Page | 1 School of English Module Choice Handbook 2013
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Page |1 School of English Module Choice Handbook 2013-14 Level 2 PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK Page |2 Contents Degree requirements according to degree programme 1. English Language and Linguistics P4 2. English Language and Literature P5/6 & 7 3. English Literature (Single) P8/9 4. English Literature (Duals) P10 5. English and Theatre P11/12 6. Theatre and Performance P13 Module Descriptions Module Description information P14 EGH202 History of Persuasion P15 EGH206 Introduction to Modern Irish P16 EGH207 Writing The real P17 EGH223 Radical Texts P18 ELL207 Phonetics P19 ELL216 Language Politics and Language Planning P20 ELL217 Sociolinguistics P21 ELL221 Syntax P22 ELL222 Semantics P23 ELL225 Introduction to Old English P24 ELL226 First Language Acquisition P25 ELL227 Language Attitudes P26 ELL228 Language and Cognition P27 ELL229 The Triumph of English P28 ELL231 Issues in Language Change P29 ELL234 Sense of Place: Local and Regional Identity P30 LIT204 Criticism and Literary Theory P31 LIT207 Restoration and 18th Century Literature P32 LIT217 European Gothic P33 LIT218 Chaucer's Comic Tales P34 LIT219 Creating Poetry P35 LIT224 Representing the Holocaust P36 PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK Page |3 Degree requirements according to degree programme (continued) LIT233 Road Journeys P37 LIT234 Renaissance Literature P38 LIT241 Adaptation: Theory and Theatrical Practice (open to English and Theatre and Theatre & Performance students only) P39 LIT243 Applied Theatre Design (open to English and Theatre and Theatre & Performance students only) P40 LIT244 Storying Sheffield P41 LIT251 British Theatre of the 1960s P42 LIT252 International Avant-Gardes1874-1949 P43 LIT254 Christopher Marlowe P44 LIT255 John Donne P45 LIT259 Restoration Drama P46 LIT260 Post-War British Realist Cinema P47 LIT264 America in the 1960’s P48 LIT265 Between Literature and Science P49 LIT266 Secrets and Lies: Victorian Life- Writing P50 LIT267 Darwin, Evolution and the 19th Century Novel P51 LIT268 The Graphic Novel and the Love of (Super) Power P52 LIT2000 Genre P53 LIT2004 Satire and Print P54 Faculty of Arts and Humanities Interdisciplinary modules unrestricted FCA2000 Interdisciplinary Research in Practice FCA2005 100 Objects P55 P56 PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK Page |4 DEGREE REQUIREMENTS for English Language and Linguistics (Single and Dual) Level 2 modules There are no core modules at Level 2 for English Language and Linguistics. Single Honours students will choose 120 credits from the modules available. Dual students will choose 60 credits from the modules available All modules are 20 credits Autumn (Semester 1) EGH202 The History of Persuasion EGH206 Introduction to Modern Irish ELL207 Phonetics ELL216 Language Politics and Language Planning ELL217 Sociolinguistics ELL221 Syntax ELL228 Language and Cognition ELL229 The Triumph of English? ELL234 A Sense of Place: Local and Regional Identity Spring (Semester 2) EGH207 Writing the Real ELL222 Semantics ELL225 Introduction to Old English ELL226 First Language Acquisition ELL227 Language Attitudes ELL231 Issues in Language Change LIT218 Chaucer’s Comic Tales PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK Page |5 DEGREE REQUIREMENTS for English Language and Literature Level 2 modules Autumn Semester 1 Core Module Spring Semester 2 Core Module EGH202 The History of Persuasion EGH207 Writing the Real All modules are 20 credits Choose 20 credits from the following Literature shortlist: LIT204 Criticism and Literary Theory LIT234 Renaissance Literature LIT2000 Genre LIT207 Restoration and 18th Century Literature Choose 20 Credits from the Language shortlist: EGH206 Introduction to Modern Irish ELL207 Phonetics ELL216 Language Politics and Language Planning) ELL217 Sociolinguistics ELL221 Syntax ELL222 Semantics ELL225 Introduction to Old English ELL226 First Language Acquisition ELL227 Language Attitudes ELL228 Language and Cognition ELL229 The Triumph of English ELL231 Issues in Language Change ELL234 A Sense of Place: Local and Regional Identity PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK Page |6 DEGREE REQUIREMENTS for English Language and Literature Level 2 modules (continued) All modules are 20 credits Choose 20 credits of optional modules from the following list: ELL207 Phonetics ELL216 Language Politics and Language Planning ELL217 Sociolinguistics ELL221 Syntax ELL222 Semantics ELL225 Introduction to Old English ELL226 First Language Acquisition ELL227 Language Attitudes ELL228 Language and Cognition ELL229 The Triumph of English ELL231 Issues in Language Change ELL234 A Sense of Place: Local and Regional Identity LIT204 Criticism and Literary Theory LIT207 Restoration and 18th Century Literature LIT204 Criticism and Literary Theory LIT217 European Gothic LIT218 Chaucer's Comic Tales LIT219 Creating Poetry LIT224 Representing the Holocaust LIT233 Road Journeys LIT234 Renaissance Literature LIT244 Storying Sheffield LIT251 British Theatre of the 1960s LIT252 International Avant-Gardes1874-1949 LIT254 Christopher Marlowe LIT255 John Donne LIT259 Restoration Drama PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK Page |7 DEGREE REQUIREMENTS for English Language and Literature Level 2 modules (continued) All modules are 20 credits LIT260 Post-War British Realist Cinema LIT264 America in the 1960’s LIT265 Between Literature and Science LIT266 Secrets and Lies: Victorian Life- Writing LIT267 Darwin, Evolution and the 19th Century Novel LIT268 The Graphic Novel and the Love of (Super) Power LIT2000 Genre LIT2004 Satire and Print You may choose ONE unrestricted module (20 credits) outside English or a further 20 credits from the options above. PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK Page |8 DEGREE REQUIREMENTS for English Literature (Single) Level 2 modules Autumn Semester 1 Core Modules Spring Semester 2 Core Modules LIT204 Criticism and Literary Theory LIT2000 Genre LIT234 Renaissance Literature LIT207 Restoration and 18th Century Literature All modules are 20 credits Choose 40 credits English Literature optional module Autumn Semester 1 EGH202 The History of Persuasion EGH206 Introduction to Modern Irish LIT219 Creating Poetry LIT233 Road Journeys LIT252 International Avant-Gardes1874-1949 LIT254 Christopher Marlowe LIT259 Restoration Drama LIT260 Post-War British Realist Cinema LIT264 America in the 1960’s LIT265 Between Literature and Science LIT266 Secrets and Lies: Victorian Life- Writing Spring Semester 2 EGH207 Writing the Real LIT2004 Satire and Print LIT217 European Gothic LIT218 Chaucer's Comic Tales LIT224 Representing the Holocaust LIT244 Storying Sheffield PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK Page |9 DEGREE REQUIREMENTS for English Literature (Single) Level 2 modules (Continued) All modules are 20 credits LIT251 British Theatre of the 1960s LIT255 John Donne LIT267 Darwin, Evolution and the 19th Century Novel LIT268 The Graphic Novel and the Love of (Super) Power You may choose ONE unrestricted module (20 credits) outside English Literature in place of the optional module. PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 10 DEGREE REQUIREMENTS for English Literature (Duals) Level 2 modules You must choose 40 credits of Literature core modules from the 80 credits available. Autumn Semester 1 Core Modules Spring Semester 2 Core Modules LIT204 Criticism and Literary Theory LIT2000 Genre LIT234 Renaissance Literature LIT207 Restoration and 18th Century Literature All modules are 20 credits You have the option of choosing 20 credits from the following list: Autumn Semester1 EGH202 The History of Persuasion EGH206 Introduction to Modern Irish LIT219 Creating Poetry LIT233 Road Journeys LIT252 International Avant-Gardes 1874-1949 LIT254 Christopher Marlowe LIT259 Restoration Drama LIT260 Post-War British Realist Cinema LIT264 America in the 1960’s LIT265 Between Literature and Science LIT266 Secrets and Lies: Victorian Life-Writing Spring Semester 2 EGH207 Writing the Real LIT2000 Genre LIT207 Restoration and 18th Century Literature LIT2004 Satire and Print LIT217 European Gothic LIT218 Chaucer's Comic Tales LIT224 Representing the Holocaust LIT244 Storying Sheffield LIT251 British Theatre of the 1960s LIT255 John Donne LIT267 Darwin, Evolution and the 19th Century Novel LIT268 The Graphic Novel and the Love of (Super) Power PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 11 DEGREE REQUIREMENTS for English and Theatre Level 2 modules Autumn Semester 1 Core Modules Spring Semester 2 Core Modules EGH221 Theatre Practice: Performance i EGH236 Theatre Practice: Performance ii All modules are 20 credits You must choose 40 credits of Literature core modules from the 80 credits available Autumn Semester 1 Spring Semester LIT204 Criticism and Literary Theory LIT2000 Genre LIT234 Renaissance Literature LIT207 Restoration and 18th Century Literature Choose 40 credits from the following: Autumn Semester 1 EGH202 The History of Persuasion EGH206 Introduction to Modern Irish EGH223 Radical Texts LIT219 Creating Poetry LIT233 Road Journeys LIT243 Applied Theatre Design LIT252 International Avant-Gardes 1874-1949 LIT254 Christopher Marlowe LIT259 Restoration Drama LIT260 Post-War British Realist Cinema LIT264 America in the 1960’s LIT265 Between Literature and Science LIT266 Secrets and Lies: Victorian Life-Writing PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 12 DEGREE REQUIREMENTS for English and Theatre Level 2 modules (continued) All modules are 20 credits Spring Semester 2 EGH207 Writing the Real LIT2000 Genre LIT207 Restoration and 18th Century Literature LIT2004 Satire and Print LIT217 European Gothic LIT218 Chaucer's Comic Tales LIT224 Representing the Holocaust LIT241 Adaptation: Theory and Theatrical Practice LIT244 Storying Sheffield LIT251 British Theatre of the 1960s LIT255 John Donne LIT267 Darwin, Evolution and the 19th Century Novel LIT268 The Graphic Novel and the Love of (Super) Power PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 13 DEGREE REQUIREMENTS for Theatre and Performance Level 2 modules Autumn Semester 1 Core Modules Spring Semester 2 Core Modules EGH221 Theatre Practice: Performance i EGH236 Theatre Practice: Performance ii EGH223 Radical Text All modules are 20 credits Choose 60 credits from the following LIT241 Adaptation: Theory and Theatrical Practice LIT243 Applied Theatre Design LIT251 British Theatre of the 1960s OR choose 40 credits from English and 20 credits unrestricted module (20 credits) outside English PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 14 Module Descriptions Level 2 On the following pages you will find in alphabetical order module description information. The module description gives a brief overview of the module, the teaching and learning methods, assessment and the contact details for the tutor. You may wish to contact a tutor to discuss the module in more detail. This information is to help you to make an informed choice regarding the modules you wish to study for the next academic year. The School will also be holding module briefing sessions on Wednesday 10 April 2013, (see emails for further information). The briefing sessions will consist of a 30 minute talk informing you about module choice, plus there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions about individual modules. The School on-line module choice forms will be available on Friday 12 April and will close on Friday 19 April You will be notified by email of your allocated modules on Thursday 25 & Friday 26 April The University on-line module approval will open on Monday 29 April PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 15 EGH202 History of Persuasion Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description This module looks at various different types of writing: news reports, campaign journalism, adverts, political speeches, sermons, science writing, and philosophy. It uses the tools of stylistic analysis to explore the language use typical of each type of text and consider what approaches to language use have been seen as particularly persuasive in each area. We shall read examples of each type of writing, some from earlier periods and some from the present. We’ll examine material by John Donne, William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, and Queen Elizabeth I, as well as speeches by Martin Luther King and Barack Obama, adverts from some of the country's biggest advertising agencies, and journalism from the Guardian, the Telegraph, and the Times. We’ll cover techniques