literature present their urban
spaces.
Seminar Programme
Week 1. William Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book VII (1805)
Week 2. Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (1805)
Week 3. Charles Dickens, Bleak House (1852-3) alongside extracts of Henry Mayhew, London
Labour and the London Poor (1861)
Week 4. Charles Dickens, Bleak House (1852-3)
Week 5. Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (1855)
Week 6. One-to-one sessions
Week 7. James Thomson, The City of Dreadful Night (1874)
Gutenberg text: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1238/1238-h/1238-h.htm
Week 8. Amy Levy, The Romance of a Shop (1888)
Week 9. Israel Zangwill, Children of the Ghetto (1892) Elibron Classics Reprint (that includes
Children of the Ghetto and Grandchildren of the Ghetto).
Week 10. Short stories: Sherlock Holmes, ‘A Study in Scarlet’ and H. G. Wells, ‘A Story of the Days
to Come’ (to be found on moodle).
NB. Many of these texts are out of copyright and available on googlebooks or to download to a kindle
for free. For texts you want to write an essay on I would advise you use a scholarly edition.
Assessment
One 5000-word essay on two of the set texts. Titles/topics to be approved by tutor.
Indicative Secondary Reading
Bachelard, Gaston, The Poetics of Space: The Classic Look at How we Experience Intimate Places
(Boston MA: Beacon Press, 1994)
Baudelaire, Charles, The Painter of Modern Life and Other Essays (London, Phaidon 1995)
Baucom, Ian, Out of Place: Englishness, Empire and the Locations of Identity (Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 1999)
Bavidge, Jenny, Theorists of the City (London: Routledge 2006)
Benjamin, Walter. Charles Baudelaire: a Lyric Poet in the Era of High Capitalism (London: Verso, 1983)
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- - -Illuminations: Essays and Reflections, ed. by Hannah Arendt, trans. by Harry Zohn (New York:
Schocken, 1968).
- - -Reflections: Essays, Aphorisms, Autobiographical Writings, ed. by Peter Demetz., trans. by
Edmund Jefcott (New York: Schocken, 1978).
Cresswell, T., Place: A Short Introduction (Blackwell, 2004)
De Certeau, Michel, The Practice of Everyday Life (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1984)
Dewsbury, J. D. ‘The Deleuze-Guattarian assemblage: plastic habits’, in Area 43.2 (2001), 148-153
Epstein Nord, Deborah, Walking the Victorian Streets: Women, Representation and the City (Cornell
University Press, 1995)
Farias, I, Bender, T. (eds) Urban Assemblages: How Actor-Network Theory Changes Urban Studies
(London, Routledge, 2010).
Farley, Paul and Michael Simmons Roberts, Edgelands: Journeys into England’s True Wilderness
(Jonathan Cape, 2011).
Feminist Review on Urban spaces: gender, genre, mediation, ed. by Liz Oakley-Brown and Ann Cronin
(2010) http://www.palgrave-journals.com/fr/journal/v96/n1/index.html
Literary London, online journal, http://www.literarylondon.org/london-journal/index.html
Heidegger, Martin, ‘Building Dwelling Thinking’, in Poetry, Language, Thought (New York, NY:
HarperCollins, 2001)
Hubbard, P., Kitchen, R., Valentine, G, Key thinkers on space and place (Sage, 2004).
Lehan, Richard, The City in Literature: An Intellectual and Cultural History (University of California
Press 1998)
Lefebrvre, Henri, Writings on Cities (Oxford: Blackwell 1996)
Legates, Richard T., and Frederic Stout, The City Reader, 3rd edn (Oxford: Routledge, 2003)
Massey, Doreen, Space, Place and Gender (Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press, 1994).
Mighall, Robert, A Geography of Victorian Gothic Fiction: Mapping History’s Nightmares (Oxford:
Oxford University Press 1999)
Nead, Linda, Victorian Babylon: People, Streets and Images in Nineteenth-Century London (Yale
University Press, 2000)
Parsons, Deborah, Streetwalking the Metropolis: Women, the City, and Modernity (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2000)
Georg Simmel, “The Metropolis and Mental Life” (1903) in Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson (eds.) The
Blackwell City Reader (Oxford and Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2002)
Sweet, Matthew, Inventing the Victorians (London: Faber 2001)
Thesing, William, The London Muse: Victorian Poetic Responses to the City (Athens: University of
Georgia Press 1982)
Walkowitz, Judth, City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian London
(London: Virago 1992)
Williams, Raymond, The Country and the City (London: Chatto and Windus 1973)
Wolfreys, Julian, Writing London, Volumes 1-3 (Basingstoke: Palgrave 1998-2007)
Wylie, John, Landscape (Routledge, 2007)
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ENGL439: POLITICS AND PLACE IN EARLY MODERN LITERATURE
(Term 1)
Module Tutor: Prof Alison Findlay
This module uses contemporary theoretical models to explore the relationship between emotions
and place in examples of early modern English literature. It begins by looking at the ways space is
mapped in written and pictorial records, with an introduction to items in the Rare Book Archive in the
Library and the electronic archive Early English Books Online. Site specific studies of texts (e.g. in
Lancaster Castle and Penshurst Place) combine with study of fantasy sites like More’s Utopia (noplace) and early science fiction and travel writing. The course can be taken as part of the early
modern pathway or as a stand alone module for those interested in developing transhistorical
understandings of politics and place.
