BA (Hons) English

Level One

English Literature 1832 to 1910

Students reading ‘English Literature 1832 to1910’ will study major and less well-known Victorian And Edwardian texts in the context of a number of themes. This approach enables students to explore historical contexts as well as to engage with the literature of the time within a framework that sees ‘literature’ not as a reflection of society but as an activity within society, an activity that is both the result of and contributing factor to social change. This module covers both semesters.

Introduction to Poetry

New students often find poetry intimidating. In this module we look at what makes poetic language different from ‘normal’ language, at how poets use the sounds and meanings of words, and at how poetry can be used to change and challenge our understanding of the world. Our aim is that students will be able to enjoy poetry more and be able to talk about it with confidence and clarity.

Introduction to Literary Studies

Students will be taught a range of skills that will encourage them to produce good quality work appropriate for the study of English at degree level. In particular, how to construct a persuasive argument, effective ways in which to engage with primary, secondary, and theoretical sources, and the application of research skills form the focus of the unit.

Introduction to Narrative

Narrative – stories – are everywhere in our lives: in books, on TV, in history, the news, in our conversation and in our heads. This module aims to give students an understanding of how stories work. Contemporary British fiction by writers such as Kate Atkinson, Hanif Kureishi, Irvine Welsh, Ian McEwan and Ali Smith will be used to introduce a set of critical concepts for the analysis of narrative fiction.

Introduction to Drama

This unit introduces drama in both theoretical and practical terms. It examines the history of performance space and theatre design, acting methods and styles, dramatic conventions and the work of drama practitioners, including Brecht. The Tempest will feature as a key text, allowing us to examine the uses of Shakespeare's work in the contemporary world. We will also look at radically differing approaches to drama in two Twentieth century texts.

Introduction to Popular Culture

This module aims to provide students with a critical and theoretical vocabulary that will enable them to explore a range of twentieth century cultural activities. Students will be encouraged to read not only traditionally marginalised literary genres such as romance, crime fiction, science fiction and the comic book but also ‘texts’ from other cultural realms such as film, television, news, fashion, advertising, music TV, radio and magazines.

Making Americans: Key Themes and Approaches

An introduction to the study of American culture, this unit is concerned with fiction, drama and poetry, together with examples of film, television and historical documents. It looks at constructions of American identity through a series of interlinked studies, including ‘the Frontier’, ‘African American Experiences’, ‘Migrations’, ‘Gender Issues’ and ‘Horror Genres’.

Level Two

Modernism

In this module students explore one of the most creative periods in English literature, the early twentieth century when writers like James Joyce, TS Eliot, Virginia Woolf and DH Lawrence were at work. Our aim is to enable students to read and even enjoy these often notoriously difficult texts, to understand what light they throw on literature more widely and to relate them to the contexts in which they were generated

Colonial and Postcolonial Literatures

In this double module covering both semesters, students examine novels of the British Empire together with a wide range of postcolonial writings from regions including Africa, India, the Caribbean, Australia and Canada. There is also the opportunity to study representations of Britain through colonial and postcolonial literatures.

Theory Wars

During the 20th century new theoretical approaches to literature were developed such as structuralism, dialogics, deconstruction, new historicism, feminism, queer and traumatological theory, all of which questioned traditional notions of Literature. This module will look in detail at the new theories and their effects upon the study of literature as an academic discipline.

Renaissance Literature

Students taking Renaissance Literature will study in detail a range of texts written between the late Elizabethan period and the mid-1630s. They will also study the historical and cultural contexts in which these texts were produced, i.e. that of the immediate context of the British Isles in the period and the wider context of European cultural and literary history. The theme of this module is ‘church and court’.

Restoration Literature

Students taking Restoration Literature, the companion module to Renaissance Literature, will study in detail a range of texts written between the era of the English Civil War and the first decade of the eighteenth century. They will also study the historical and cultural contexts in which these texts were produced. The theme of this module is ‘religion and rebellion’.

American Literature A & B

These modules explore the literature of the USA from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, chiefly focusing on fiction and poetry. Topics covered include the American Dream/Nightmare, the literature of war and madness, and issues in popular culture, gender, race and class.

The Creative Process

This creative writing module gives students the opportunity to read and practise different forms and genres of writing ranging from the realist novel to fantasy fiction, the short story, politically committed poetry, the radio play and the stage play. Such issues as the creation of character, dialogue, narrative and plotting and other aspects of creative writing such as drafting, editing, revising, proof-reading and adaptation will be explored. By the end of this module, students will have produced a creative piece(s) ready to submit for assessment.

Writing portfolio

This companion module to The Creative Process gives students the freedom to work within whatever genres they choose and put together a portfolio of their own creative writing. This might take the form of one long piece or of several shorter pieces. The notion of ‘work in progress’ that is developed through to completion will be the basis of this module.

Level Three

The Making of English Literature: Georgian Literature, 1710-1832

Students reading 'Literature 1710-1832' study a selection of canonical and less well-known texts from the period, and the historical and cultural context of the texts' production. They will investigate the rise of the novel and the development of poetry from the time of Pope to that of the Romantics along with topics such as satire, realism, sensibility, the Gothic and the sublime. Issues explored include anxieties and conflicts around the notions of class, gender, nation, empire, nature, reason and imagination. This module covers both semesters.