of analysis relevant to each type of writing, exploring narrative structure, identifying 'other voices' in the text, examining the relationship between words and pictures, learning about traditional rhetoric, thinking about how 'personal' particular texts are, and considering how texts can affect us emotionally. We hope that you will finish the module with a grasp of some new tools of textual analysis and a clearer sense of how texts project their own authority and assert the validity of what they say. Teaching and learning methods There will be two lectures every week in which I shall (i) introduce you to examples of the different text types covered in the module, (ii) explain key analytical concepts, (iii) provide some discussion of the texts’ historical contexts, and (iv) demonstrate the kinds of analysis that I want to you to learn to do. There will also be a weekly seminar focusing on material covered in the previous week’s lectures. The MOLE site will offer a range of electronic resources that you can use in your private study time and these will include a range of podcasts intended to help you consolidate your learning on the trickier topics and extend your knowledge beyond the basics. It is also important that you do plenty of extra reading in order to consolidate and build up your understanding. We provide a range of useful texts in digital format and lecture handouts will indicate to you which reading is relevant to which topic. Assessment There are two components to the assessment: (1) A 2,000-word essay (worth 50% of the final module mark) You will need to choose two texts from the areas of either journalism or advertising make a comparative analysis of the language used in these texts, discuss how the texts’ original readers might have experienced them – would they have found the style persuasive, for example? – and discuss how the texts’ historical contexts might have influenced their stylistic character. (2) An exam (also worth 50% of the total mark) You will need to write stylistic analyses of two short passages that you have already seen. (I shall distribute them before the end of the teaching period in December so that you can work on them over the vacation.) The two texts will be similar to ones that we have looked at in the second half of the module. You will also need to write an essay about the history of one of the types of writing we have looked at during the module. You can choose from questions covering the whole module, not just the second half, but you won’t be able to write on the type of text you discussed in your coursework. Contact : Dr Richard Steadman-Jones R.D.Steadman-Jones@sheffield.ac.uk Room 4.02 Jessop WestPLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 16 EGH206 Introduction to Modern Irish Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description This module provides students with an introduction to the Irish language. On its completion, students should possess a basic spoken fluency and good listening comprehension skills. They will have achieved a certain competence in reading and in producing simple sentences, and will have mastered a good portion of the verbal system. Teaching is through seminars and independent study, and assessment by means of written assignments, quizzes, and exam. Teaching and learning methods To promote speaking and listening skills, in the seminars emphasis will be placed on encouraging participation from all students, with small-group and pairs work incorporated into most sessions. Listening exercises will be used to increase comprehension. Short presentations from the instructor will introduce grammar points. Independent study will be guided by the instructor, with specific recommendations made for each week’s reading, listening and written work. Assessment Written exam (2 hrs) 60% Written assignments (3) 20% Quizzes (3, 15 mins ea.) 10% Oral exam 10% Contact Dr. Kaarina Hollo, K.Hollo@sheffield.ac.uk Room 4.13 (SLC Wing) PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 17 EGH207 Writing the Real Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description This second-year module (core for Language and Literature students) explores the often problematic relationship between literature and ‘the real world’, using a range of theoretical and stylistic approaches. We will consider why ‘realism’ is such a difficult term to get to grips with; why describing a text or film as ‘realistic’ can be a very politically charged act; how ideas of ‘the real’ have changed over time; and what effects the inclusion of ‘real’ materials into fictional works may have. The module will be divided into two parts; in the first half we will focus on how ‘the real’ and ‘the non real’ are represented in prose fiction, using Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five as a particularly rich case study, while in the second half we will explore notions of realism a wide range dramatic texts and films, including works by Harold Pinter and Ken Loach. Aims To encourage you to think about what ‘realism’ means in discussions of film and literature, and to recognise that it is a term that has been used in relation to a wide range of literary texts and films To enable you to recognise that ideas about ‘realism’ change over time, and that different styles might be considered ‘realistic’ in different contexts To enable you to analyse the different techniques through which an effect of ‘realism’ is achieved by writers and filmmakers To introduce you to theoretical approaches that might help you to think about ‘realism’ To help you conduct your own small-scale analyses, and present them in an appropriate manner in essays Teaching and Learning Methods The module will be taught by 2 lectures a week, and 1 seminar. Assessment This module will be assessed by a 1,500 word essay (30%) and a 2,500 word essay (70%). For the first essay, you will be given a choice of passages from the core text in the first part of the module, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, and asked to conduct a close stylistic analysis, investigating how the strategies of realism and non-realism which we have introduced are evidenced in the passage. For the second essay, you will be asked to respond to a discursive question about some aspect of realism (e.g. realism in relation to a specific genre, writer or period). You can write about either the prose fiction or the drama sections of the module. To answer the question, you will identify appropriate material to talk about, and analyse the material using the theoretical frameworks and stylistic analyses introduced in the course of the module. Contact:Dr Joe Bray j.bray@shef.ac.uk Room 2.21 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 18 EGH223 Radical Texts: transforming performance, 1920s to the present Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module description What makes a dramatic text or a theatrical performance ‘radical’? How, or how far, can performance cause people to become radical? Is radicalism in art (still) possible within the economic, cultural and physical structures of the established theatre? Do different kinds of radical performance have elements in common? What are the conditions through which radical performance might thrive? This module introduces you to diverse texts for and about performance that have vitally shaped the development of 20th and 21st century practice. We examine the work of selected directors, writers and theatre makers in and beyond Europe and explore fundamental issues raised (directly and implicitly) by their practices. Such issues will include: the ability of art to express and confront contemporary tensions produced by globalisation, consumerism, the diversity of cultural difference; the potential of performance for celebration and for protest; the redefinition of roles/responsibilities of ‘actor’ and ‘spectator’ in the 20th and 21st century; the limits and constraints of ‘theatre’ versus the seeming boundlessness of ‘performance’. Material to be studied is likely to include: (i) manifestos and other key writings by influential practitioners (e.g. Grotowski, Brook, Boal); (ii) texts and documents of performance practices situated beyond the confines of theatre buildings (e.g. the Workers’ Theatre Movement, Welfare State International); and (iii) case studies of radical experimentation within the theatre, in the form of modern and contemporary ‘post-dramatic’ performance (e.g. the Wooster Group, Forced Entertainment). Teaching and learning methods Weekly lectures and seminars; occasional film screenings. The module also aims to incorporate a theatre visit (subject to programming). Assessment 2 x 2,000 word essays Contact: Dr Frances Babbage f.babbage@shef.ac.uk Room 5.08 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 19 ELL207 Phonetics Semester 1 (20 credits) Module Description This module aims to provide a detailed understanding of all aspects of speech sounds. The first year module Sounds of English will be expanded on in order to give a practical knowledge of how the sounds of the world's languages are produced, and how they can be analysed auditorily (by listening) and acoustically (by examining their physical properties as manifest in waveforms, spectrograms and other acoustic records). While there will be detailed coverage of English sounds, students will encounter plenty of sounds from other languages too while learning to produce, perceive and transcribe a wide range of sounds as presented on the alphabet of the International Phonetic Association. A working knowledge of phonetics is fundamental to the wider study of linguistics, both theoretical and applied, and the discipline draws its methods and insights from a range of other areas of study including physics and biology. As well as furnishing students with necessary linguistic skills, this module will also give straightforward access to other bodies of knowledge often denied to students of the humanities, such as the biological and physical sciences. Teaching and learning methods There will be one lecture and one seminar each week. Some seminars will support and develop topics covered in lectures; others will provide backup for a web-based course in learning to accurately produce, perceive and transcribe sounds as presented on the alphabet of the International Phonetic Association. There will also be more flexible ‘study hours’ to support your learning. Assessment A transcription exercise (25% of the total mark for the module), which will take place in week 12. An articulation exercise (25% of the total mark for the module), which students attempt individually in week 12. A written examination of 2-hours duration (50% of the total mark for the module), which will involve a series of short questions and may cover any aspect of the course. Contact: Dr Gareth Walker g.walker@sheffield.ac.uk, Room 3.25 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 20 ELL216 Language Politics, Language Policy, Language Planning Semester 1 (20 credits) Module Description Language is highly political. It has always been closely linked to how people define themselves and how they define others and so it has always been a means of control in society. From our earliest years we are taught that some features of language are good while others are bad, and this doctrine is based on the idea that there are standards in language. We start the module by exploring this idea before moving on to see how control is exercised in language matters in a range of contexts and in various parts of the world. Languages change and languages die and languages are reborn. Some of this is based on ‘internal change’ but mostly things happen to languages because people do things to them. Language can be manipulated or managed at every level from the home and the school right up to national and international governments, and in this module we will be encountering the full range of intervention in languages. This module is about what we do with our languages and why we do it. Teaching and learning methods You will be required to attend two classes each week, one lecture and one seminar. The seminars will allow us to explore more issues as well as consolidate what you have learned in the previous week’s lecture. A lot has been written about language policy and language planning, so we will expect you to read enthusiastically in order to enrich your contributions in class and also to prepare you to give full and detailed responses in the assessments (see section 4 below). Assessment The two principal points of assessment will be essays, one to be handed in in week 10 and one in week 13 after the Christmas break Contact: Professor Andrew Linn