SCHOOL OF ENGLISH INFORMATION BOOKLET FOR CK109 - BA ENGLISH SECOND YEAR 2021-2022 - UCC
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
SCHOOL OF ENGLISH
INFORMATION
BOOKLET
FOR
CK109 - BA ENGLISH
SECOND YEAR
2021-2022
School of English
Second Arts Committee:
Dr Tom Birkett t.birkett@ucc.ie
Dr Adam Hanna adam.hanna@ucc.ie
Dr Eibhear Walshe e.walshe@ucc.ie
Danny Denton danny.denton@ucc.ie
-o-o-o-O-o-o-o
BA English Programme Co-ordinator: e.semple@ucc.ie
BA English 2nd Year Co-ordinator: Dr Tom Birkett t.birkett@ucc.ie
Plagiarism Officer: Graham Allen g.allen@ucc.ie
Teaching Officer: Dr Ken Rooney, K.rooney@ucc.ie
Extensions: Apply to english@ucc.ie
-o-o-o-O-o-o-o
School of English Office
O’Rahilly Building, ORB1.57
Email: english@ucc.ie
Telephone: 021- 4902664, 4903677, 4902241
The Office
All offices in the Department of English, for academic and administrative staff,
are located in the O’Rahilly Building (ORB) on the first floor.
Department Administrative Office: ORB 1.57
Office hours are restricted at present. Opening times are as follows:
From Monday, 20 September 2021: Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, 9.30
am to 11 am and 2.30 pm to 4 pm
Enquiries can also be sent to englishdepartment@ucc.ie
In all communications, please clearly identify your name, student number, and
year. You should also check Canvas regularly for Department information and
updates.
The Department of English is committed to delivering as much on-
campus, face-to-face teaching as possible in the current circumstances,
although how we deliver our teaching in English will and must be
contingent on public health advice. The introductory lecture for BA
English Year 2 will take place on Monday 13th September at 12 noon in
Boole 2.
Attendance at large lecture modules may be staggered, and if necessary
rotas for attendance for individual modules will follow once students
have registered their module choices. All English lectures will also be
recorded and will be available via Canvas.
We plan to teach our seminar modules and BA modules on campus and
in person: again, depending on numbers and room capacity, we may
have to stagger seminar teaching, supplementing in-class teaching with
online activities. Further information specific to individual seminar
modules will be made available once the registration for seminars is
completed. Registration for seminars will take place remotely using
canvas in early September: students will be given instructions on how to
use this system. Several seminar modules will be available as an online
option for those who are not able to attend classes on campus owing to
'high-risk' vulnerability in the pandemic. Please contact Dr Tom Birkett
in relation to these dedicated online seminars at t.birkett@ucc.ie
Table of Contents Timetable ..…………………………………. 5 Essay Calendar .………………………….... 6 Programme requirements ..…..…...….. 7 BA English Modules ……………………… 9 Modules & Texts ………..………………….. 11 Interdepartmental Modules ………… 18 Critical Skills Seminars ………………… 21 Seminar registration ……………………. 23 2nd Year Seminar List………………….… 24 Policies on Assessments…………………. 43 Essay Guidelines ….………………………. 44 Plagiarism Policy ……..…………………. 52 Canvas & TurnItIn ………….…………… 57 Guidelines for students planning a teaching career…………………………. 63
Second Year BA English
Timetable 2021/22
5
SECOND YEAR ESSAY CALENDAR 2021-22
(Two assignments per module, titles will be released on Canvas and essays to submitted to
Canvas by 12:00 (Noon) on dates outlined below)
MODULE Date for release of titles Date for Submission
(by 12.00 noon)
EN2011.1
The Canterbury Tales Friday 22nd October 2021 Friday 5th November 2021
(Dr Ken Rooney)
EN2011.2
The Canterbury Tales Friday 3rd December 2021 Friday 7th January 2022
(Dr Ken Rooney)
EN2012.1
Old English Language Wednesday 20th October 2021 Wednesday 3rd November 2021
(Dr Tom Birkett)
EN2012.2
Old English Language Wednesday 24th November 2021 Tuesday 8th December 2021
(Dr Tom Birkett)
EN2023.1
Eighteenth-Century Literature Wednesday 20th October 2021 Wednesday 3rd November 2021
(Professor Graham Allen)
EN2023.2
Eighteenth-Century Literature Wednesday 1st December 2021 Friday 7th January 2022
(Dr Clíona Ó Gallchoir)
EN2073.1
Introduction to Shakespeare Tuesday 19th October 2021 Tuesday 2nd November 2021
(Dr Edel Semple)
EN2073.2
Introduction to Shakespeare Tuesday 30th November 2021 Tuesday 7th January 2022
(Dr Edel Semple)
EN2077.1
Modern Drama Wednesday 20th October 2021 Wednesday 3rd November 2021
(Dr Anne Etienne)
EN2077.2
Modern Drama Wednesday 24th November 2021 Wednesday 8th December 2021
(Dr Anne Etienne)
6
Second Year English Courses for 2021-22
This is an outline list of English courses for the session 2021-22. Every effort is made to
ensure that the contents are accurate. No guarantee is given that modules may not be
altered, cancelled, replaced, augmented or otherwise amended at any time.