Independent Study

In this unit, students, having agreed a topic with a tutor, have the opportunity to study in depth an author or topic of their choice. Students have regular, one-to-one meetings with a tutor specialising in their area of interest who offers advice and direction, but primarily this unit encourages independent research and independent thought leading to the production of a 10,000-word dissertation.

Level Three Options

Students choose between a wide range of specialist subjects listed below.

Shakespeare (Option)

This optional unit looks closely at the works of Shakespeare, their production, and their place in recent critical movements. It seeks to challenge Shakespeare’s iconic status and to enable students to produce theoretically informed interpretations of his oeuvre.

American Genre and Popular Culture (Option)

This unit examines American drama, film and detective fiction. In drama we evaluate shifts in technique, theme and ideology from the 1930s to the present day. In film, we consider Hollywood and its alternatives, looking at works that address American identity, Hollywood itself, and issues concerned with iconography, race and gender. We consider a variety of genres including westerns, musicals and road movies, and film representations of the city.

Southern Accents (Option)

This unit explores representations of the southern states of America in prose fiction, film, drama and music. In the first section, southern stereotypes and representations, produced by southerners and others are examined in relation to social, political and historical contexts. A section on African American representations of the south follows. Finally, a section on music and vernacular traditions explores the influence of the south on American popular music.

Modernism and Modernity in the Literature of the USA (Option)

The unit examines American prose and poetry (excluding drama) during the first period of ‘high Modernism’, 1909-1939. The emphasis throughout is upon the conflict between ‘realist’ and ‘Modernist’ or ‘experimental’ forms of representation with especial reference to constructions of a particularly ‘American Identity’ and alternative identities as constructed by dissonant and dissenting voices.

Modern Drama (Option)

This module explores a variety of drama texts and practitioners from the 1880s to the 1950s. A study of naturalism as a key movement is followed by an examination of some early twentieth-century Irish plays. We then consider problematic aspects of categorization and practice in a variety of ‘anti-naturalistic’ plays. The module will examine plays both as written texts and in terms of performance practice/potential.

Women’s Writing & Feminist Theory (Option)

A diverse range of prose, poetry, and drama written by women from the seventeenth century to the contemporary moment is considered alongside key concepts in feminist theory. Writers range from Aphra Behn to Jane Austen to Zora Neale Hurston to Jeanette Winterson. Topics range from the feminine aesthetic and French feminism to feminist utopianism and cyberfeminism.

Literature, Film & Gender (Option)

This unit explores a wide range of gender topics (masculinities, the backlash against feminism, crossdressing, queer theory, and transgendering) through a variety of literary texts and films. Shakespeare, Ibsen, Hardy, and Woolf, are considered alongside more popular fiction by writers, such as Susanna Moore, and films, including Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Mrs Doubtfire, Boys Don’t Cry, and Peeping Tom.

Contempory Drama (Option)

This is a study of drama and performance from the 1960s to the contemporary moment, and involves a consideration of plays by writers including Peter Handke, Edward Bond, Howard Brenton, Caryl Churchill, Sarah Kane, and Steven Berkoff. Topics emphasised include political theatre, postmodernism, ‘in-yer-face theatre’, and issues of censorship. This unit is taught through workshops involving both academic discussion and practical work.

Literature & The Environment (Option)

The first principle of ecological thinking is that other things exist beside humans, and that we are neither so separate from, nor so dominant over, the nonhuman as we tend to think. In this unit we explore what difference it makes to read literature from this perspective. We study literature as part of our complex interaction with our environment, and perhaps, in some ways and on some occasions, as a uniquely valuable one.

Life Writing (Option)

The module will introduce students to a range of life writing (including biography, autobiography, letters, confessions, memoirs, and poems) from the Romantic period to the contemporary moment. Students will explore the relationship between self and society, private and public, fact and fiction, and think about autobiography as a social, political, and literary practice.

Cross Cultural Representations (Option)

This unit explores issues of identity and culture through the study of cross cultural representation. Students will examine textual and filmic representations of the encounter between different cultures and compare the production and reception of similar texts in different cultural contexts. Our basic proposition is that, in part, such cultural texts call in to being imagined communities which serve to construct cultural identity.

Adaptation (Option)

This unit explores the concept, practice and processes by which a finished text is 'rewritten'. Students will examine instances of adaptation, and although the unit will primarily focus on the adaptation of novels into drama and film, other forms such as musical theatre will be discussed. We will examine the move from one medium to another, and study the categories of adaptation and the techniques and methods available to the adaptor.

Assessment is by a variety of means: conventional essays, projects where they choose a topic to research, presentations, performances, a 10,000 word dissertation, exams seen and unseen. Examinations will normally account for about 25% of assessment.

The subject of English is fundamentally concerned with how people use language to make sense of the world and of each other. In English at Lincoln our aim is to enable students both to understand literature and to develop their own confidence and articulacy.

2012 Entry	UK/EU	International
Full-time	£9000	£10499
Part-time	£75 per credit point	£88 per credit point
Placement (optional)	Exempt	Exempt
Assessment Only	£38 per credit point	£44 per credit point

For further information and funding your studey please see our Fees & Funding pages.

Fees and Funding