a.r.linn@shef.ac.uk Room 5.05 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 21 ELL217 Sociolinguistics Semester 1 (20 credits) Module Description Sociolinguistics explores the relationship between language and society, and this module will introduce you to variationist approaches to this discipline. Variationists are concerned with measuring the relationship between language features and social identities. We will address (and challenge) questions such as: Why do working class people use more localised language features than middle class people? Do women use more linguistic innovations than men? To what extent do speakers adapt their speaking style and what causes them do so? We will also consider how language change occurs over time and explore how language change spreads across social groups. Who are the movers and the shakers in language change? We will begin by exploring the origins of the field (in particular, exploring sociolinguists’ criticisms of mainstream linguistics) and go on to consider the quantitative research methods developed by sociolinguists to explore the relationship between key social factors (social class, gender, age, ethnicity) and language. This course will train you in sociolinguistic techniques and provide you with the skills to undertake your own research at Level 3. Teaching and learning methods The course is taught by 1 weekly lecture and 1 weekly seminar. The weekly seminar will follow upon the lecture material. Seminars will be student-centred and include group work, reading tasks and presentation-orientated tasks. Assessment Assessment will be by a series of research tasks. These will include: extracting data and analysing audio recordings from a corpus of interviews; analysing which social factors correlate with language variation; and devising a proposal for your own sociolinguistic study. Contact: Dr Emma Moore e.moore@sheffield.ac.uk Room 5.03 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 22 ELL221 Syntax Semester 1 (20 credits) Module Description Syntax 1 builds on what you learnt in ELL113 Structure of English at Level 1. You’ll look in greater depth at the structure and organisation of sentences, and develop the tree structures from first year. We’ll think about why the sentences are structured the way that they are, as opposed to simply thinking about how they are structured. You’ll have an opportunity to discover and understand how and why words group into phrases and form constituents of the sentence, learn about operations that move elements around within sentences (like passivisation you met at Level 1), and constraints that prevent some constructions being grammatical, even though they seem logically possible (e.g. why ‘She washed her’ can’t mean ‘She washed herself’). We review universal properties of language, and see how our theory can accommodate language other than English (though you don’t need to speak other languages to take the module). Teaching and learning methods There is one lecture plus one workshop per week. The lecture will introduce the content, which you will then have the opportunity to practise with exercises available in MOLE and from a recommended textbook, before attending a weekly workshop. Assessment Assessment consists of three components: two take-home papers, with problem sets you can work on individually and in small groups; and a final exam in the winter exam series, with shortanswer questions that test the knowledge you have built up throughout the module. Contact: Mr Gary C. Wood g.c.wood@sheffield.ac.uk Room 2.22 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 23 ELL222 Semantics Semester 2 (20 credits) Module information This module is an introduction to the fundamental concepts, techniques and analytical tools of linguistic semantics. The course covers the basic areas of semantics, focusing on sentence meaning (as opposed to discourse meaning). Specifically the course introduces the notions of reference, sense, truth and truth conditions, sentential relations such as entailment, presupposition, etc. Basic formal techniques such as propositional and predicate logic are covered in detail. The course also includes topics that past students expressed their interests in such as tense and quantification. Teaching and learning methods The course follows a set textbook (Hurdford, Heasley and Smith 2007), together with a set of supplementary readings (book chapters). The module has two contact hours per week: 1 hour lecture: Tutor-led, going through main theoretical concepts and their formal representations 1 hour workshop: Student-led. Students work in groups to discuss their prepared answers to assigned workshop exercises, while raising individual questions to the tutor. The groups come together to discuss their answers with the tutor. Assessment Take Home Exam (30%) Formal Exam (70%) Contact: Dr. Kook-Hee Gil k.gil@sheffield.ac.uk Room 3.21, Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 24 ELL225 Introduction to Old English Semester 2 (20 credits) Module Description This module teaches students to read, understand and appreciate the earliest written English, texts from over a thousand years ago. The first few weeks of the course give an intensive introduction to basic Old English grammar. As you build confidence, we’ll gradually transition to translating texts, initially in prose, but later in verse, when we’ll read of the heroically-unheroic Edmund, the monster-slaying Beowulf, the man-killing Judith and others. The course typically recruits equal numbers of literature and language students, and assessments allow both approaches. All teaching is in small groups with a lively atmosphere. Teaching and learning methods There are two one-hour classes per week, and an additional one-hour group session, where students consolidate what they have learned with additional practice and (non-credit-bearing) pop quizzes. Assessment • • • 20% - two credit-bearing in-class tests 40% - take-home translation exercise 40% - take-home commentary exercise Contact: Dr Mark Faulkner M.Faulkner@sheffield.ac.uk Room 5.21 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 25 ELL226 First Language Acquisition Semester 2 ( 20 Credits) Module Description You’ll consider the amazing feat that children perform in acquiring their first language remarkably quickly and before they achieve apparently relatively simple tasks like tying their shoes or adding two numbers. We’ll look at how their linguistic abilities develop in the first few years of life, and see how children make certain, predictable errors, whilst avoid others we might predict but don’t find in child language. You’ll evaluate theories to explain language development in light of these empirical facts and consider how language development is researched, through sessions dedicated to research methods, in you’ll study experimental techniques that have been devised by acquisitionists. Teaching and learning methods You’ll attend two interactive lectures per week, where you’ll find out about and explore aspects of language acquisition from phonology through morphology to syntax and semantics. In addition, you’ll attend consultation hours with the module leader, in a small group. Through these, you’ll be supported in researching the topics in language acquisition that interest you the most. Assessment The module provides an overview of language acquisition as a whole. To give you an opportunity to research the areas that interest you more closely, you will complete a mini-research project, working with real child language data. You will present your work in a small group through both an academic conference presentation and as a podcast. Full support is provided to help you develop the skills these assessments require, and no technical knowledge is assumed. Contact: Mr Gary C. Wood Gary.Wood@sheffield.ac.uk Room 2.22 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 26 ELL227 Language Attitudes Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description Language attitudes, or people’s thoughts, feelings, and prejudices about language use, impact daily on peoples’ lives. Almost everybody has a view about language, often bound up with notions of correctness and ‘standards’. This module will enable students to understand and investigate this important field. Students will be given a critical introduction to a varied range of techniques that have been used to investigate the attitudes we all hold about languages and language varieties. The results of language attitudes studies will be compared with students’ own attitudes to the use of language and the module will encourage students to reflect on the foundations of these attitudes. The impact of language attitudes will be considered in a wider context, with students encouraged to understand the implications of theory and research findings for language users. Throughout the module, students will be encouraged to reflect on their own development as they conduct and present research into the language attitudes prevalent in the general population. Teaching and learning methods The module will be taught via a mixture of lectures and seminars. You will receive one lecture and one seminar per week, with student-led supported reading sessions every fortnight. Lectures will be interactive, with students encouraged to contribute via mini tasks designed to consolidate learning over the course of each lecture. Seminars will be designed to further develop understanding of topics explored in lectures and will include pre-class tasks, discussion, exercises, information gathering, student-led discussion, and presentations. Assessment The module will be assessed using a blend of presentation and written assessment. There will be three assessments in total, as follows: Assessment 1. 5 minute class presentation (10%) Assessment 2. Research poster presentation (40%) Assessment 3. Research report, 2000 words (50%) Contact: Dr Chris Montgomery, c.montgomery@sheffield.ac.uk Room 2.27 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 27 ELL228 Language and Cognition Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description This module explores the relationship between language and the mind. You will be introduced to some of the most ground-breaking theories and frameworks in cognitive linguistics and investigate the different ways in which recent advances in the study of human cognition can enhance our understanding of the production and reception of discourse. We will also consider how the ‘cognitive revolution’ in linguistics has impacted upon controversial debates about the nature of language itself. You will be introduced to a range of cutting-edge concepts from cognitive science, including embodiment, prototypes, mental representation and conceptual integration. You will also have opportunity to apply your new knowledge in your own language experiments, designing and executing small-scale practical investigations into language and cognition for yourself. Teaching and learning methods The module will be taught through a combination of lectures (1 hour per week), seminars (1 hour per week) and problem-solving workshops (1 hour per fortnight). Assessment For the first assessment, you will design a small practical experiment to investigate a specific aspect of language cognition. Word limit: 1,500 words, Weighting: 30%. For the second assessment, you will write an analysis of an extract of discourse (written or spoken) using the cognitive linguistic frameworks introduced on the module. Word limit: 3,500 words, Weighting: 70%. Contact: Dr Joanna Gavins j.gavins@sheffield.ac.uk Room 5.06 Jessop West Dr Sara Whiteley sara.whiteley@sheffield.ac.uk Room 2.18 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 28 ELL229 The Triumph of English? Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description This module will appeal to literature students who enjoyed Chaucer in the first-year core lectures, ELL students who enjoyed History of English, and anyone curious to know how the English language and English literature achieved the symbolic capital they hold today. The module introduces students to the language, genres, themes and styles of Middle English writing, including texts by Chaucer. Themes studied include animals, women, love, humour, dreams and selfhood. The module’s particular focus is on re-interrogating the commonplace that the late fourteenth century saw ‘the Triumph of English’. In particular, critical emphasis will focus on the significance of Chaucer and his contemporaries in creating the illusion of a newly triumphant vernacular literature and how such an assertion fares against other writing happening in Middle English. Linguistic areas of investigation will include questions to with dialects, the emergence of prestige in London English and the implications manuscript studies have for our interpretation of English from the period. Each text will be explored from literary and linguistic perspectives, and in assessments students will have free rein to decide what approach they take to the texts. Teaching and learning methods There will be one 50 minute lecture and two 50 minute workshops each week. The lecture will be used to introduce the week’s text in its literary and linguistic context. One workshop will help students read the text in its original language; the other will offer an opportunity for discussion of its literary and linguistic interest. Assessment Linguistic / Literary Commentary (50%) [2000 words] Essay (50%) [2000 words] Contact: Dr Graham Williams g.t.williams@shef.ac.uk Room 3.23 Jessop West Dr Mark Faulkner m.faulkner@shef.ac.uk Room 5.21 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 29 ELL231 Issues in Language Change Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description Languages are born, languages die; but above all else, languages change. This module investigates how and why they do so. In addition to studying a multitude of types of change in words, pronunciation, morphology and syntax, we'll also look at relationships between languages, methods used in historical linguistics, language birth and death, and the social realities of language change. Evidence will be taken from languages around the world, but focus is on English - both past and present varieties. No prior knowledge of any language but English is needed. Teaching and learning methods There will be one 50 minute lecture and two 50 minute workshops each week. Assessment Two in-class tests (25% x 2 = 50%) Essay (50%) [2500 words] Contact: Dr Graham Williams g.t.williams@shef.ac.uk Room 3.23 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 30 ELL234 Sense of Place: Local and Regional Identity Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description This module takes an interdisciplinary approach to issues of regional and local identity in contemporary Britain. Lectures focus on different aspects of the 'local' involved in the creation, dissemination and commodification of regional and local identity. Topics covered may include: perceptual geography; archaeology; material culture; place-names; dialect; 'blason populaire' and regional sayings; regional literature; regional songs as 'anthems'; regional festivals and customs; the marketing of regions in the tourist industry. This module has an Enterprise element, and students will work in teams with representatives of local organisations (cultural and heritage organisations, local businesses, charities, or museums) to solve 'real life' problems. Teaching and learning methods The module will be taught in one block per week, which will comprise a variety of learning exercises. Typically, the block of teaching time will be divided into one ‘lecture style’ and one ‘seminar style’ components, with the seminar style component being used to develop themes from the lecture element of the teaching block. The emphasis will be on whole-class discussion, and reflection on how the various themes covered help to contribute to a ‘sense of place’ chosen for study by each student. Classes will be structured in order to facilitate reflective learning, which is a cornerstone of the module. As part of the module, students will work with an external organisation on to solve a ‘real-world’ problem (examples of which from previous years include market research, developing tourism materials, working to create museum exhibits, and producing materials for heritage organisations). This task, supported by external partners and module staff, will see students developing a number of skills and competencies which they will be encouraged to reflect on as part of their assessment. Assessment The module has three assessments in total, as follows: Assessment 1: Personal journal, filed weekly via MOLE2 (20%) Assessment 2: Project presentation (30%) Assessment 3: Sense of Place essay or portfolio (50%) Contact: Dr Chris Montgomery c.montgomery@sheffield.ac.uk Room 2.27 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 31 LIT204 Critical and Literary Theory Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description The module in Critical and Literary Theory engages with interdisciplinary approaches to the study and critique of texts, culture and society. To begin with, it interrogates the notion of what, for example, constitutes a ‘text’, but the issues raised in this course move beyond the study of ‘literature’ into wider political and cultural spheres. The module employs the most ground-breaking and influential theorists of both the past and the present (including Marx, Lacan, Kristeva, Barthes, Jameson, Foucault, Derrida, Haraway, Virilio, Deleuze and Guattari, Spivak, Žižek, Shukin, Morton) to explore a range of concepts such as power, knowledge, identity, empire, capitalism, body, myth, subject, discourse, trauma, human, technology, environment, animal, terror— concepts that, in turn, can be used to illuminate the reading of words/worlds. The course develops thematically, and invites each topic under consideration to be approached from a number of theoretical or critical angles; the objective of the course is to give you a fundamental grounding in literary theory, a critical approach that is frequently provocative, radical, and open-ended. Teaching and learning methods The module will be taught by a combination of lectures and seminars that will help you develop an awareness and understanding of the key ethical, political and theoretical debates in literature and culture. By the end of the module, you will have acquired a knowledge of the history of and debates within critical theory; engaged with and compared different kinds of cultural production (e.g. novels, films) drawing on an informed critical vocabulary; accessed and used information from a wide variety of sources, both critical and historical; undertaken independent research Assessment The assessment for this course consists of 2 essays: the first of which is 1,500 words long and is weighted at 35%; this essay invites you to explore the material presented in lectures and seminars during the first half of the course, and ask you to either focus on a specific theory or work of a theorist or encourage you to understand the connections between and/or within theoretical movements or approaches. The second essay is 2,500 words long and weighted at 65%; in this assessment, you will apply at least two theoretical or critical approaches as studied on the module to the analysis of at least one literary or cultural text. In the process of this application of theory, you will evaluate the ways in which the different theories produce different textual readings. Contact: Dr. Fabienne Collignon f.collignon@sheffield.ac.uk Room 5.04 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 32 LIT207 Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description We’ll survey some of the most important Restoration and Eighteenth-Century authors and genres (from the astonishing epic poetry of Paradise Lost to the seminal epistolary novel Evelina, via the Restoration stage and new colonial writing). We’ll think about the issues of canonicity, periodicity and the evolution of specific modes and genres of writing (for example the ‘rise of the novel’) and relate our discussions to both the previous (Renaissance) and following (Romantic) literary eras. Examining a wide range of authors and genres, we ask big questions about how literary texts relate to the socio-economic, political and cultural conditions in which they were written, published and performed. Teaching and Learning Methods Lectures form an important part of the course and fall into two main types: some are designed principally to increase your contextual knowledge of the period, while others focus more on the reading of specific texts. The opening lecture also offers an overview of the whole period, while the final one offers some tips for the examination and anticipates next year’s modules on Romantic and Victorian poetry and prose. Seminars pick up on the ideas and themes raised in lectures, so it is important that you prepare for these thoroughly by doing the reading specified each week by your tutor. In addition there will be a MOLE2 site for the course, which will contain valuable primary and secondary resources, as well as important practical information. Training exercises will help you become an advanced user of electronic resources such as the OED, MLA Bibliography, EEBO and ECCO – all of which you can use throughout your undergraduate career. Assessment There are two assessments on the course that test different skills: a mid-semester essay of 1,000 words (worth 30% of your overall grade) and a final closed-book exam (70%). The assessment deadlines are set centrally and will be available towards the start of semester. Lecturers and tutors will say more about the details: that final lecture in particular will give clear guidance on tackling the exam. In your first essay you will need to offer a close and contextualised reading of a passage from one of the period’s texts (supplied by your tutor) that we lecture on prior to the Easter vacation. The exam will be 3 hours long and will require you to answer two questions. The first focuses on the eighteenth-century material from the second half of the course (after Easter). The second question will be on a more general topic and will invite more of an overview of the period. The exam rubric requires you to address at least 3 works. Contact: Dr Hamish Mathison h.mathison@shef.ac.uk Room 5.19 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 33 LIT 217 European Gothic Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description European Gothic introduces you to an exciting range of Gothic literature, in a specifically European context, from 1764 to the present day. You will gain knowledge about the rise of the Gothic genre in Europe, a wider awareness of historical issues in Europe which energized the Gothic genre, and insights into how the Gothic developed and transformed from 1764 onwards. Through a combination of group research project presentation (worth 40%) and essay (worth 60%), you will develop valuable research tools and independence of thought. We examine how the Gothic charts a course across the map of Europe, moving with incredible facility between different nations. In the process of looking at its geographical spread, we also see how Europe changes between the eighteenth and twenty-first centuries, and how the Gothic reflects this. Students develop an understanding of the historical and political issues surrounding the Gothic, and how historical change has informed the genre’s transmutations. Texts studied include: Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1764 Ann Radcliffe, A Sicilian Romance (1790 Matthew Lewis, The Monk (1796), ed. Emma McEvoy (Oxford World’s Classics) Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897) Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera (1910) (Penguin Popular Classics edition) Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian (2005) Teaching and learning methods There will be one large group seminar per week, where teaching will take the form of an informal ‘mini lecture’ which encourages student questions. This will be followed by a smaller tutorial-style seminar group, where we will examine parts of each text in closer detail. Assessment Group presentation (40%); Summative 2,500 word essay (60%) Contact: Dr Angela Wright a.h.wright@sheffield.ac.uk Room 1.22 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 34 LIT218 Chaucer’s Comic Tales Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description Chaucer wrote some of the most exciting, challenging and entertaining literature in English. His repertoire encompasses the main medieval genres: dream writing, Romance, fabliaux populated by tricksters, cuckolds and the sexually voracious. This module will consider his work in the light of ideas of Comedy, basing discussion primarily on The Canterbury Tales, his series of stories told by a motley assortment of pilgrims on their way between London and Canterbury. We’ll study a Tale each week to consider among other issues Chaucer’s treatment of dreams (‘The Nun’s Priest’s Tale’); courtly literature (‘The Knight’s Tale’); fabliaux (‘The Miller’s Tale’, ‘The Reeve’s Tale’); of gender (‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’); of sexuality (‘The Pardoner’s Tale’). Among other issues we’ll