Before deciding which courses you are going to choose you will also need a timetable
and fuller details of course arrangements which will be available in September.
PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH INDIVIDUAL
STUDENT TO DISCOVER AND FULFIL THE EXACT REQUIREMENTS OF
THE COURSE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM, ANY CHANGES TO REGISTRATION
MUST BE APPROVED BY THE SCHOOL OF ENGLISH
OUTLINE OF MODULE REQUIREMENTS
BA English (60 Credits)
Students take 60 credits as follows:
Semester 1
• EN2103 Special Topics in Creative Practice 10 credits
• EN2012 (Old English Language) 5 credits
• 2 lecture modules (2 x 5 credits each) 10 credits
• EITHER EN2101 (Creative Writing)
OR EN2006 (Critical Skills Seminar) 10 credits
Total: 35 Credits
Semester 2
• 3 lecture modules (3 x 5 credits each) 15 credits
• EITHER EN2101 (Creative Writing)
• OR EN2007 (Critical Skills Seminar) 10 credits
Total 25 credits
NOTE:
• Students cannot take EN2101 in both semesters
• EN2101 is a pre-requisite for Creative Writing modules in Third Year (i.e. if you
wish to take a CW module in Third Year, you must take EN2101 in Second Year.)
• As well as EN2012, students must take at least one lecture or seminar course
from the range of Old English, Middle English and Renaissance courses. (These
are designated with the letters OMR.)
• Students may substitute one module from Semester 1 with one module from
DH2006, DH2008, GR2019, GR2047, LL2003 or HS2046 or students may
7
substitute one module from semester 2 with FX2008 (numbers capped and places
are limited for FX2008)
• Students who take EN2006 and EN2007 will be registered on Canvas for
EN2009
• 33.33% of marks from Second Year English are carried forward towards the Final
Degree mark in English
The outline list of English courses for the session is available in this Information Booklet.
Every effort is made to ensure that the details are accurate. No guarantee is given that
modules may not be altered, cancelled, replaced, augmented or otherwise amended at any
time.
Before deciding which courses you are going to choose you will also need to consult
the timetable and fuller details of course arrangements.
.
8
MODULES DESIGNATED FOR BA ENGLISH STUDENTS
EN2103 Special Topics in Creative Practice
Module Code Module Co-ordinator
EN2103 Miranda Corcoran
Semester 1 Day Time Venue
Wednesday (Seminar) 9.00 – 10.00 a.m. Wednesday: ORB 132
Thursday (Seminar) 9.00 – 10.00 a.m. Thursday: ORB 202
Module Content: The module will focus on a variety of contemporary creative practices
which may include poetry, fiction, drama and film. The cultural, economic and social
context in which writers and artists practice will be explored. Engagement with literary
and creative practice will be incorporated into the module content.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course students should be able to:
• Demonstrate knowledge of contemporary creative practice in one or more
genres/areas
• Research effectively using a variety of sources
• Work as self-directed, independent learners
• Select and use appropriate media to present ideas and findings
• Work efficiently as part of a team
• Prepare and deliver effective presentations
Assessment
This module is assessed by continuous assessment.
The total number of marks available is 200
Individual e-portfolio (4000 words) 100 marks; Group Project Written (4000-5000
words), 60 marks; Group Project (oral), 20 marks; attendance and participation, 20
marks.
• Individual learning journal, 100 marks.
• Group project presentation (oral and written), 80 marks
• Participation 20 marks
9Creative Writing
Module Code Module Co-ordinator
EN2101 Dr Éibhear Walshe
Semester Day Time Venue
1 OR 2 Thursday 10.00 – 12 noon S1: CPB LG08
S2: CPB LG08
Seminar Content
Students will read a variety of literary works, engage in discussion of issues relating to
writers and writing, and hone their writing and editing skills. In addition to developing
their own writing, students will learn to deliver informed critical feedback on each
others’ work.
*Note: EN2101 is a pre-requisite for Creative Writing modules in Third Year (i.e. if you
wish to take a CW module in Third Year, you must take EN2101 in Second Year.)