Seminar Programme
Week 1. Introduction: Mapping Space and Passions– introduction to theoretical models and to how
the early modern environment is perceived and configured in Early English texts
Week 2. Writing National and International Politics: Thomas More, Utopia
Week 3: The Sea: Pericles and the Mediterranean
Week 4. Marlowe’s Tamburlaine: Parts I and II imperial conquest and ‘turning turk’ (AF)
Week 5. Site-specific event: The Lancashire Witches
Thomas Potts Discovery of Witches in Lancashire (1613) and Heywood and Brome’s The Late
Lancashire Witches (1634)
Week 6. The City and the Country I: Anthony Munday, The Triumphs of Re-United Britannia (1605),
and Thomas Campion, The Caversham Entertainment (1613) Texts from EEBO on Moodle site
Week 7. The Country and the City II: Elizabeth Cary, The Tragedy of Mariam and Jerusalem and Lady
Mary Wroth, Love’s Victory and Penshurst Place
Week 8. Turning the World Upside Down: Brome, The Antipodes and Godwin The Man in The Moon
(AF)
Week 9. Space and Early Modern Fantasy: The Writing of Margaret Cavendish (selections on Moodle)
Week 10. Conclusion and essay / dissertation planning
Assessment
One 5000-word essay on two of the set texts. Titles/topics to be approved by tutor.
Primary Reading
Elizabeth Cary, The Tragedy of Mariam, ed. Stephanie Hodgson-Wright (Peterborough, Ontario:
Broadview, 2000) or in Renaissance Drama by Women: Texts and Documents, ed. S. P. Cerasano and
Marion Wynne-Davies (Routledge, 1996)
Francis Godwin, The Man in the Moone (Broadview, 2009)
Christopher Marlowe, The Complete Plays, ed. Frank Romany and Robert Lindsey (Penguin, 2003)
Thomas More, Utopia (W. W. Norton, 1992)
Thomas Potts, The Wonderful Discoverie of Witches, ed. Robert Poole (Palatine, 2011)
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William Shakespeare, Pericles, ed. Suzanne Gossett (Arden) or in The Norton Shakespeare, ed.
Stephen Greenblatt et al. (W.W. Norton, 2008) or ed. John Jowett (Oxford Shakespeare)
Lady Mary Wroth, Love’s Victory in Renaissance Drama by Women: Texts and Documents, ed. S. P.
Cerasano and Marion Wynne-Davies (Routledge, 1996), Penshurst Manuscript text ed. Alison Findlay
available on loan from Postgraduate Office.
Electronic
Richard Brome online http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/brome/
Quakers in North-West England and the Politics of Space, 1652-1653<
http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/projects/quakers/01_quakers_home.html
From Early English Books Online (you will be shown how to use this in Week 1):
Thomas Campion, The Caversham Entertainment or A relation of the late royall entertainment given
by the right honourable the Lord Knowles, at Cawsome-House neere Redding (London, 1613)
Anthony Munday, The Triumphs of Re-United Britannia (1605)
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CREW401: WRITING LONG FICTION
(Term 1)
Module Tutor: Dr Jenn Ashworth
The aim of this module is to allow students to explore the practical demands of writing long fiction, to
develop their writerly and critical skills, and to develop their insight into the writing process. It will
provide students with the opportunity to consolidate their learning about narrative fiction through
the practical application of that learning. It is expected that by the end of the module, students will
have gained substantial experience of the process of creative writing. These aims will be achieved
through a variety of methods:
Strand One: Seminars
The bi-weekly seminar-sessions focus on an element of successful prose fiction.
In each session, students will be expected to make group presentations on the following key areas of
long fiction: Narrative Structure, Voice, Person, Point of View, Character and Description. They will
use the set texts as a starting point for discussion, but will be encouraged to develop their points
using books of their own selection. Presentations will be followed by convenor-led seminar
discussions to develop and concretise the ideas presented.
The second part of the seminar session consists of practical writing exercises tailored to the theme of
the seminar, in which students are enabled to put into practise the ideas developed in the first part
of the session.
The final session of the year will also be tutor-led. Focusing on the challenges of and strategies
employed in redrafting creative work, the seminar will take students through the process of moving
from a first draft to a polished draft of a piece of prose fiction. This will function both as an
exploration of the professional writer's practice, and individually-tailored preparation for developing
assessed work.
Strand Two: Workshops
Bi-weekly workshop sessions are designed to develop the students own work-in-progress. Students
will submit samples of their creative work through the VLE, for fellow students and the course
convenor to access, read, and reflect upon. In the workshop session, students will receive formative
feedback in tutor-led classroom discussion of the work, and offer their own feedback on others'
work. This practice-led, workshop model of teaching Creative Writing is as recommended by both
NAWE and the AHRC, and replicates the professional experience of responding to feedback from
writing groups, first readers, editors and agents.
Workshop and Seminar Sessions fall bi-weekly, so that students are enabled to apply the insight
gained and skills developed in each type of session to the work undertaken in the other. The move
from critical study to creative engagement has been found to be a useful creative strategy in the
teaching of Creative Writing within the department, and is something we have been encouraged to
continue and develop by external examiners.
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Strand Three: Personal Tutorial
Personal tutorials are to be held at a mid-point of the course. At this point the student will have the
opportunity to discuss their ongoing creative project and receive individual formative feedback on
their work. This takes place at mid-point so as to give the student a moment of reflection and
guidance at a useful point in the course, well in advance of assessment.
Seminar Programme
Week 1. Introductory session. Students present their long fiction concepts (please come to this
session prepared to talk about what you plan to write during the course). Tutor
presentation on narrative structures.
Exercise on structure.
Week 2. Workshop on ongoing creative project.
Week 3. Voice, Person, Point of View (prepared extracts from Joshua Ferris: And Then We Came
to the End, Russ Litten: Scream if you Want to Go Faster, Zoe Heller, Notes on A Scandal.)
Exercise on voice, person, point of view.
Week 4. Workshop on on-going creative project.
Week 5. Character (prepared extracts from: Michael Stewart: King Crow, M. J. Hyland, This is How
Ali Smith, The Accidental)
Exercise on character.
Week 6. Individual tutorials
Week 7. Workshop on on-going creative work
Week 8. Description, Setting and Place: (prepared extracts from: Hilary Mantel: Beyond Black; Ian
McEwan: Saturday, Ross Raisin, Waterline)
Writing exercises on description.
Week 9. Workshop on on-going creative work.
Week 10. Redrafting workshop.
Assessment
Assessment for the course will take the form of a portfolio. The portfolio will consist of an extract of
long fiction (4000 words), combined with a critical reflection on the writing process and the elements
of fiction covered in the seminars (1000 words).
Primary Texts
See course outline above - extracts from all relevant texts will be posted on Moodle in advance of the
course.
Secondary Texts
Alvarez, Al. The Writer’s Voice
Atwood, Margaret. Negotiating With the Dead
Forster, E. M. Aspects of the Novel
Frey, James N. How to Write a Damn Good Novel
Lodge, David. The Art of Fiction
Mamet, David. Bambi vs. Godzilla
Three Uses of the Knife
Newman, Sandra, and Howard Mittelmark. How Not to Write a Novel
Prose, Francine. Reading Like a Writer
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey
Woods, James. How Fiction Works
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ENGL422: POSTHUMANISM: LITERATURE AFTER THE HUMAN
(Term 2)
Module Convenor: Prof Arthur Bradley
This module focuses on the idea of the ‘posthuman’ in fiction and film. It explores a range of literary
and filmic texts from Romanticism to Postmodernism that have explored the question of what, if
anything, might come ‘after’ the human race. To explore the figure of the posthuman in more detail,
we will focus on a series of recurring tropes in posthumanist literature from H. G. Wells to Lars von
Trier: the god, the monster; the robot; the cyborg and the clone. We will also place these texts in the
context of various contemporary philosophical, religious, political and scientific debates surrounding
the meaning (or meaninglessness) of human existence. In summary, the course will ask such
questions as: why is the end of the human race such an enduring subject of fascination for writers
and film-makers? Is it possible for human beings to imagine a world without human beings? Finally,
what might a world after the human race look like?
Seminar Programme
Week 1.
What is Posthumanism?*
Week 2.
H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (1898)
Week 3.
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (1958)
Week 4.
Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1967)
Week 5.
INDEPENDENT STUDY AND ESSAY TUTORIALS
Week 6.
J. G. Ballard, Crash (1973)
Week 7.
Michel Houellbecq, Atomised (1999)
Week 8.
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (2005)
Week 9.
Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2006)
Week 10.
Lars von Trier (dir.) Melancholia (2011)
*Please note that a selection of theoretical and historical reading will be made available both in hard
and electronic versions for the seminar in Week 1 and in other weeks.
Assessment
1 x 5000 word coursework essay on 2/3 of the set texts + 1x 1000 unassessed position paper.
Title/topic of essay to be decided by student and approved in advance by tutor.
Primary Reading*
H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (1898)
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (1958)
Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1967)
J. G. Ballard, Crash (1973)
Michel Houellbecq, Atomised (1999)
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (2005)
Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2006)
Lars von Trier (dir.), Melancholia (2011)
* Please note that I will not be placing an order for the set texts at the University bookshop because
you should be able to pick them up more cheaply at second-hand bookshops or online.
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Recommended Secondary Reading
Armitt Lucy (ed.) 1991. Where No Man Has Gone Before: Women and Science Fiction
Atterton and Calarco (ed.) 2005 Animal Philosophy: Ethics and Identity
Badmington, Neil (ed.) 2000. Posthumanism: A Reader in Cultural Criticism
--2006. Alien Sex
Blackmore, Susan, 1999. The Meme Machine.
Bostrom, Nick. 2005. A History of Transhuman Thought
http://www.nickbostrom.com/papers/history.pdf
Bradley, Arthur. 2011. Originary Technicity: The Theory of Technology from Marx to Derrida.
