Course Proposal Details for - Edinburgh: City of Literature (Course code not assigned)
School
School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures
Course Description
Edinburgh has an enormously rich literary heritage and was the first city in
the world to receive UNESCO City of Literature status. This course
examines some of Edinburgh's most celebrated literary talents, some
Edinburgh locals and other Edinburgh visitors. Alongside works by among
others Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, Ian Rankin, Muriel Spark and
Irvine Welsh, the course will explore these writers' presence in the city
through manuscript collections and objects in the National Libraries and
Museums of Scotland and the Edinburgh Writers' Museum. We will also
follow their footsteps through the city and see how their presence has
been marked with monuments, plaques and other forms of cultural
heritage. We will consider how these writers represent the city in their
works and how it has shaped their writing.
Normal Year Taken
Year 1 Undergraduate
Course Level (PG/UG)
UG
Visiting Student
Availability
Part-year visiting students only
SCQF Credits
20
Credit Level (SCQF)
SCQF Level 8
Home Subject Area
Lifelong Learning (LLC)
Other Subject Area
Course Organiser
Anya Clayworth
Course Secretary
Jacqueline Barnhart
% not taught by this
institution
Collaboration
Information (School /
Institution)
Total contact teaching
hours
39
Any costs to be met by Costs of essential books on reading list and any entrance fees for study
students
visits.
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Prohibited
Combinations
Visting Student Prerequisites
Keywords
Fee Code (if invoiced at
course level)
Proposer
Jacqueline Barnhart
Default Mode of Study Classes & Assessment excl. centrally arranged exam
Default delivery period Lifelong Learning - Summer Session
Marking Scheme to be
employed
Common Marking Scheme - UG Non-Honours Mark/Grade
Taught in Gaidhlig?
No
Course Type
Standard
Summary of Intended
Learning
Outcomes/L01
By the end of the course students should be able to:
Learning Outcome 2
Assess literature based, to a certain extent, on their own close reading
Learning Outcome 3
Place literature in its historical and geographical context
Discuss texts confidently in groups and as part of an assessed oral
presentation.
Learning Outcome 4
Understand the cultural remains left by writers in Edinburgh.
Learning Outcome 5
Write detailed and confident essays in response to assessment questions.
Special Arrangements
Components of
Assessment
Formative essay of 1000 words to be delivered during the course (feedback
only)
Oral presentation 10% of total marks
Class contribution 10% of total marks
2000 word summative essay delivered after the course has finished 80% of
the total marks
Exam Information
N/A
Syllabus
WEEK 1
MONDAY
Introductory Lecture: Edinburgh as a literary city
Lecture: Burns in Edinburgh
Tutorial: Burns: Selected Poetry
TUESDAY
Burns in Edinburgh walk and visit to National Library of Scotland
Tutorial: Burns: Selected Poetry
WEDNESDAY
Lecture: Robert Louis Stevenson and Edinburgh
Tutorial: Robert Louis Stevenson: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
THURSDAY
Stevenson in Edinburgh walk and visit to Writers¿ Museum
Tutorial: Robert Louis Stevenson: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
FRIDAY
Essay workshop
WEEK 2
MONDAY
Lecture: Arthur Conan Doyle in Edinburgh
Tutorial: Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes: Selected Stories
TUESDAY
Doyle in Edinburgh visit to Edinburgh College of Surgeons
Tutorial: Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes: Selected Stories
WEDNESDAY
Lecture: Muriel Spark and Edinburgh
Tutorial: Muriel Spark: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
THURSDAY
Spark in Edinburgh visit to National Library of Scotland
Tutorial: Muriel Spark: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
FRIDAY
Oral presentation workshop
WEEK 3
MONDAY
Lecture: Ian Rankin and Edinburgh
Tutorial: Ian Rankin: Set in Darkness
TUESDAY
Rankin in Edinburgh walk
Tutorial: Ian Rankin: Set in Darkness
WEDNESDAY
Lecture: Irvine Welsh and Edinburgh
Tutorial: Irvine Welsh: Trainspotting
THURSDAY
Welsh in Edinburgh walk
Tutorial: Tutorial: Irvine Welsh: Trainspotting
FRIDAY
Assessed oral presentations and essay workshop
Academic Description
Study Pattern
Transferable Skills
* Close critical reading of passages from texts.
* Small group working.
* Setting literature in historical, social and political context.
* Advance preparation of material for class including work for essays and
class discussion.
* Wide reading. Students will be encouraged to work around the subject by
reading relevant secondary material.
Study Abroad
Reading Lists
Essential:
Burns, Robert, 2013. Selected Poems and Songs. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 2008. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Oxford, Oxford World¿s Classics.
Doyle, Arthur Conan, 2008. Sherlock Holmes: Selected Stories. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Spark, Muriel, 2000. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Penguin:
Harmondsworth.
Rankin, Ian, 2000. Set in Darkness. London: Orion.
Welsh, Irvine, 1994. Trainspotting. London: Vintage.
Recommended:
Mullan, John, 2008. How Novels Work OUP, Oxford.
Wallace, Gavin and Stevenson, Randall, eds., 1993. The Scottish Novel
Since the 1970s. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Skoblow, Jeffrey, 2001 Dooble Tongue: Scots, Burns, Contradiction.
Newark: University of Delaware Press.
Stevenson, Robert Louis (2003) Stevenson¿s Scotland Edinburgh, Mercat
Press.
Edwards, Owen Dudley, 1984. The Quest for Sherlock Holmes.
Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Mackaill, Alan and Kemp, Dawn, 2007. Conan Doyle and Joseph Bell: The
Real Sherlock Holmes. Edinburgh: Royal College of Surgeons.
Gardiner, Michael and Maley, Willy. eds., 2010. The Edinburgh Companion
to Muriel Spark. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Morace, Robert, 2001. Irvine Welsh¿s Trainspotting: A Reader¿s Guide.
London: Continuum.
Rankin, Ian, 2005. Rebus¿ Scotland. London: Orion.