explore issues of authority, gender, power, desire and sexuality. And we’ll consider theories of Comedy as a genre, and how Chaucer responds to and shapes ideas of literary humour within a European cultural context. Teaching and learning Methods There is one lecture and one seminar a week. Assessment Two essays (40% and 50% respectively) and seminar performance (10%) based on informal contributions in the module as a whole. Contact: Dr Nicky Hallett n.a.hallett@sheffield.ac.uk Room 2.25 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 35 LIT219 Creating Poetry – Craft and Imagination Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description The aim of this unit is to help students to develop their expressive and technical skills in writing poetry and to improve their abilities as an editor and critic of their own and other people's writing. Students will be guided in the production of new work and encouraged to develop an analytical awareness of both the craft elements and the wider cultural and theoretical contexts of writing. The emphasis throughout will be on reading as a writer and writing as a reader. This module explores poetic techniques for creating new poems through the critical study of published examples, imaginative exercises, discussion and feedback on students’ own writing. This exploration will help students to develop their own creative work while sharpening critical appreciation of published poetry. By the end of the unit, students will have a practical understanding of the forms, conventions, techniques and strategies used in poetry and show some expertise in handling them in their own writing. They will: - understand a variety of poetic techniques - appreciate how literary and historical contexts have influenced contemporary poetry - appreciate the conventions and potentials of a wide variety of mainstream, traditional and experimental poetry with particular reference to form, content and imagery. - handle those conventions and techniques with some degree of sophistication. - understand the different stages of writing (drafting, redrafting and editing) - adopt a critical, objective approach to their work. Teaching and learning methods Most class exercises will be based on a study of the work of modern and contemporary poets. You will analyse the ways in which exemplary texts work and ask what you can learn from them. On occasion you will be asked to write about ‘what you know’ and for this purpose you should be keeping an observational journal. You should also keep a writer’s journal in which to record your reading, your responses to class exercises, and your analysis of the progress of your own writing. The second half of the seminars the emphasis will shift to constructive group discussion of students’ own self-generated work with a view to guiding the editing and redrafting process. You may also be required to give a class presentation on a poem, collection of poems you’ve been reading. It is very important that students attend regularly so that the group becomes cohesive and students learn to trust each other’s ideas and critical judgements. Assessment You will be required to submit two portfolios, the second to be accompanied by a critical self-commentary. The work you submit in Week 6 will account for 40% of your final mark and the work you submit in Week 14 will account for 60%. You will be issued with separate guidance on this, and on the composition of the critical self-commentary element of the Week 14 assignment. You will also be issued with Creative Writing marking scales and criteria. Not everything you write this semester will be seen by your tutor, but every class exercise and homework assignment will feed into your work: they are all necessary stages so you will need to attend most meetings. portfolio 1, Week 6: a portfolio containing two elements 1. A collection of 3-5 poems arising from class exercises (up to 40 lines) 2. A writerly appraisal of a contemporary poem: (800-1000 words) portfolio 2, Week 14: a portfolio containing two elements 1. A collection of 6-10 poems arising from class exercises and discussions (at least one of these should be formal) which could be thematically linked...(up to 90 lines) 2. A critical self commentary (1500 words) Contact :Dr Agnes Lehoczky email : A.Lehoczky@sheffield.ac.uk PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 36 LIT224 Representing the Holocaust Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description This course focuses on the range of representations concerning the Nazis' genocidal policies in the Second World War. It will explore the variety of generic responses to the Holocaust, including testimony, memoir, non-fiction prose, fiction, graphic novels, poetry and film, by writers ranging from Primo Levi to Anne Michaels, Art Spiegelman to Charlotte Delbo. Issues to be examined include the nature and boundaries of the genre of testimony, the possibility and appropriateness of poetry after Auschwitz, the relationship between the Holocaust and the postmodern, the significance of gender issues in the representation of the Holocaust, and the issues which arise in the representation of this event from a child’s perspective. We also consider critical and theoretical approaches to these texts, provided in a course pack of secondary reading. Teaching and learning methods There are two seminars each week. In one we will discuss the set text for the week; and in the second we will relate the text to the critical reading from the module course pack. Assessment You can choose either two essays (one of 1500 for 40%, one of 2500 for 60%), or a long essay of 4000 words for 100%. Contact Dr Jenni Adams: j.adams@sheffield.ac.uk Room 3.28 Jessop West Professor Sue Vice: s.vice@sheffield.ac.uk Room 2.28 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 37 LIT233 Road Journeys in American Culture: 1930-2000 Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description This course analyses the development of road narratives from the 1930s to the present, looking at the ways in which this narrative trope tells the story of American culture and society throughout the twentieth-century. The course aims to address some or all of the following questions. Do road journeys reflect or run away from political realities ‘at home’? To what extent is the road journey a gendered space predominantly occupied by men? Are certain groups of people allowed to travel and other groups not? Is the road journey a metaphor for American colonisation and expansion, or something else more ambiguous? In order to answer these questions, we will be studying a range of different films, novels and poems. As well as situating these texts within their specific historical and social contexts, you will also be able to respond to debates within film studies about such matters as celebrity and stardom, feminist film theory, and the relative importance of film genre, and discussions within literary studies regarding the influence of the Beats, the impact of cinema on literary style, and the extent to which artistic journeys reflect national obsessions. Provisional List of Texts It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934) The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939) Jack Kerouac, On the Road (written 1951; first published 1957) Poems by Elizabeth Bishop and Amy Clampitt Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955) Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967) Badlands (Terence Malick, 1973) Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees (1988) Thelma and Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991) Paul Auster, The Music of Chance (1990) Brother, Where Art Thou? (The Coen Brothers, 2000) Teaching and learning methods There will be two teaching hours per week (one lecture, one seminar). Lectures will provide important artistic, cultural and historical context for individual road narratives to be studied each week. In seminars you will have the opportunity to share your ideas and discuss them with other students and your tutor. The course will proceed chronologically through the twentieth-century, usually focusing on a single film, novel or selection of poems in each session. There will also be film screenings of course films. Assessment Assessment is by means of two pieces of coursework. The first assessment will be an essay of 1500 words; assessment two is an essay of 2500 words. These essays will count for 40% and 60% of your total mark. The first essay will address a road narrative not studied in the seminars and will therefore require independent research. The second essay will focus on books and/or films studied in class. Contact: Dr Jonathan Ellis j.s.ellis@sheffield.ac.uk Room 5.11 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 38 LIT234 English Renaissance Literature Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description The early modern period is one of the most exciting in English literary history. Wide-reaching cultural changes – to education, religion, identity – are reflected in new genres and styles of writing; and it is the era which gave us some of best-known and best-loved authors, including John Donne, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare. This module explores poetry, prose, and drama written c. 1530-1640, bringing canonical and non-canonical writers into dialogue with each other, and relating the texts we study to their cultural, social, and political contexts. Teaching and learning methods The Renaissance Literature module is taught through a combination of two 50 minute lectures and one fifty-minute seminar per week. You can also visit your tutor in their weekly office hour for further discussion. Lectures form an important part of this module. They are designed to start you thinking about the critical and cultural contexts which will facilitate your reading and enjoyment of early modern texts. However, they are not intended as definitive ‘last words’ on particular topics which you then have to parrot in assessment. They are there to prompt your own ideas and to enable you to contextualise the texts you study in new and exciting ways. You should also aim to make the most of your seminars: they are an excellent opportunity to refine and share your ideas with other students and your tutor. Lectures, seminars, and – crucially – the reading and research you do outside the classroom will prepare you for the assessments. Assessment The module has three assessments. The first is a 2,000-word research essay (worth 60%), submitted approximately two-thirds of the way through the semester. The second is a closereading exercise (worth 30%) sat under exam conditions at the end of the module during the University’s examination period. The third assessment (10%) is a Seminar Participation Mark. Contact: Professor Cathy Shrank c.shrank@shef.ac.uk; Room 2.19, Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 39 LIT241 Adaptation: from theory to theatrical practice Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module description This module explores and theorises practices of adaptation from literary to dramatic form. You will become familiar with changing critical approaches pursued within adaptation studies, from arguments defending medium specificity; through comparative analysis; towards a postmodern eclecticism of method that embraces multiple frameworks by which we can understand the phenomenon of ‘adaptation’ as both process and product. Our discussion will be focused around a series of case studies, each of which derives from a prior text that poses very specific problems for translation to live performance. These texts and their adaptations also form the starting point for a series of intensive workshops designed to help prepare you for the practical assessment task: a small-group adaptation or an individually authored playscript based on a literary text that you select in negotiation with the tutor. Through the practical project, a written essay and the variety of teaching methods used, you will engage closely with formal issues of adaptation, investigating the processes and implications of transposing literary texts to the medium of live performance. Equally central to the module will be questions of thematic content, production context and authorial/directorial perspective; in this regard the work undertaken will demonstrate the ways in which adaptation may function as imitation, interrogation and intervention. Teaching and learning methods Alternating weekly seminars and practical workshops; occasional film screenings. The module aims to incorporate a theatre visit (subject to programming). Assessment (i) 1 x 1,500 word coursework essay. (40%) (ii) 1 x small group short performance demonstrating principles of dramatic adaptation applied to a group selected short story, supported by individual submission of a working notebook. (60%) OR 1 x individual original short playscript (rehearsed reading and script submission) demonstrating principles of dramatic adaptation applied to an individually selected short story, supported by individual submission of a working notebook. (60%) Contact: Dr Frances Babbage f.babbage@shef.ac.uk Room 5.08 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 40 LIT243 Applied Theatre Design in Production Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description A core module for theatre and performance but open to limited number of English and theatre students. Module takes you through the process of design as happens in professional theatre, so we work with a local theatre company who provide several design briefs and students then work on these briefs and present their ideas to the company and myself in a final pitch with a full maquette and storyboards. Students can also work with either a professional theatre company on one of their shows, or an in house production in a support capacity. Teaching and learning methods Teaching is through a series of workshops on design aspects such as lighting sound and set. Also discussions and sessions on relevant aspects such as maquette building, licensing. There is also a backstage tour of a theatre and discussion with production staff to understand all perspectives on the process. Assessment There are 3 parts to assessment. 