Clark, Andy 2003. Natural-Born Cyborgs.
Clark, Bruce. 2008. Posthuman Metamorphosis: Narrative and Systems
Dawkins, Richard, 1976. The Selfish Gene
Descartes, Rene, Discourse on Method and Meditations.
Fukuyama Francis. 2003. Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution.
Haraway, Donna, 1985. 'A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology and Socialist Feminism in the
1980s’ Socialist Review, 80.
--, 1991. Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature.
--, 1997. Modest Witness@Second_Millennium.FemaleMan Meets Oncomouse.
Hayles, N. Katherine, 1996. How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature and
Informatics.
Hutcheon, Linda, 1989. The Politics of Postmodernism.
Graham, Elaine L. 2002. Representations of the Post/Human: Monsters, Aliens and Others in Popular
Culture
Janicaud, Dominique. 2005. On Posthumanism.
Keller, Evelyn Fox, 2000. The Century of the Gene.
Kurzweil, Ray. 2006. The Singularity is Near
Moravec, Hans. 1999. Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind
Stacey, Jackie, 2009. The Cinematic Life of the Gene
Wolfe, Carey 2009. What is Posthumanism?
Zizek, Slavoj 2005. On Belief
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ENGL427 - VICTORIAN LITERATURE AND OTHER MEDIA
(Term 2)
Module Tutor: Prof Kamilla Elliott
This module examines the formal, historical, generic, cultural, intercultural, and interhistorical
relationships between Victorian literature and other media, including painting, illustration, theatre,
music, film, television, and new media.
Seminar programme
Week 1.
Course introduction
Victorian poetry and painting
Week 2.
Illustrated Victorian prose fiction
Week 3.
Victorian theatre and the birth of film
Week 4.
Victorian literature, music, and musical theatre
Week 5.
Victorian literary ‘classics’ and classical Hollywood cinema
Week 6.
British nationalism and ‘heritage’ literary film adaptation
Week 7.
Serialized Victorian fiction and serial television adaptation (heritage and post-heritage)
Week 8.
The Empire films back: intercultural and postcolonial adaptation
Week 9.
Victorian literature and new media
Week 10.
Course conclusion
Assessment
One 5000-word essay on any intersection between any Victorian text and other media: 85%
Oral presentation(s): 15%
Primary texts
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, ‘The Lady of Shalott’
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Kamilla Elliott, Rethinking the Novel/Film Debate (heavily discounted copies available for purchase
from Kamilla; also available in the library)
Note: These texts form a core from which we move across a wide range of media representations.
Other Victorian literature will be addressed in seminar, and students may write their essays on any
Victorian literary text(s) they choose. Additional required critical, theoretical, and historical readings
will be posted on MOODLE.
Other media
Paintings by William Holman Hunt, Arthur Hughes, John Atkinson Grimshaw, John William
Waterhouse, etc.
Illustrations by George Cruikshank, John Everett Millais, Frederick, Lord Leighton, Aubrey Beardsley,
etc.
Early films of Oliver Twist (1909, 1922)
Oliver! (dir. Carol Reed, UK 1970)
Wuthering Heights (dir. Billy Wilder, MGM 1939)
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Oliver Twist (dir. David Lean, UK 1948)
BBC and other television serializations of Victorian literature 1980s-present
Boy Called Twist (dir. Tim Greene, South Africa, 2004)
Videogames, web series, graphic novels, mobile phone apps, and other new media reworkings of
Victorian literature
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ENGL428 - ROMANCE AND REALISM: THE EVOLUTION OF 19TH CENTURY FICTION
(Term 2)
Module Tutor: Dr Andrew Tate
This module explores the evolution of prose fiction from the late Romantic era through the first two
decades of Victoria’s reign. A defining focus of the course will be on the ways in which the Victorian
novel negotiates with Romantic legacies: the primacy of self, the necessity of intellectual and
personal liberty and an ambivalence towards the past are crucial to the development of the genre.
The historical frame of the course allows us to move from James Hogg’s Confessions of a Justified
Sinner (1824) to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (1851), one of the first novels of the American
‘Renaissance’. We will consider the shaping presence of other genres in the development of
nineteenth-century fiction, including spiritual autobiography and the long poem. Historical contexts
will also be emphasised with particular reference to the religious and political debates of the period.
We will explore the emergence of the novelist as a major cultural figure and interrogate the ways in
which the writers under review both internalise and contest the ethical, spiritual and economic forces
of their historical moment.
Seminar Programme
Week 1. Introduction (handout)
Week 2.
James Hogg, Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)
Week 3.
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist (1837-9)
Week 4.
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (1848)
Week 5.
Herman Melville, Moby Dick (1851)
Week 6.
Herman Melville, Moby Dick (1851)
Week 7.
Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary (1857)
Week 8.
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1849-50)
Week 9.
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1849-50)
Week 10. George Eliot, Adam Bede (1859)
Assessment
One 5000-word essay on two or three of the set texts. Titles/topics to be approved by tutor.
Primary Texts
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (1848)
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist (1837-9)
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1849-50)
George Eliot, Adam Bede (1859)
Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary (1857)
James Hogg, Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)
Herman Melville, Moby Dick (1851)
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Secondary Texts
These works are useful for the intellectual and cultural background of the course. They are not
required reading.
Ermarth, Elizabeth, Realism and Consensus in the English Novel (1983)
---, The English Novel in History, 1840-95 (1997)
Gilmour, Robin, The Novel in the Victorian Age: a Modern Introduction (1986)
---, The Victorian Period: the Intellectual and Cultural Context of English Literature (1994)
Hardy, Barbara, Forms of Feeling in Victorian Fiction (1985)
John, Juliet and Alice Jenkins, eds., Rethinking Victorian Culture (2000)
Moretti, Franco, Atlas of the European Novel, 1800-1900 (1998)
Sanders, Andrew, The Victorian Historical Novel, 1840-80 (1978)
Sutherland, John, Victorian Novelists and Publishers (1976)
---, The Stanford Guide to Victorian Fiction (1989)
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ENGL438: BODIES AND SPIRITS IN EARLY MODERN LITERATURE
(Term 2)
Module Tutor: Dr Liz Oakley-Brown
How are bodies and souls configured differently in sixteenth and seventeenth century texts and how
do we anatomise them from a twenty-first century perspective? What cultural weight do bodies bear
when represented as gendered; as icons of nationhood or mortality; as objects of desire, sometimes
of violent desire, in literary texts? Is social identity inevitably shaped by corporeality or do the
processes of bodily exposure and concealment offer ways of self-fashioning? The course addresses
these questions by examining the ways in which corporeal, emotional and spiritual identities are
contingently constructed in a world of religious and political change, where mortality was tangibly
ever-present. The course can be taken as part of the early modern pathway or as a stand alone
module for those interested in developing transhistorical understandings of gender and/or
embodiment.
Seminar Programme
Week 1.
Recording Early Modern Embodiment: Archives and EEBO
Week 2.
Bodies and Spirits in Edmund Spenser’s *The Faerie Queene: I
Week 3.
Early Modern Embodiment and Contemporary Theory
Week 4.
Bodies and Spirits in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene: II
Week 5.
George Gascoigne’s Passions: The Adventures of Master FJ and Bulleins bulwarke of
defence against all sicknesse, soarenesse, and woundes that doe dayly assaulte
mankind
Week 6.
The Martyred Body: John Foxe, Acts and Monuments
Week 7.
Early Modern Disability: William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus; Thomas Heywood,
The Fair Maid of the Exchange
Week 8.
Dreaming Otherness: Elizabeth Melville, An Godlie Dreame; Rachel Speght, Mortalities
Memorandum
Week 9.
Ensouled Bodies: Select texts by John Donne, George Herbert and John Milton
Week 10.
Ghosts and Graveyard Humour: William Shakespeare, Hamlet; Cyril Tourneur, The
Atheist’s Tragedy
Assessment
The Course is assessed in the conventional way by an essay of 5,000 words. It should focus on at least
2 of the texts studied on the course.
Primary Texts
An Anthology of Elizabethan Prose Fiction, ed. Paul Salzman (Oxford University Press, 1998)
[Gascoigne]
John Donne, The Major Works, ed. John Carey (Oxford University Press, 2000)
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs: Select Narratives, ed. John N. King (Oxford University Press, 2009)
George Herbert, The Complete English Poems (Penguin, 2004).
John Milton, The Major Works, ed. Jonathan Goldberg and Stephen Orgel (Oxford University Press,
2008)
William Shakespeare, Hamlet and Titus Andronicus in The Norton Shakespeare, ed. Stephen
Greenblatt et al (W. W. Norton, 2008)
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, ed. Thomas P. Roche (Penguin, 2003)
From Early English Books Online (you will be shown how to use this in Week 1) and electronic
editions
William Bullein, Bulleins bulwarke of defence against all sicknesse, soarenesse, and woundes that doe
dayly assaulte mankind (1579)
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Thomas Heywood, The Fair Maid of the Exchange (1607)
Elizabeth Melville, An Godlie Dreame (1603)
Rachel Speght, Mortalities Memorandum (1621)
Cyril Tourneur, The Atheist’s Tragedy (1611)
Detailed secondary reading lists for each week with additional primary materials, including
material from EEBO and secondary criticism, will be supplied on Moodle.
*I recommend that you begin reading The Faerie Queene before the start of the course.
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MA IN ENGLISH LITERARY RESEARCH - COURSE INFORMATION
The MA in ELR is essentially a research degree. It functions as training and preparation for a PhD or
as a shorter, less demanding research project for students who do not wish to tackle a PhD but do
want to develop their research skills beyond a BA. Unlike the PhD, originality and publishability are
not necessary attributes of the 30–35,000 word dissertation that is the goal of the one-year degree.
Unlike a taught MA, these degrees allow students to concentrate on a single topic of their choice.
Learning and teaching are therefore conducted by means of fortnightly supervisory meetings, and
also by attendance at the fortnightly departmental Work in Progress seminar. You should also attend
the ENGL419: Research Methodology module run for the taught MAs where you will mix with other
MA students; please see the MA in English Literary Studies section of this handbook for the course
content. All postgraduate students are welcome to participate in the departmental seminars. If
there is a large cohort of ELR students in any given year we will also try to arrange a group meeting
once a term.
For full University regulations, please see www.lancaster.ac.uk/current-students
Assessment
Assessment is by a preliminary essay of 5,000 words, a Research Methodology portfolio and a final
30–35,000 word dissertation. A mark of 50% or over should be achieved in the essay to progress to
the dissertation.
Preliminary Essay
The essay allows for early feedback, and a test of progress, and is analogous to an upgrading piece
for a PhD at an earlier stage. Newly acquired research skills can be tested out at this point, and the
topic can begin to take shape. The essay should:
a) survey the field and its associated secondary literature;
b) define the topic (can take the form of a chapter of the proposed dissertation);
c) give a select bibliography related to the topic.
The essay is double marked in the Department, with the supervisor as one marker. The agreed mark
and the comments of both markers will be made available to the candidate. If the essay does not
pass, the student will be given the opportunity to re-write it for a higher mark.
Dissertation
The final dissertation is expected to show, primarily, a grasp of research skills and methods in
relation to the chosen topic. Presentation, referencing, a clear theoretical or critical approach,
knowledge and citation of the relevant field of debate in the critical literature, and well-worked-out
argumentation are the most important criteria. The dissertation is double marked in the
Department, with the supervisor again acting as one of the markers. Both marks and reports, and an
agreed mark, are then sent to the MA external examiner for moderation.
With the completed dissertation, students must also submit a brief (1,000 words) report on the
methodological aspects of their research — i.e. what they feel they have learnt in terms of the
research process, what aspect of the research was most difficult, etc. The external examiner has
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found such reports extremely useful in assessing the learning experience of the project as a whole.
This report can be based on material produced for the Faculty Research Methods seminar.
MA BY RESEARCH STUDENTS’ CHECKLIST
By the end of your first term [full-time] students should:

have met with your supervisor on a regular basis every 2-3 weeks;

have produced a number of short focussed pieces of work;

have begun to acquire a range of research skills;

have attended Research Methods and Work in Progress seminars;

be working towards a 5,000 word essay to submit at the start of Term 2.
By the end of the year you should:

have acquired a good sense of scholarship for your specialist topic;

have compiled a bibliography showing knowledge of this scholarship;

have written regular pieces of work and learnt how to work independently;

be working towards a final dissertation of 30-35,000 words.
Remember to leave yourself enough time for thorough checking, proofreading and binding at the
end!
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MPhil/PhD IN ENGLISH - COURSE INFORMATION
MPhil
The MPhil is a piece of independent research that shall not normally exceed 60,000 words (including
any footnotes and appendices but excluding the bibliography). It is expected to demonstrate a high
degree of skill and competence in research methods, critical evaluation and independent thought,
but does not require quite the same evidence of originality or publishability as a PhD.
MPhils are examined by thesis (two copies of which should be submitted soft-bound in the first
instance). The work will be examined by two persons nominated by the Department, one internal
and one external, and the student will be expected to defend the thesis at a viva voce examination in
due course (sometimes up to 3 months after submission of the thesis).
PhD
The PhD is a piece of independent research of no more than 80,000 words including footnotes and
appendices but excluding the bibliography. Like the MPhil, it is expected to demonstrate high levels
of scholarly competence and knowledge of the field, in addition to which it must display both
originality and publishability (either in whole or in part).
PhDs are examined by thesis (two copies of which should be submitted soft-bound in the first
instance). The work will be examined by two persons nominated by the Department, one internal
and one external, and the student will be expected to defend the thesis at a viva voce examination in
due course (sometimes up to 3 months after submission of the thesis).
Annual Panels (including first year review)
Apart from the upgrade/confirmation panel (see below), research students in the department
undergo an annual review panel. The purpose of this panel is to monitor and record progress, to
provide a fresh perspective on the work from someone other than the supervisor, and to serve as a
rehearsal for the confirmation panel (and, later, the viva). Only two members of staff are required to
be present for an annual panel, one of whom is the supervisor. Both student and supervisor should
write a brief report on the panel and hand this over to the Postgraduate Co-ordinator to put on file. If
the timing of the confirmation panel is within six months of an annual review panel it is normally
acceptable to waive the latter.
First year review – this panel normally occurs at the end of your first year (between June –
September) for students beginning in October. You need to prepare:






A month by month ‘diary’ of your research / writing throughout the year
A revised ‘Abstract’ for the thesis as a whole (c.300 words)
A provisional chapter plan
A sample of writing (c.5,000- 8,000 words and typically in the form of a draft chapter)
A plan of next year’s work
A Bibliography of your reading so far
N.B: An ‘Annual Review Panel’ of this kind should normally take place each year at a similar time
except the year of your upgrading / ‘confirmation’ where it may be excused.
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Upgrade/Confirmation Panel
At Lancaster, all research students are registered for a Preliminary PhD (formally MPhil) in the first
instance, and will only be confirmed as a PhD if their project shows sufficient breadth, depth and
originality. If the project fails to show these qualities the student will be entered for an MPhil
qualification. On this point, we would like to emphasise that an MPhil is a substantial and important
research qualification in its own right, and that students should not regard it as a failed PhD. Some
topics are better suited to this qualification.
Confirmation normally takes place between 18–24 months into the research for full-time students
and between 24–36 months for part-time students. (For AHRC-funded students, it should be no later
than 18 months FTE unless special circumstances apply.)
For the confirmation panel you are required to submit a portfolio of work to be agreed with yourself
and your supervisor. The work must be substantial enough for us to get a clear picture of your
progress to date and for the panel to be convinced that it can be completed as a PhD in the time
remaining. The portfolio should normally include:
 A revised ‘Abstract’ for the thesis as a whole (c.300 words)
 A chapter plan (which is ideally annotated so that the panel have a clear idea of what
is to be included in each chapter)
 A writing sample (normally in the form of TWO completed draft chapters – c. 1620,000 words total)
 a diary/timeline of your progress to date
 an expected timetable for completion
 a Bibliography of your reading so far
This body of work will be reviewed by a panel consisting of your supervisor and two independent
readers from the Department or cognate departments. If the Department is required to report on
you to the AHRC, or a similar funding body, this review will be an essential component of the report.
The committee, again in consultation with your supervisor, will also consider if the work submitted
provides grounds for recommending the confirmation of your registration as that of PhD.
If the panel decides that it cannot recommend such a confirmation, students are free at any
subsequent date during their registration to make a further submission. But students should be
aware that the University normally insists on a further minimum period of study (usually one year,
full-time) after a PhD is confirmed before a thesis can be submitted. It is therefore sensible to
attend to the business of confirmation not later than September of your second year.
Please note that this Department believes strongly that MPhil students should not expect to confirm
PhD status automatically and may, for many reasons, have a project more suited to an MPhil.
Moreover, acceptance onto an MPhil/PhD programme does not, in any way, guarantee that the
student will be awarded the qualification at the end of his or her registration period. Students must
be aware that, in the UK, the PhD is the highest academic qualification available and that very
rigorous standards of scholarship continue to apply.
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Degree
M.Phil.
Ph.D.
Status
Full time
Full time
Minimum
24 months
36 months
Maximum
36 months
48 months
Status
Part time
Part time
Minimum
36 months
48 months
Maximum
60 months
84 months
Submission and Binding Theses
Candidates are required to submit two soft-bound copies of their thesis to the Postgraduate Studies
Office, situated within ‘The Base’, University House, who will arrange for the theses to be sent to the
examiners. After the viva, once the thesis has been examined and all corrections have been
completed, it is a University regulation that students must arrange for two hard-bound copies of
their thesis to be submitted to the University. Please note that candidates will not be awarded their
degree until proof of hard-binding has been received at the Postgraduate Studies Office.
For full University regulations, please see www.lancaster.ac.uk/current-students
The Viva
Once the completed thesis has been submitted, the external and internal examiners will be asked to
read it within approximately three months. An oral examination will then be scheduled at which the
student will be expected to defend their thesis. All students should be offered a mock viva with their
supervisor(s) before the actual examination. Examiners are officially appointed by the Director of
Postgraduate Studies in consultation with the student’s supervisor; and although the student may be
involved in discussions about who are appropriate examiners, they should, in no circumstances,
approach these people themselves either formally or informally.
If the student has held a lectureship at Lancaster University then two externals should be appointed
for the examination. If the supervisor does not believe the thesis is ready for submission but the
student wishes to submit anyway, then the supervisor’s views will be submitted in writing before the
examination to the Director of Postgraduate Studies and the Dean of Graduate Studies. We strongly
recommend students to be guided by the judgment of their supervisor.
Vivas vary enormously depending on the combination of examiners and students. In general they last
around one and a half hours, though some may last a lot longer than that. It is always advisable for
students to reread their work a couple of times before their viva and to be prepared to discuss its
strengths and weaknesses. The questions range from the very general, looking at the remit and focus
of the project, to the methodological and theoretical approaches employed, to the very detailed
(‘what did you mean when you wrote ...?’). Please note that it is standard University policy not to
inform students of the result of the viva until the end of the meeting: students will typically be
asked to leave the room for a short time whilst the examiners consider their decision. As it is
impossible to predict the form of individual vivas, it is best to have a mock viva but not have too fixed
an idea of what the actual viva will be like. Talking to previous students about their experience may
be useful if they are still around, but your own viva may follow a different pattern.
Since 2003 it has also become a University requirement that all Lancaster vivas are either chaired or
tape-recorded. This not only ensures that there is a ‘witness’ to the proceedings, but the presence of
a Chair is also seen to improve the inter-personal dynamics of the exam room (even though s/he
rarely intrudes into the actual viva discussion).
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Students curious about the PhD examination process may like to take a look at the following
publications (all Open University Press): Rowena Murray, How to Survive your Viva (2002); Lynne
Pearce, How to Examine a Thesis (2005) (written primarily for the examiners, but still of interest to
students!); and Penny Tinkler and Carolyn Jackson’s The Doctoral Examination Process (2004). We
may also spend some time discussing the Viva in the Work in Progress sessions if students so wish!
Following the viva, examiners are asked to make one of the following recommendations:
The degree of PhD should be awarded:
a)
b)
c)
Forthwith
Subject to corrections being made (see (i) below)
Subject to amendments being made (see (ii) below)
and if b or c are required, is the external willing that these should be verified by the internal examiner
only.
The degree of PhD should NOT be awarded:
a)
Permission should be given for the thesis to be revised and resubmitted within 12 months for
the degree of PhD (see (iii) below)
The degree of MPhil be awarded
12 months for the degree of MPhil (see (iii) below)
b)
c)
Notes
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
The term ‘corrections’ refers to typographical errors, occasional stylistic or grammatical
flaws, corrections to references, etc. Corrections should be made within 3 months from
the notification of the result of the decision.
The term ‘amendments’ refers to stated minor deficiencies, requiring some textual
revisions. Amendments should be made within 6 months from the notification of the
result of the decision.
If resubmission is recommended please enclose your report, on a separate sheet, advice
about modifications to the thesis which will be sent to the student within one month of
the viva voce examination.
For full University regulations, please see www.lancaster.ac.uk/current-students
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THE STUDENT’S RESPONSIBILITIES
As a research student you have a number of responsibilities which include:












Arranging and maintaining contact with your supervisor(s).
Consulting your pigeonhole, email, and notice-boards regularly.
Participating in departmental Work in Progress sessions.
Attending a research training programme as agreed with your supervisor each year.
Alerting your supervisor(s) to any difficulties. In exceptional circumstances you may prefer to
discuss the matter with the Director of Postgraduate Studies.
Maintaining progress as laid down in the programme of work.
Submitting written assignments on time.
Keeping a written record of supervisions either by emailing a short report to your supervisor
or by using the Postgraduate Appraisals system within Moodle.
Ensuring that written work is of an acceptable standard of literacy; please note that it is not
the supervisor’s responsibility to correct written work at the level of grammar / expression
although s/he may do so on some occasions. If you are an overseas student whose first
language isn’t English, you may consider getting your work proof-read before submitting it to
your supervisor.
Participating in the annual (and interim) review process which is now conducted electronically
via the Registry apart from the ‘Annual Review Panel’ (see below) which is organised and
monitored by the Department.
Agreeing with your supervisor(s) on when to submit the thesis bearing in mind the regulations
governing minimum/maximum periods of study.
Reporting any formal complaints to your supervisor(s), the Director of Postgraduate Studies or
the Head of Department, who will take action.
THE SUPERVISOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES




To hold regular supervisions with their students (normally once every two or three weeks for
full time students, or once a month for part-time students).
To discuss the student’s training needs with them at the start of each new year and to talk
through which FASS RTP courses (see above) they may wish to take or any other skills they
may wish to develop.
To ensure that contact is maintained during those periods when staff are away from the
University (e.g., during the vacations or when they are on sabbatical). In the age of email,
most supervisors are able to keep in touch with their students throughout the year and there
is evidence to show that written communication between students and supervisors is
sometimes more effective than face-to-face meetings in recording developments in the
research and exploring new ideas. However, you should normally expect to see your
supervisee in person once or twice during the long vacation.
In the majority of cases, it is expected that supervisors will continue to supervise their PhD
students during periods of sabbatical leave, although this may be negotiated so that the
supervisions may take place electronically or, in the case of joint supervision, taken on by the
second supervisor. If a supervisor has a new PGR or ELR student starting while they are on
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



sabbatical, arrangements must be put in place to ensure that the new student is not left to
their own devices for the first term! Either the supervisor should offer to meet with the
student a few times even though s/he is on sabbatical (and to keep in touch electronically)
OR the Department should arrange a temporary replacement supervisor (for example, if the
supervisor is working abroad). Please note that supervisors on parental leave have to secure
replacement supervisors for their students since they are not legally allowed to visit the
University during this period except in exceptional circumstances (i.e., they are no longer
insured by the University during this period).
After each supervision, the student should write a brief report on what was discussed in the
meeting and send it to the supervisor for approval and comment. Alternatively, students and
supervisors may wish to keep a record of their meetings on Moodle. If you find yourself in a
situation where a lot of important discussion is taking place by email, it is a good idea to
upload this onto your log at some point so that it becomes a permanent record of the PhD’s
development.
The student can expect written work to be read and commented on by his/her supervisor
within two weeks except in exceptional circumstances. (But please remember that during
some periods, supervisors are very busy and may not be able to read a long chapter the night
before the supervision!)
The supervisor should advise the student if, in her/his opinion, they are falling behind with
their work, or seem unlikely to reach the required standard. Likewise, she/he should tell you
when she/he thinks you are ready to submit.
Supervisors should, within reason, take a pastoral interest in the welfare of their students and
support them during times of stress and hardship. However, the supervisor is not a trained
counsellor and may therefore advise students to seek help advice elsewhere. The University
runs an excellent counselling service that is regularly used by both staff and students.
For further University information, please see www.lancaster.ac.uk/current-students
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