UNIVERSITY OF KENT – CODE OF PRACTICE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE
MODULE SPECIFICATION TEMPLATE
1
The title of the module
American Crime Fiction
2
The Department which will be responsible for management of the module
English
3
The Start Date of the Module
September 2010
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The number of students expected to take the module
16
5
Modules to be withdrawn on the introduction of this proposed module and consultation with
other relevant Departments and Faculties regarding the withdrawal
None
6
The level of the module (eg Certificate [C], Intermediate [I], Honours [H] or Postgraduate
[M])
Level H
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The number of credits which the module represents
30
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Which term(s) the module is to be taught in (or other teaching pattern)
Autumn or Spring
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Prerequisite and co-requisite modules
None
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The programmes of study to which the module contributes
English BA
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The intended subject-specific learning outcomes and, as appropriate, their relationship to
programme learning outcomes
Students will:

read and respond critically to a range of American crime fiction

relate their reading to developments in social and political history

explore a range of theoretical approaches to literary texts

think critically about the interrelationship of cultural trends in literature, film and
television

sharpen their ability to understand and evaluate narrative form in fiction, film and
television

interrogate distinctions between high and low culture

develop an ability to interrogate and understand contemporary culture in the twentyfirst century
UNIVERSITY OF KENT – CODE OF PRACTICE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE
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The intended generic learning outcomes and, as appropriate, their relationship to programme
learning outcomes
Students will:

develop their abilities to analyse texts critically and make comparisons across a
range of reading

develop their command of written and spoken English and their abilities to articulate
coherent critical arguments

understand and interrogate various critical approaches and the theoretical
assumptions that underpin these approaches
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
develop their abilities to carry out independent research

develop their presentational skills
A synopsis of the curriculum
This module explores the history and practice of crime fiction in the United States from Edgar Allan Poe in the 1840s
through to the present day. Crime fiction will be understood broadly to encompass a range of generic categories such
as detective, hardboiled and police procedural novels and stories. Attention will also be paid to developments in
cinema and television which parallel those in fiction, such as film noir and the contemporary cop series. Strong
emphasis will be placed on historically informed reading and students will be encouraged to relate the close analysis of
texts to shifts in narrative form as well as the establishment and transgression of generic conventions.
The study of American crime fiction reaches directly into the heart of many of the key concerns of undergraduate
English. Questions about the distinctions between high and low culture, the seductiveness of particular narrative forms,
and dialectic relations between literary and social history will all be addressed. Students will have the opportunity to
read crime fiction alongside elements of psychoanalytic, narrative and cultural theory. Eventually they will be able to
consider how crime fiction has evolved in its engagement with questions of ethnicity and gender in the United States,
from the construction of white masculinity in the hardboiled genre to the emergence of female and African-American
detectives in the late-twentieth century.
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Indicative Reading List
Primary Reading
Edgar Allan Poe, Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Wordsworth, 2008)
William Faulkner, Sanctuary (Vintage, 1993)
Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep (Penguin, 2000)
James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice (Orion, 2005)
Chester Himes, The Real Cool Killers (Vintage, 2000)
Paul Auster, New York Trilogy (Faber and Faber, 2004)
Sara Paretsky, Toxic Shock (Penguin, 1990)
James Ellroy, The Black Dahlia (Arrow, 1993)
Tony Hillerman, Skinwalkers (Penguin, 1993)
Attica Locke, Black Water Rising (Harper Collins, 2009)
Screenings
The Maltese Falcon, dir. John Huston (1941)
Kiss me Deadly, dir. Robert Aldridge (1955)
Chinatown, dir. Roman Polanski (1974)
Batman Begins, dir. Christopher Nolan (2005)
The Wire, dir. David Simon and others (2002-8)
Secondary Reading:
Theodor Adorno, The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture, ed. J.M.
UNIVERSITY OF KENT – CODE OF PRACTICE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE
Bernstein. Routledge, 1991
Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation, trans. Sheila Glaser. U Michigan P, 1994.
Walter Benjamin, “On Some Motifs in Baudelaire.” Illuminations, trans Harry Zohn.
Pimlico, 1999.
Christopher Breu, Hardboiled Masculinities. U Minnesota P, 2005.
Peter Brooks, Reading for the Plot: Design and Intention in Narrative. Harvard UP,
1992.
Raymond Chandler, The Simple Art of Murder. Vintage, 1988.
Sigmund Freud, “Remembering, Repeating and Working Through,” and “From the
History of an Infantile Neurosis.” The Penguin Freud Reader, ed. Adam Phillips. Penguin, 2006.
Fredric Jameson, “The Synoptic Chandler.” Shades of Noir, ed. Joan Copjec. Verso,
1993..
Sean McGann, Gumshoe America: Hard-Boiled Crime Fiction and the Rise and Fall
of New Deal Liberalism. Duke UP, 2001.
Peter Messent, “From Private Eye to Police Procedural - The Logic of Contemporary
Crime Fiction.” Criminal Procedings: The Contemporary American Crime Novel, ed. Peter Messent. Pluto,
1997.
Franco Moretti, Signs Taken for Wonders: On the Sociology of Literary Forms. Verso,
2005.
Andrew Pepper, The Contemporary American Crime Novel: Race, Ethnicity, Gender
and Class. Routledge 2000.
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Learning and Teaching Methods, including the nature and number of contact hours and the
total study hours which will be expected of students, and how these relate to achievement
of the intended learning outcomes
The module will be taught by ten weekly two-hour seminars with five screenings and five
lectures each outlining a key theoretical issue. Students will be expected to study for about
20 hours per week. There will be the opportunity for individual consultation about essays.
Seminars will include opportunities for small group work, informal presentations and free
discussion. In addition, students will be encouraged to work in small groups (of three or
four) to prepare a formal presentation to the seminar group.
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Assessment methods and how these relate to testing achievement of the intended learning
outcomes
The module will be assessed by two equally weighted essays of 2500-3000 words each
(90%) and seminar performance (10%).
Both the learning and teaching and assessment methods relate closely to the intended
learning outcomes. They will encourage student-centred exploration and discussion of
primary and secondary materials in both their essays and their seminar contributions.
Students will develop their presentation skills (written and spoken) and their capacity for
independent research.
UNIVERSITY OF KENT – CODE OF PRACTICE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE
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Implications for learning resources, including staff, library, IT and space
Students will be required to purchase their primary texts, all of which are easily available in cheap
paperback editions, both new and second-hand, from online sellers. The Templeman Library should
purchase at least one copy of each primary text, to be kept in the Short-term Loan section. Most of the
theoretical texts are already owned by the Templeman, though the relevant essays and articles will,
wherever possible, be uploaded onto moodle.The course will require the Templeman to update its
collection of recent critical work on American crime fiction. A room suitable for the screening of films will
be required. The course will be taught by Will Norman.
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A statement confirming that, as far as can be reasonably anticipated, the curriculum,
learning and teaching methods and forms of assessment do not present any non-justifiable
disadvantage to students with disabilities.
As far as can reasonably be anticipated, the curriculum, learning and teaching methods and
forms of assessment do not present any non-justifiable disadvantage to students with
disabilities.
Statement by the Director of Learning and Teaching: "I confirm I have been consulted on the
above module proposal and have given advice on the correct procedures and required content of
module proposals"
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Director of Learning and Teaching
Date
Statement by the Head of Department: "I confirm that the Department has approved the
introduction of the module and will be responsible for its resourcing"
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Head of Department
Date