1. Final pitch of design 50% 2. Support work 20% 3. Reflexive portfolio 30% Contact: Mr Rob Hemus, Theatre and Productions Manager R.D.Hemus@sheffield.ac.uk Room 1R7 Theatre Workshop PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 41 LIT244 Storying Sheffield Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description Storying Sheffield is an innovative course focusing on the idea that stories are a resource for understanding lives, places, and histories. It combines academic study with practical project work. The first part of the module provides students with academic and practical input into the use of narrative as a research methodology, the theory and practice of 'personal geographies', representing life narratives using creative means, and practical training in eliciting and producing life narratives. Workshops will include sessions on narrative and British film; cross-cultural stories; the study and analysis of everyday life; objects as narratives. Students will then work alongside Sheffield residents to develop narratives of Sheffield people’s lives and experiences, using a wide variety of techniques and media, including: text, audio, video, images, and performance. A public exhibition is staged at the end of the course in which students' work is displayed. [See www.storyingsheffield.com] This module will give you a valuable opportunity to utilise your academic abilities in practical ways, while also learning new skills and ideas. In addition to helping you develop skills in research techniques, communication, and project management, working on this project will provide you with opportunities to enhance your CV and to gain experience which is likely to be attractive to many potential future employers. Teaching and learning methods Teaching will consist of one 3 hour workshop per week. The workshops will be diverse, offering a range of small and large group discussions and exercises; informal and interactive lectures; and student-led presentations. Assessment Students will be assessed using learning portfolios. These will be in the form of electronic portfolios incorporating reflections on the following: workshops and other relevant activities; reading; planning; learning encounters; ideas for work. Content in the journals can be presented through a variety of means (film, audio, notes, writing, images etc). Students will also be encouraged to use their learning portfolios to build a 'research scrapbook', in which a variety of relevant sources are collected and referenced. The learning portfolio will also incorporate a brief summative report. Contact: Dr David Forrest d.forrest@sheffield.ac.uk Room 5.18, Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 42 LIT251 British Theatre since 1960 Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module information This module will allow you to read, discuss and analyse some of the most significant and challenging playtexts of the last 40-50 years. We shall focus on them not just as literary works but as texts which live primarily within performance. So we will think about issues of staging, performance and critical reception as well as what the words themselves might mean. Although the module is primarily seminar-based, we may occasionally use practical work within classes as a way into better understanding the texts, and there will be an option of using performance as an element within your assessment. However, this is not compulsory, and the module is entirely open to (and appropriate for) students who have no interest in performing themselves. As well as looking at the plays, we will examine the historical, political, cultural and aesthetic contexts in which they were originally written, and how far they still speak to audiences today. Playwrights whose work we consider are likely to include Edward Bond, Harold Pinter, Caryl Churchill, Sarah Kane and Martin Crimp, and, where possible, we will also watch performances. Teaching and learning methods Primarily seminars. Occasional practical work within classes (but no performance element required). Where possible, viewing of productions live or in recordings Assessment One essay of 2000 words and one oral presentation as part of a small group which imagines how one of the texts might be staged. (Please note, where a student wishes, this presentation may include a performance element – but that is optional rather than required. Contact: Professor Steve Nicholson s.nicholson@sheffield.ac.uk Room 3.22 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 43 LIT 252 International Avant-Gardes (1874-1949) Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description We will consider various high-points of the various avant-gardes in Europe and the US. The module provides an introduction to the modernisms that predominated in the early twentieth century. It is a comparative course, situating literary works alongside developments in art. The module will take a snapshot of the major cities of avant-garde experimentation at moments of particular interest. In essays you are encouraged to consider works of literature and/or artworks in other media. This is not a straightforward and reassuring course, but rather one that encourages you into exploratory close readings of a wide variety of artworks. The reading for this course is all in English, though the vast majority is in translation. 1: Introduction, Paris 1957 – Modernist Spleen 2: Paris, 1874 – Salon des Refusés 3: Italy, 1909 – Futurism 4: Moscow, 1912 - Russian Futurism to Constructivism 5: London, 1914-15 - Vorticism 6: Zurich, 1916 - Dada 8: Berlin & Hannover, 1918 - Dada 9: New York, 1920 - Dada 10: Paris, 1924 - Surrealism 11: Paris - After Surrealism 12: Art Brut Suggested Reading: Leah Dickerman, ed. Dada: Zurich, Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, New York, Paris Peter Nicholls, Modernisms Hopkins, David. Dada and Surrealism www.ubu.com Teaching and learning methods Teaching takes the form of a 1-hour seminar, twice a week, over eleven weeks. The seminars will be discussion led, and are used to introduce the aims and produce the outcomes of the course in detail. The remaining hours per week of study for this module are to be divided between seminar preparation (directed reading), small group work, individual research, and preparation for assessments. Assessment 10% Seminar Participation & Seminar Presentations 30% Coursework Essay: 1500 words 60% Final Assessment Essay: 3000 words Contact: Dr Sam Ladkin: s.ladkin@sheffield.ac.uk PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 44 LIT254 Christopher Marlowe Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Information: This module gives students the opportunity to study one of the most important and exciting writers of the Elizabethan era, Christopher Marlowe (1564-93). Marlowe’s plays were both dramatically innovative and intellectually challenging, engaging with controversial questions of religious belief, political theory and sexual identity as well offering striking scenes of theatrical spectacle and dazzling linguistic pyrotechnics. Students will explore a variety of critical themes, including identity, violence, gender, sexuality, rhetoric, race, religion, atheism and colonialism. Engaging closely with Marlowe’s entire dramatic canon, we will analyse the conditions of the plays’ staging and publication; we will also consider his innovations as a poet and translator. Delving into different facets of early modern culture, this course is designed to run alongside and support LIT234, the core Renaissance module. Teaching and learning methods: The module is taught in a combination of lectures and seminars. Teaching will be supported by a MOLE site including an extensive bibliography. Students will be encouraged to use appropriate electronic resources such as Early English Books Online and the OED. Assessment: You have a choice of assessment for this module: either Option1 x 4000-word essay (100%) or Option2 1 x 1500-word essay (40%) + 1 x 2500-word essay (60%). Contact: Dr Tom Rutter t.rutter@sheffield.ac.uk Room 3.24 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 45 LIT255 John Donne Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description This module focuses on the work of one of the most charismatic, provocative, and intellectually challenging poets and preachers of the early modern period, John Donne. Ranging across Donne’s writings, we will consider his erotic and religious poetry, political satires, letters, and sermons. The module will examine the social and literary circles in which Donne’s work was written and read, with a particular emphasis on contemporary cultures of print and manuscript, and also seek to locate Donne’s work in the wider context of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century society, exploring, for example, his engagement with court politics, religious controversy, debates about women, and the exploration of the New World. The module will conclude with an examination of the critical reception of Donne’s work and, in particular, the ways in which his biography has been constructed from the seventeenth-century to the present day. Teaching and learning methods One lecturer-led seminar and one student-led seminar each week. Assessment 1x close reading paper; 1, 000 words (25%) 1 x research essay; 3, 000 words (75%) Contact: Dr Emma Rhatigan e.k.rhatigan@shef.ac.uk Room 5.12 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 46 LIT259 Restoration Drama Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description This module studies English drama written between 1660 and 1714. This period witnessed an astonishing development of theatrical practice and culture and is the era when English professional theatre first begins to look recognisably modern. This is because the professional Restoration stage, unlike its Renaissance predecessor, used actresses rather than cross-dressed boys to play female parts which, along with the introduction of moveable scenery to these theatres, facilitated different styles of acting, theatre-making and stage-realism. By analysing the emergence of two key theatrical character types – the rake and the courtesan (or witty, high-class prostitute) – we will consider later seventeenth-century attitudes towards politics, sex and the theatre. Key questions we’ll investigate include: is Restoration theatrical culture a decadent culture? Did the sexual freedom promised by the emergence of libertinism in the period extend to women as well as men, whether on-stage or off? Is Restoration theatre socially conservative or daringly transgressive (or both)? We’ll begin answering these important questions by reading plays written by the following dramatists: Aphra Behn, William Congreve, William Davenant, John Dryden, George Farquhar, Thomas Otway, Sir John Vanburgh, George Villiers and William Wycherley. In the process we’ll survey a complex variety of dramatic genres, sub-genres and genre-hybrids, some familiar (comedy, tragedy and tragicomedy), some entirely new and epoch-changing (sex-comedy and the heroic play). The course is designed to complement the core modules in Renaissance Literature (LIT 234) and Restoration and Eighteenth Century Literature (LIT207), Teaching and learning methods 2 seminars a week Assessment 1 x 1500-word scene analysis (40% of the final module grade) 1x 2500 final essay (60% of the final module grade) Contact: Dr Marcus Nevitt m.nevitt@shef.ac.uk, Room 1.20 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 47 LIT260 Post-War British Realist Cinema Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description This module represents a journey through British realist cinema from the post-war period to the present day, covering key thematic and textual trends and providing a thorough exploration of relevant social and cultural contexts in the process. You will explore the immediate post war period in British cinema, examining the formative influence of wartime fiction films and documentaries on realism, before moving to the work of key filmmakers and film cycles, such as: the social problem film (It Always Rains on Sunday [Robert Hamer, 1947]); the British New Wave (The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner [Tony Richardson, 1962]); Ken Loach (Raining Stones [1993]); Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies [1995]); Black British Cinema (Pressure [Horace Ove, 1976]); the films of Stephen Frears and Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette [1985]); the ‘Brit Grit’ and post-industrial realist cycles of the 90s (Brassed Off [Mark Herman, 1996]); the work of Shane Meadows (Dead Man’s Shoes [2004]); and recent examples of contemporary British realism (Weekend [Andrew Haigh, 2011]). The module will examine how British filmmakers have explored the changing political and social landscape of post-war Britain, with a particular focus on issues of class, race, gender and sexuality. Teaching and learning methods Teaching will be delivered via one weekly 2 hour seminar, accompanied by one weekly film screening (up to two hours). The seminars will provide an introduction to the topics associated with the film selected for screening, and will be a combination of verbal and audio-visual exhibition (informal lecture) and group discussion. Set texts and further reading/viewing will be specified to provide a basis for seminar discussion and assessment. Assessment You will be assessed via a learning journal and a research essay. The journal will provide you with an opportunity to reflect on what you have learned each week, and will offer you a space to illustrate your understanding of the issues raised in the lectures and seminars. The research essay will be a 2500-3000 word piece to be delivered at the end of the module. You will set the essay topic (in consultation with the tutor). In doing this, you will be encouraged to explore the areas of research that have interested you most over the course of the module. Contact: Dr David Forrest: d.forrest@sheffield.ac.uk Room 5.18, Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 48 LIT264 America in the 1960s Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description This course involves students in the interdisciplinary study of American society and culture during the watershed decade of the 1960s. The major themes of the course are the rise of a variety of dissident political and cultural movements, analyzed through documents, films, music, and literature. Particular topics include Civil Rights, the ‘second wave’ of American Feminism, Environment and 60s, Bob Dylan, Kennedy, Counterculture, 1960s Film, the Space Race, and other topics. These are examined through the study of a range of historical documents and literary texts, and cinema, all framed in a MOLE online environment. The MOLE elements of this course consist of essential documentation and information and demand active participation in vital issues of the 1960s. The topics will depend on the expertise of available tutors. Multiple staff are involved in the delivery of the module, each sharing a part of their research expertise related to US culture in the 1960s. The flexibility of this module and the variety is one of its characteristic features. The 2013 edition of the module, for example, features Professor Simon Armitage with a lecture on Bob Dylan. Teaching Methods The teaching methods employed in this course – lectures, seminars, MOLE environment and individual tutorial contact – are designed to promote interdisciplinary study of America in the 1960s, facilitate in-depth evaluation of particular historical documents and cultural artefacts such as literature and film, and enhance both analytical and presentational skills. There will be one lecture and one seminar each week; there will also be screenings of films. Assessment Assessment 1: 1,500 word essay: 40% Assessment 2: 2,500 word essay: 50%, research essay Assessment 3: Bulletin Board: 10%. Each week, students complete the exercise/question/discussion on the bulletin board. Upon completion, the students receive a 70% for the 10% of the module. Contact: Dr Duco van Oostrum d.oostrum@shef.ac.uk Room 5.16 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 49 LIT265 Between Literature and Science Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description T. H. Huxley, a Victorian biologist and friend of Darwin, wrote that ‘Science and literature are not two things, but two sides of one thing’. The poet and novelist Jean Cocteau put it more simply: ‘Art is science made clear’. But how does science influence literature (and vice versa)? This module offers an introduction to relationship between literature and science in the period – from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) through classic science fiction, including Wells and Asimov, to Michael Frayn’s play Copenhagen (1998) – framed by overlapping historical, literary and conceptual contexts. We will examine different areas of science, from evolution to robotics, pairing works by ‘literary’ authors with passages from popular science works in order to explore dynamic interactions between the arts and sciences. Close-reading is a particularly important skill for our discussions, as we will look at ways in which scientific language is used in literary texts as well as ways it is appropriated into everyday language, ideas and experience. Thus, you will engage with the latest academic debates and research methods in the field to develop focused analyses of a range of texts, including poetry, prose, drama and film. Teaching and learning methods No prior knowledge of science is necessary, as the authors we’re engaging with rarely had scientific training themselves! So we will mainly be dealing with popular science and broad scientific concepts. Research-led workshop-style lectures will complement engaging small-group seminars. Both methods of teaching will introduce you to specific texts, sources, practices and theoretical writings, which will be discussed in detail. Each seminar will introduce and be themed around a particular set of scientific ideas and debates: for example, the seminar on The Crying of Lot 49 (Pynchon) will be themed around the idea of entropy and we will spend time developing a reading of that text in relation to its scientific concepts. Each theme will bring into focus a current debate in the field of literature and science that will be addressed through careful attention to literary and scientific texts. There will be opportunities for small group work on research projects and presentations. Assessment The assessment is designed to allow you to demonstrate your own interests: for example, if you prefer to research and write about science fiction you will be supported to do that, but if you prefer to discuss more canonical texts then that is also encouraged. You will undertake a research project that relates to your own developing idea of literature and science; the first assessment will take the form of a short research project report of 1500 words, worth 40% of the module mark. A written essay of 2500 words, worth 60% of the module mark and undertaken at the close of the Semester, will allow you to develop further independent research into an essay form. Contact: Dr Katherine Ebury k.ebury@sheffield.ac.uk. Room 1.24 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 50 LIT266 Secrets and Lies: Victorian Life-Writing Semester 1 (20 Credits) Module Description How do lives become stories? How is the telling of life-stories shaped by history, society and politics? This module interrogates life-writing traditions across the long nineteenth century, from Romantic autobiography-in-verse to the “new” biography of the Bloomsbury Group and Modernism. Students will consider the anxieties raised by life-writing and its troublesome relationship to truth and public exposure, secrecy, lies and censorship. Major works, including Elizabeth Gaskell’s The Life of Charlotte Brontë, will be read alongside more unusual, exceptional forms, such as working-class autobiography, prison writing and homosexual confession. Students will explore a range of formal and thematic strategies at work in nineteenth-century life-writing, relating these to contemporary historical and socio-cultural debates. These will include: sexual identity and morality; public and private spheres; art and aesthetics; health and psychology; constructions of class and gender. This module introduces students to the diverse literary and print culture of the long nineteenth century and encompasses multiple genres: biography, autobiography, essays, poetry and fiction. Writers studied include: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Thomas Carlyle, Elizabeth Gaskell, John Ruskin, John Addington Symonds, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf and William Wordsworth. Teaching and learning methods This module is delivered via two sessions each week: the first takes the form of an informal, interactive lecture led by the tutor; the second takes the form of a seminar. It is also hoped there will be a field trip to the Brontë Parsonage Museum at Haworth. Up to five seminars will be student-led as part of the module assessment. In small groups, students will: 1) introduce a text and topic, 2) set activities for their peers, and 3) manage class discussion. Assessment 25%: Student-led seminar (assessed group work). 25%: 1000 word close-reading exercise. 50%: 2000 word essay. Contact: Dr Amber Regis a.regis@sheffield.ac.uk Room 1.17 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 51 LIT267 Darwin, Evolution and the Nineteenth-Century Novel Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description Darwin’s work comprises one of the most far-reaching and radical upheavals in nineteenth-century thought with an impact that extended far beyond natural history, permeating into politics, religion, literature and popular culture. Terms such as ‘natural selection’ and ‘survival of the fittest’ (in fact a phrase of Herbert Spencer’s) quickly became cultural commonplaces that served a range of ideological and imaginative purposes, often through their intimate association with later developments in the century including eugenics, social Darwinism and degeneration theory. Taking these contexts as a starting point, this course examines the multifaceted influence of evolutionary theory on nineteenth-century fiction while also considering the ways in which natural history writing was itself a significant literary genre. Consequently, we will pay close attention to issues of both biological and textual form, and to one of the period’s fundamental questions: what does it mean to be human? Teaching and learning methods There will be one lecture per week (one hour) which will provide students with key contexts and concepts, and demonstrate the connections of these to the primary texts. There will be one seminar per week (one hour) in which students will engage in detail with the module’s key concepts and apply them to close readings of the primary texts through a combination of plenary and small group discussion, group presentations and responses to the presentations. Assessment The course will be assessed by: a 1,000 word close reading exercise (25%), a 3,000 word comparative essay (60%), and a ten minute group presentation (15%). Contact: Dr John Miller John.Miller@sheffield.ac.uk Room 5.20 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 52 LIT268 The Graphic Novel and the Love of (Super) Power Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description This course analyses the conventions and aesthetics of post-1980s Anglo-American graphic novels. Informed by literary theory—especially theories of technology—and cultural studies, the course uses multi-modal texts (combining textual narrative with images, including cinema adaptations) to address the psychological and social themes that dominate the genre during this period. In particular, the module confronts students with questions concerning the seductive power of the image/popular culture; the myths of technology; the aesthetics of heroism and fascism; the cult of the individual; gendered readings and sexualisations; the imagination of disaster; cultures of surveillance and vigilantism. In class, we explore the ways in which the graphic medium operates by interrogating the relationships between themes in the novels, their corresponding visual representations and the increasing emphasis placed on individual artists and writers in this period. Questions to be considered include: what happened to the superhero/society once the trope became exhausted in the late 1970s? In what ways do graphic novels manipulate historical and contemporary social/political issues? How is power articulated and represented in the novels/films under investigation? Teaching and learning methods This module will be taught by a combination of lectures and seminars. The first 5 weeks, the seminars will be preceded by informal lectures, which will focus on the key concepts and interpretive tools to be used when analysing a graphic novel, such as the usage of literary theory as an essential component in the analysis of the graphic novel and its adaptations; the history of the genre; the film adaptations. The seminars will give students the opportunity to develop their close reading skills, to articulate their responses to the prose under discussion, and to enhance their ability to work in groups. The last six weeks of the course will be taught via seminars only. Set texts and further reading/viewing will be specified to provide a basis for seminar discussion and assessment. Assessment Students will be assessed via a weekly blog, a tracing project and an academic essay. The course places a high premium on participation, hence the requirement for a weekly blog entry, in which each student responds to the week’s material. The tracing project requires each student to pick a two-page spread from a graphic novel and to reproduce the drawings in a simplified manner; the speech bubbles and caption boxes are to be left blank and later to be filled in with the student’s gutter comments. The project is further accompanied by a 1000-word reflection, or ‘tour’ of the tracing project, which should be more creative than a standard academic essay, which they write later on in the term (2500 words). Contact: Dr. Fabienne Collignon: f.collignon@sheffield.ac.uk Room 5.04 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 53 LIT2000 Genre Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description This module gives you the opportunity to study developments in comedy and tragedy from classical antiquity to the present day. Though the majority of core modules on the English Literature degree offer a series of chronological accounts of discrete periods of literary history, ‘Genre’ enables you to take a broadly comparative approach, setting, for instance, works of classical antiquity along those of the early modern, modern and postmodern worlds, or translated texts from Ancient Greece alongside those of nineteenth-century England. Part of the aim of the module, therefore, is to use genre as a means of drawing connections between periods studied separately at different points on the degree and to resist the compartmentalization of certain forms and styles imposed by a modular degree structure. In demanding that you bring your own encounters with genre to bear on the texts studied in lectures and seminars you are encouraged to reflect upon generic development across a wide variety different media: poetry, prose fiction, drama, photography, opera, cinema, dance, painting, sculpture, radio, television and the internet. Over the course of this module we will consider questions such as: what is genre, and why is it important? How does genre reflect or respond to historical change? Is there any such thing as a “pure” genre or is hybridization a defining feature of genre itself? We’ll answer these questions by reading texts by authors such as Angela Carter, Aristotle, Noel Coward, Thomas Hardy, Sarah Kane, Plautus, William Shakespeare and Sophocles. Teaching and learning methods 2 lectures per week plus a 50-minute seminar Assessment 1 x seminar participation mark (10%) 1 x 3000-word essay (90%) Contact : Dr Marcus Nevitt m.nevitt@shef.ac.uk Room 1.20 in Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 54 LIT2004 Satire and Print Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description This course captures the filth, fun and exuberance of a period when, amidst political, religious and cultural ferment, new ideas about literature’s role in the wider world emerged. By the end of the course you should have acquired a critical understanding of the genre of satire; the social and cultural contexts in which these writings worked; the features of the contemporary world that are targeted in popular and satirical writing. The period considered is the first half of the 'long' eighteenth century: roughly 1688-1745. Teaching and Learning Methods Seminars occur in the department twice a week and each lasts for 50 minutes. They are your opportunity to share your ideas and discuss them with other students and with me. Mini lectures and group discussions will form the basis of the first half of the semester's teaching. I also offer research training on databases that’ll help you on this, and other, modules. The second half of the semester is spent preparing for, delivering and discussing your group presentations (see below). By the end of the course you should know how satirical and popular texts written and published during the period engaged with and challenged the cultural and moral standards of their time; how to associate particular issues with particular modes of satirical writing (for example, how polite manners were represented in periodicals, scurrilous personal abuse in squibs, ballads and newspapers and so forth); how the publishing history of literature can affect its content (for example, the impact of 'grub street' on contemporary writing habits); how literature in England began to become a commercial activity rather than the preserve of an educated elite; the importance of copyright laws and trade guilds in shaping the history of popular print's rise. The course will map-on nicely to LIT207, by the way. Assessment There are two forms of assessment: a group presentation delivered in the course of the semester, the other a (c. 2000 word) end-of-semester essay. The group presentation contains an element of peer-review, and will be fully supported by me, with tutor meetings before the presentation, and a full debriefing afterwards. It is worth 40% of the module grade. You can use elements of your group project research in your essay (60%). The aim is to encourage independent study and allow you to pursue and reflect upon your own interests within the topic to a greater extent. I will go over this thoroughly with you, anyway, when we start. Contact: Dr Hamish Mathison h.mathison@shef.ac.uk Room 5.19 Jessop West PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 55 FCA2000 Interdisciplinary Research in Practice Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description ‘We must be greater than the sum of all our parts.’ If you’ve ever wished to explore new and stimulating approaches to study outside of your discipline or to gain a holistic Humanities education, this module is for you. This module, designed by Arts and Humanities students and staff, offers the opportunity to work on a meaningful contemporary research project, collaboratively devised by students and staff. Academics from across the Faculty will lead seminar-focused and interdisciplinary classes in which enabling your research is the focus. What is especially exciting about this module is that the research project focus will be codesigned during the course by the participants. Academics in the Faculty will talk to you about what they see as the big questions that Arts & Humanities should be thinking about – and then you’ll come up with your own. Teaching and learning methods Teaching will be a combination of lectures, seminars, independent individual and small-group work and research tutorials. 1. Collaborate with others to design and complete a significant research project. 2. Understand the underlying concepts and principles associated with academic research within and outside your discipline, including the research process, the limitations on research and the areas where care must be taken. 3. Document the outcomes of your research so that you play a role in a collaborative research team relevant to your year of study. 4. Participate in the presentation of research in a symposium setting. 5. Reflect on your exposure to different approaches to research and make judgements on their suitability for answering specific research questions. 6. Having worked in a group situation, explore the problems associated with collaborative research with and understand of the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches. 7. Find ways to solve some of the issues related to research and compare approaches between disciplines. 8. Communicate your progress/process within the group, and to accept feedback in order to consider their approach. There are 12 hours of seminars, 3 hours of lectures and up to 5 hours of research tutorials. There will also be timetabled independent group sessions. Because much of the work will be collaborative and groups will meet outside formally timetabled sessions there is scope for a lot of contact time on this module. One suggestion everyone agreed on was that we should build communities of learning and research right across the faculty – so there will be people from all stages of their Uni career on the module. It’s been designed to accommodate differences though – everyone will be able to contribute and to get something out of it whatever stage they are at. https://www.shef.ac.uk/faculty/arts-and-humanities/research-innovation/eventsactivities/againstvalueinaandh Assessment Assessment is by an individual portfolio of writing that documents your progress with the research you undertake. The module will culminate in an end-of-term symposium in which you will present and discuss your research with other students and academics in the Faculty. Contact: Ida Kemp, Interdisciplinary Programmes Manager i.kemp@sheffield.ac.uk PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK P a g e | 56 FCA2005 100 Objects Semester 2 (20 Credits) Module Description Pass in at least two of the Level One modules offered by the Department of Archaeology, English and/or History. The study of material culture is now an important part of our approaches to past and present human society. This module explores this interdisciplinary field of ‘material culture studies’, examining different ways that we can study and learn from objects. The module also considers how material culture can be used in heritage and public history. It does so in the context of a reallife community heritage project. On this innovative module you will produce an exhibition and online display of the history of Sheffield through its material culture. You will co-produce this with Sheffield people who do not regularly visit museums. Lectures, structured workshops and seminars will allow you to discuss approaches to material culture, local history and heritage, and equip you with academic research skills. The module will also allow you to develop a wide range of transferable skills, your knowledge of the local community and the city of Sheffield. Teaching and learning methods You will have weekly lectures and seminars in the first half of this module. In the second half of the module the structured lectures will be replaced by workshops or fieldwork undertaken in museums. Seminars will continue throughout. Assessment The module is assessed in three ways: (1) a 750-word study of an example of material culture; (2) a group exhibition (for which a group mark will be given); (3) a final 2,500-word essay. The word limit for essays includes footnotes, but excludes the bibliography. Contact: Dr Karen Harvey,( History) k.harvey@sheffield.ac.uk Or Dr Bob Johnston, (Archaeology) r.johnston@sheffield.ac.uk PLEAE DO NOT PURCHASE ANY BOOKS OR MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE UNTIL CONFIRMATION IN SEPTEMBER - IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PREPARE, PLEASE USE LIBRARY RESOURCES OR LOOK ONLINE - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK