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course students should be able to:
• Construct pieces in short fiction and poetic form.
• Engage in discussion of issues relating to writers and writing.
• Develop critical skills in assessing literary work
Assessment
This module is assessed by continuous assessment.
The total number of marks available is 200
Portfolio of creative work: 140 marks
Contribution and participation: 60 marks
Attendance and participation are compulsory. If you do not complete this element of the
course successfully you will not be able to pass.
10MODULES AND TEXTS
EN2011 CHAUCER: THE CANTERBURY TALES AND RELATED TEXTS (KR)
5 Credits, Semester 1. (OMR)
This course introduces students to Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a late fourteenth-
century tale collection which brings together examples of every kind of medieval writing:
comic tales, romance and fantasy, stories of human vice and fragility; in every style
imaginable – from the philosophical to the downright filthy – all narrated through
astonishing varieties of voice and perspective. We will see what makes the Tales unique and
revolutionary: nothing like it had been achieved before in English literature, and it would
remain read, admired, and imitated from its first appearance in the 1390s to the present day.
We will study some of the most important and attractive examples from the Tales, gauging
the importance of the collection’s innovative (and strikingly modern) structure, and
exploring how the collection presents new questions on authorship and the uses of literature;
on human relations (and in particular the role of women in medieval society) and how it
provocatively opens medieval society and religion open to satire and debate. We will also
consider the Tales ’relationships to other aspects of medieval culture (including art and
music), and its reception in modern film.
Required textbook:
The Riverside Chaucer. Ed. L.D. Benson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987.
EN2012 UNLOCKING THE WORDHOARD: AN INTRODUCTION TO OLD
ENGLISH (TB) 5 Credits, Semester 1. (OMR) - ONLINE
Course description:
Old English was the language spoken in Medieval England from ca. 500-1100 AD and
preserved in manuscripts from ca. 800-1200 AD. This course will provide students with the
skills and linguistic competency to read and translate Old English to a high level of
proficiency over twelve weeks. This is achieved by following a new online language course
developed for UCC students, supported by instructional videos, discussion fora and reading
exercises. The course will introduce students to the basics of Old English pronunciation,
grammar and vocabulary and invite them, from the first week, to test and improve their
language skills by reading and translating original texts, from accounts of battles to obscene
riddles.
In addition to teaching the fundamentals of Old English, this course will introduce students
to the history of the language and how English evolved over time. It will also provide
students with the skills to analyse and discuss the workings of modern English in a critical,
academic manner; these skills can be applied to any language, medieval or modern, and will
enhance the student’s ability to critically assess the use of language by writers to the present
day.
Set Text: Access to online coursebook will be provided.
11EN2023 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE (GA/CÓG)
5 Credits, Semester 1.
This module aims to develop students ’understanding of the relationship between literature
and society in the eighteenth century. The texts included will be drawn from different
periods in the eighteenth-century and from a variety of genres, which may include the novel
and poetry. Special attention is given to the rise of the novel form, to changes in poetic and
literary models, and subsequent changes in notions of literature, authorship and literary
meaning. The course may also focus on questions of class, gender, ideology and nation in
relation to literary texts.
EN2023.1
Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe, 2nd edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.,
1993.
Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels. New York: W. W. Norton & CO., 2002.
EN2023.2
Selected poetry will be provided.
EN2043 ROMANCE & REALISM (MO’C-L)
5 Credits, Semester 2.
This module introduces students to the main narrative features of the novel tradition from
the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century, concentrating on the generic and formal
features of the two most dominant narrative forms of the era, romance and
realism. Students are introduced to the formal features of narrative fiction as it developed
from the 1790s on, and to the changing historical contexts in which it was produced. The
texts under discussion offer examples of the wide variety of novel forms during this period
of literary history, including gothic fiction, domestic realism, industrial fiction, and
naturalism.
EN2043.1
Godwin, William. Caleb Williams, ed. Pamela Clemit. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, ed. J.P. Hunter. New York: W.W. Norton, 1995.
EN2043.2
Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone, ed. Francis O’Gorman. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2019
Haggard, H. Rider. She, ed. Daniel Karlin. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008
Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998
12EN2046 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900 (AG, LJ)
5 Credits, Semester 2.
The objective of this module is to introduce students to a range of nineteenth-century
American texts in various genres. This module is an introduction to the literature of the
United States from the American Renaissance of the 1850s to the end of the century.
Reading a range of texts in several genres drawn from the relevant period, students will
trace developments in American literary aesthetics and explore themes of nation building,
race and gender, slavery and the South, focusing on the role of literature in the formation of
American national identity.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. ‘Nature ’(extract) ‘The American Scholar ’*
Emily Dickinson, selected poems*
Melville, Herman, The Confidence Man. Penguin
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,
Written By Himself. Oxford World’s Classics.
Walt Whitman, poems*
Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Collins Classics
*Available on Canvas.
EN2066 DRAMA: MEDIEVAL TO RENAISSANCE (MB/ES)
5 Credits, Semester 2 (OMR)
This course introduces English drama in its physical, social, and intellectual contexts, from
some of its earliest forms in the Middle Ages to the Jacobean period. We will read one of
the mystery plays of the Wakefield Cycle (The Second Shepherds’ Play), and a morality
play (Everyman) – two works which, in different ways, show the allegorical cast of
medieval thought and the interplay of English folkways with religious doctrine. We then
explore the theatre of the early modern period, which saw the popularization of bloody
revenge tragedies and racy city comedies. In particular, we will consider some of the era’s
dramatic innovations in the areas of performance, audience reception, and genre. This
course will be useful for students interested in exploring not only the cultural inheritance of
Shakespeare and his contemporaries, but also the surprisingly subversive ways in which
earlier audiences could imagine history, society, and religion.
Required Texts:
The Second Shepherds’ Play – Anonymous
https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/publication/epp-the-towneley-plays
Everyman – Anonymous
https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/publication/davidson-everyman-and-its-dutch-original-
elckerlijc
The Honourable History of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay – Robert Greene
http://elizabethandrama.org/the-playwrights/robert-greene/friar-bacon-friar-bungay/
Note: Everyman and Friar Bacon are also available in The Broadview Anthology of Tudor
Drama, ed. Alan Stewart. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2021
13Ben Jonson. Epicoene. (New Mermaids) Ed. Roger Holdsworth. London: A&C Black,
2002.
Kyd, Thomas. The Spanish Tragedy (Norton Critical Editions). Edited by Michael Neill.
W.W. Norton & Company, 2014.
Both The Spanish Tragedy and Epicoene are available online in The Routledge Anthology of
Renaissance Drama through the Library's Proquest E-book Central database.
EN2071 WOMEN AND LITERATURE (HL)
5 Credits, Semester 2.
This module examines literature as a gendered institution in society and discusses the
principal ways in which this gendering functions. During the course of the module, we
• identify the fundamental aims of studying literature from a feminist viewpoint
• outline the principal forms which feminist critique of the institutions of literature has
taken
• briefly trace the development of feminist literary criticism
• read three novels comparatively, as case-studies for feminist interpretation
Required Reading
For 2071.1, readings will be provided.
For 2071.2, you will need copies of two of the following:
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. 1848. Oxford: Oxford World’s Classics, 2008.
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. 1966. London: Penguin, any reprinting.
Dangarembga, Tsitsi. Nervous Conditions. 1988. Banbury, Oxfordshire: Ayebia
Clarke Publishing Ltd., 2004.
EN2073 INTRODUCTION TO SHAKESPEARE (ES)
5 Credits, Semester 1. (OMR)
This module introduces students to key concepts and approaches in the detailed textual
study of Shakespearean drama. It will involve an introduction to some of the central issues
in Shakespearean studies, an exploration of the question of genre within Shakespeare’s
drama, close study of representative examples of two or more dramatic genres, and some
consideration of the drama’s socio-historical and cultural contexts. The plays studied this
year will be: As You Like It, Richard III, Titus Andronicus and The Winter’s Tale.
Required Text: William Shakespeare, The Norton Shakespeare, ed. Stephen Greenblatt et
al. 3rd edition. New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2015.
14EN2077 MODERN DRAMA: (AE)
5 Credits, Semester 1.
This module introduces students to works which transformed drama at the end of the 19th
century and inaugurated modern theatre. We will study how plays by European playwrights
and aesthetic experiments by theatre practitioners have revitalized the stage at the turn of the
twentieth century, initiated modern theatre, and pioneered social-problem drama. Focusing
on European and/or Northern American plays written from the late nineteenth century to the
1960s, we will observe how modern drama has evolved to construct our contemporary
theatre. The module will locate selected plays in the cultural contexts of late19th-century to
mid-20th century Western societies, and explore their shared and differentiated ideological
and aesthetic purposes.
The precise focus of the module and the dramatists studied may vary from year to
year.
Case studies:
August Strindberg. Miss Julie
Henrik Ibsen. Hedda Gabler
Frank Wedekind. Spring Awakening
Arthur Miller. Death of a Salesman
Eugène Ionesco. The Bald Prima Donna
Arnold Wesker. The Kitchen
EN2078 COLONY AND NATION: IRISH LITERATURE BEFORE 1900
(CC/CÓG) 5 Credits, Semester 2.
This module enables students to explore the emergence of Irish literature in English from
the early modern period to the late nineteenth century. Focusing on key texts by major
authors in the period, we will explore how conquest and colonisation shaped a dynamic,
distinctive and versatile literature in Ireland. Through close textual readings, we will analyse
literary expressions of Anglo-Irish identity, anti-colonialism and narrative techniques that
combine Anglo-Irish and Gaelic elements in a variety of genres, including poetry,
pamphlets, short stories, novels and plays. Authors for study may include Edmund Burke,
Jonathan Swift, Sydney Owenson, Maria Edgeworth, Somerville and Ross, and George
Bernard Shaw
EN2078.1
Macklin, Charles, The True-Born Irishman (1762). Available as an e-text via
Eighteenth-Century Collections Online.
Sheridan, Elizabeth. The Triumph of Prudence over Passion (1781). Dublin: Four
Courts, 2017. Also available as an e-text via Eighteenth-Century Collections Online.
Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal (1729). Available as an e-text.
EN2078.2
15Owenson, Sydney (Lady Morgan). The Wild Irish Girl (1806). Oxford: Oxford U.
P., 2008. Also available as an e-text via Literature Online.
Le Fanu, Sheridan. Uncle Silas. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2000. Penguin edition
also available as an e-text via Literature Online.
Bouciault, Dion. The Colleen Bawn (1860). Available as an e-text via Literature
Online.
Additional course material will be provided.
EN2079 ADAPTATION, LITERATURE, AND CULTURE (MC, KR, AG, MB)
5 Credits, Semester 2.
How do literary texts change over time? What features of a novel are transformed when it
makes the leap to the screen? Why are film and television adaptations of comic books
amongst the most popular forms of contemporary entertainment? Over the course of this
module, we will analyse the many ways in which literary texts are transformed by the
process of adaptation. Offering students the opportunity to examine a variety of adaptations
using key critical theories and approaches, the module explores how texts are reimagined
for new audiences, across time and place, and in a range of media. Major themes discussed
in this module include issues of authorship, collaboration, audience and reception, genre,
and the mechanics of adaptation. Students will also engage with a wide range of literary
forms, from comic books and novels to film and theatre.
Reading list
EN2079.1
Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale’, from The Canterbury Tales. Text in
either The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 9th. ed. vol. 1 (anthology used in first
year) OR The Riverside Chaucer, ed. L.D. Benson (Oxford: OUP, 1987).
I Racconti di Canterbury (Dir. Pier Pasolini, 1972)
William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Ware: Wordsworth Classics, 2002)
Hamlet (Dir, Franco Zeffirelli, 1990)
Hamlet (Michael Almereyda, 2000)
EN2079.2
Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men. (New York: Knopf, 2005)
No Country for Old Men (Dir. Joel & Ethan Coen, 2007)Ta-Nehisi Coates, Black Panther:
A Nation under Our Feet (New York: Marvel Comics, 2016)
Black Panther (Dir. Ryan Coogler, 2018)
16NOTE: Staff Members
GA = Professor Graham Allen
MB = Dr Michael Booth
TB = Dr Tom Birkett
CC = Professor Claire Connolly
MC = Dr Miranda Corcoran
AE = Dr Anne Etienne
AG = Dr Alan Gibbs
AH = Dr Adam Hanna
LJ = Professor Lee Jenkins
HL = Dr Heather Laird
MO’C-L = Dr Mary O’Connell-Linehan
MO’C = Dr Maureen O’Connor
CÓG = Dr Clíona Ó Gallchoir
JHR = Dr Joanna Hofer-Robinson
KR = Dr Kenneth Rooney
ES = Dr Edel Semple
17INTERDEPARTMENTAL MODULES
• Students may substitute one module from Semester 1 with one module from
DH2006, DH2008, GR2019, GR2047, HS2046, or LL2003 OR students may
substitute one module from semester 2 with FX2008 (please note FX2008 is
capped and places are limited) For further information contact the module co-
ordinators. DH2006 is for CK109 students ONLY
*Please note: You may only sign on for ONE Interdepartmental module.
DH2006 – is Curation and Storytelling in the Digital Age. (5 Credits in Semester 2 –
CK109 students ONLY)
Course co-ordinators: Dr James O Sullivan (james.osullivan@ucc.ie) (Digital Humanities)
and Dr Miranda Corcoran (miranda.corcoran@ucc) (English)
Mondays, 12-2 in the DH Room (FSB 4.58)
This course beings with the theories and practices of curation, equipping students to
critically assess the role of digital tools in the creation, curation, and sharing of knowledge.
Having established how stories are gathered, students will then turn to how it is that stories
are told, exploring writings on the ethics, practice and history of digital dissemination
through examples of digital archives and narratives, such as YouTube/Vimeo original
documentaries, podcasts and online exhibitions of various forms. Students will learn to
critically evaluate these digital narratives and apply a host of theoretical paradigms to their
analyses of these texts. This theoretical frame will position students to produce their own
digital story in the form of an archive, podcast or documentary.
Total Marks 100: Continuous Assessment 100 marks (Critical reflection on curation and
dissemination in
the digital age (40 marks), Group project (60 marks) Equivalent to ca. 4,000 words in total.).
DH2008 Electronic Literature/Literary Games (5 Credits in Semester 2)
Course co-ordinator: Dr James O Sullivan (james.osullivan@ucc.ie) (Digital Humanities)
Fridays 12 - 2 in the DH Room (FSB 4.58)
This course introduces students to academic discussion on and creative work in new digital
forms relating to multimodal narrative. Students will survey major debates on the meaning
and value of electronic literature and literary games, and study some of the major theoretical
terms and perspectives developed to elaborate the cultural value of such works.
On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Outline the history of electronic literature
2. Consider electronic literature and literary games in historical and cultural contexts
3. Critique the ludic elements of multimodal narratives
4. Comprehend a suite of critical methods suited to electronic literature
5. Articulate the social significance of electronic literature and literary games
186. Write criticism – literary and/or ludic – of multimodal artworks
7. Participate in discussions / debates on a variety of relevant topics
The course will take place over 12 x 2 hour seminars in Semester 2.
Total Marks 100: Continuous Assessment 100 marks (Individual portfolio of critical
writings responding to works of e-lit (40 marks), essay on a broad contextual issue around
the definition of electronic literature (30 marks), final critical analysis of a work of
electronic literature (30 marks) (4,000 words in extent).
FX2008 American Cinema and Culture 1927-1960 (5 credits in Semester 2)
Course Co-ordinator: Dr Gwenda Young (g.young@ucc.ie) (Department of Film and
Screen Media)
Semester 2 by exam (substitute a S2 module only): Wednesdays 2-3 and Thursdays 10-
11am in FSM auditorium, Kane basement.
This module examines Hollywood sound cinema during the studio era, identifying key
movements, genres and directors and offering analyses of a range of films. Particular
emphasis will be paid to locating the films within their Industrial and Cultural contexts.
Additional material (recordings/lectures) will be available online via Canvas.
* please note this module is capped and places are limited, please email film@ucc.ie to
register for this module.
GR2019 GREEK MYTHOLOGY (5 credits in Semester 1)
Course co-ordinator: Sean Murphy (Dept. of Ancient Classics) - j.murphy@ucc.ie
Wednesdays 2 - 3 AL G18 and Thursdays 10 - 11 AL G18
The objective of this module is to introduce students to the study of Greek mythology. We
will study an overview of principal themes and concerns of Greek mythology; man’s
relationship with the gods and with other men, the great deeds of heroes, the use made of
Classical mythology in later literature and art.
Total Marks 100: Continuous Assessment 100 marks (2 x In-Class Tests, 40 marks; 1 x
2,000 word essay, 60 marks).
GR2047 The Hero’s Journey (5 credits in Semester 2)
Course co-ordinator: Dr Catherine Ware (Department of Classics) catherine.ware@ucc.ie
Mondays 4 - 5 ORB 202 and Fridays 12 - 1 ORB 101
From Achilles, the greatest warrior, to Odysseus, the man of many ways, to Jason, the love
rat, to Aeneas the dutiful: this course will examine the evolution of the classical hero from
Homer to Apollonius to Vergil.
19Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this course, the students will be able to demonstrate:
- a basic knowledge of the epics of Homer, Apollonius and Vergil,
- an understanding of the historical and literary context of these epics,
- an appreciation of how the modern hero compares to classical models,
- familiarity with current scholarship on this topic.
Assessment: Total marks 100. Formal written examination 70 marks; continual assessment
(2,000 word essay) 30 marks.
HS2046 US Latino Literatures (5 Credits in Semester 2)
Module Co-ordinator: Professor Nuala Finnegan, School of Languages, Literatures and
Cultures (Nuala.Finnegan@ucc.ie)
Time and Venue: Semester 2 only: Monday 3:00-5:00 CONN J1
The module examines the roots of the Chicano (Mexican American) Civil Rights
movements in the US in the 1950s and 1960s. In class we will scrutinise how issues relating
to identity and language have been explored in cultural production (fiction, poetry, theatre,
essay writing) since that time. Module syllabus includes selected writings from Cherríe
Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa, Javier Zamora, Tomás Rivera, Rudolfo Anaya, Rodolfo Corky
Gonzales, Helena María Viramontes, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Valeria Luiselli.
LL2003: Aspects of the Classical Tradition – (5 credits in S1 & S2)
Course co-ordinator: Daragh O Connell (Department of Italian) - Email:
daragh.oconnell@ucc.ie
Semester 1 & 2: Tuesdays at 1.00pm in ORB. 1.23
The works of Homer (Iliad and Odyssey), Virgil (Aeneid) and Ovid (Metamorphoses) have
played a vital part in the shaping of Western civilisation. This course will examine the ways
different societies at different times have responded to the classical mythology of antiquity
through literature and art. The course ranges from an overview of the classical books to their
presence in medieval/ renaissance Italy, the paintings of Velásquez (17th century Spain),
Renaissance and twentieth century English writers, as well as contemporary Irish and
Caribbean writing.
CRITICAL SKILLS SEMINAR MODULE 2021-22
EN2006 Critical Skills Seminar 1: Semester 1 - 10 Credits taken by assessment.
20EN2007 Critical Skills Seminar II: Semester 2 - 10 Credits taken by assessment.
EN2009 Critical Skills Seminar IV: Semesters 1 & 2 - 20 Credits taken by assessment.
(NOTE: EN2009 consists of any two seminars from those offered in EN2006 and
EN2007, and is only available to BA English and BAS (50 credits) English Students.
This module is designed to develop students ’skills in reading, writing and critical practice
through closely-directed study and constructive discussion of a range of selected texts.
Students must choose one from the wide range of topics offered by the staff of the School of
English. The range of topics will cover a variety of forms, genres and periods. Once a student
has signed on for a seminar, attendance is required.
ATTENDANCE
Attendance at seminars in 2021-22 is required, subject to HSE pandemic guidelines.
Seminars will use blended learning, combining in-person classes with online activities, via
Canvas and other virtual media, and attendance may be staggered. 15% of marks in the
seminar will be allocated on the basis of the quality of the student's overall participation.
Students cannot miss more than eight hours (one third) of seminar classes. If attendance
/engagement where possible is lower than two-thirds of seminar classes and activities,
without reasonable explanation, the seminar cannot be passed until the autumn exams. A
student who has failed a seminar due to unexplained non-attendance may continue to attend
and hand in essays but this work will be held over for the autumn exam board in August /
September. Work not submitted during the academic year will have to be submitted before a
date designated by the school office, plus an extra essay in lieu of the participation mark.
The student may then pass this module for the autumn exam board, but the result for the
module will be capped at 40%.
Where a student misses 4 hours of scheduled classes they will be emailed by the seminar co-
ordinator to remind them of the requirement for attendance and penalties (using the
student’s official UCC address).
ASSIGNMENT of MARKS in SEMINAR MODULES
1. Participation 15%
2. Oral presentation (or equivalent) 15%
3. Shorter assignment(s) 20%
4. Essay work* 50%
*not exceeding 4,000 words in total
WRITTEN OUTLINE OF ASSESSED WORK
At the start of the Teaching Period each co-ordinator will give a written outline of the work
expected for nos. 2, 3 and 4 to students in each seminar.
ASSIGNMENT OF MARKS EXPLAINED BY CATEGORY
1. Participation: 15%
Students can gain these marks by contributing actively to each class. This means
carrying out all tasks assigned, being ready and willing to discuss the material and the
21topics addressed in class, and co-operating with other class members and the co-
ordinator.
2. Oral presentation or equivalent: 15%
Marks awarded here for committed, organized and effective preparation and delivery of
set oral assignment(s), e.g. discussion of a text, author or topic, or another type of project
assigned by the co-ordinator.
3. Shorter assignment(s): 20%
These may take various forms, e.g. a quiz or exercise, short essay, or discussion of a text
or excerpts from texts.
4. Essay work, not exceeding 4,000 words in total: 50%
This may consist of one, two or more essay(s) or other assignments, of varying
lengths, e.g. a write-up of the oral presentation, or another type of project as assigned
by the co-ordinator.
CONSULTATION AND ADVICE ON TAKE-HOME WRITTEN WORK
Seminar co-ordinators will offer individual consultations to students concerning their
performance in the seminar module. Co-ordinators may
§ respond to students’ questions or difficulties about the material
§ explain marks given for assignments
§ give students advice about how to improve their written style
§ help students with essay planning.
Co-ordinators will not
§ Read or correct drafts of essays or other assignments or offer detailed advice about
their improvement, in advance of their being handed in for marking.
SEMINAR REGISTRATION INFORMATION
NB* It is your responsibility to ensure that the seminar you choose does not clash with
your other modules.
Enrolment for seminar courses will take place on canvas in September. Students will be
asked to record their seminar/creative writing preferences via a quiz in EN2103. Further
instructions to CK109 students will be issued on canvas. A small number of online-only
seminars are reserved for students who cannot attend on health grounds: remaining places in
these seminars will be made available to all students at sign-up.
Students with health issues that preclude attending seminars on campus are asked to alert
the Second Year Head - Dr Tom Birkett (t.birkett@ucc.ie) as soon as possible.
22CHANGES AND LATE REGISTRATION
▪ Students wishing to register a change of module must do so
at https://mystudentadmin.ucc.ie/ no later than two working weeks after the formal
start date of each Semester.
▪ Semester 1 modules cannot be changed in Semester 2.
However, if you wish to withdraw from a seminar or transfer to a different seminar, you
must contact The School of English Office, email english@ucc.ie.
23SECOND ARTS ENGLISH – SEMINARS 2021-2022
Seminar Leader Teaching Module Seminar DAY & TIME VENUE
Period Code Code
Prof. Graham Allen 2 EN2007 MOD Thursday 12:00 – TBC
2.01 2:00pm (On Campus)
Dr Michael Booth 1 EN2006 OMR Friday 12:00pm - Online (MS
2.02 2:00pm Teams)
Dr Michael Booth 2 EN2007 OMR Friday 12:00pm - TBC
2.03 2:00pm (On Campus)
Gráinne Condon 2 EN2007 MOD Wednesday 3:00 – TBC
2.04 5:00pm (On Campus)
Dr Miranda Corcoran 1 EN2006 MOD Tuesday 9:00 - 11:00am Online (MS
2.05 Teams)
Jennifer deBie 1 EN2006 MOD Monday 2:00 - 4:00pm Aras Na Laoi
2.06 G32
Dr. Anne Etienne 1 EN2006 MOD Tuesday 2:00 - 3:00pm WW7
2.07 & Wednesday 1:00 -
2:00pm
Dr. Alan Gibbs 2 EN2007 MOD Tuesday 2pm - 4pm C_
2.08 BOOLE_6
Edel Hanley 1 EN2006 MOD Tuesday 2:00 – 4:00pm Online (MS
2.09 Teams)
Dr. Adam Hanna 2 EN2007 MOD Thursday 2:00 – 4:00pm WW4
2.10
Maria Manning 1 EN2006 MOD Thursday 3:00 – 5:00pm ORB_2.03
2.11
Dr. Mary O’ Connell 1 EN2006 MOD Thursday 12:00 – WGB_3.01
2.12 2:00pm
Dr. Maureen O’ Connor 1 EN2006 MOD Wednesday 4:00 – ORB_2.01
2.13 6:00pm
Dr. Cliona O’ Gallchoir 1 EN2006 MOD Monday 4:00 – 5:00pm WW7 (Mon)
2.14 Thursday 2:00- 3:00pm WW8 (Thur)
Dr. Ken Rooney 2 EN2007 OMR Wednesday 2:00pm- Online (MS
2.15 4:00pm Teams)
Elisa Sabbadin 2 EN2007 MOD Wednesday 4:00 - TBC
2.16 6:00pm (On Campus)
Flicka Small 2 EN2007 MOD Thursday 3 - 5 TBC
2.17 (On Campus)
24Venues: BOOLE – Boole Basement, CONN – Connolly Building, Mardyke Walk, CPB Cavanagh
Pharmacy Building, ELD - Elderwood, WW– West Wing, Online (Microsoft Teams Live Teaching)
Module Code Seminar Code Seminar Title Seminar Leader
EN2007 Reading William Blake Professor Graham Allen
MOD 2.01
Teaching Period Day Time Venue
Semester 2 Thursday 12pm - 2pm TBC
Seminar Content
Students will encounter Blake’s revolutionary art (poetry and design) from the 1790s.
Texts covered will be:
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Visions of the Daughters of Albion
America: A Prophecy
Europe: A Prophecy
The Book of Job
Set Texts
William Blake The Complete Illuminated Works (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000)
The Blake Archive < http://www.blakearchive.org/>
Learning outcomes
• By the end of this seminar, students will be able to:
• Evaluate and interpret the relation between image and text in Blake’s work.
• Situate Blake’s work of the 1790s and beyond with the British reaction to the American and
French revolutions of the late eighteenth-century.
• Interpret the interplay between imagination and myth in Blake’s work.
25Module Code Seminar Code Seminar Title Seminar Leader
EN2006 OMR 2.02 Dirty Tricks and Deception in Dr. M. Booth
Shakespeare’s World
Teaching Period Day Time Venue
Online Only (MS
Semester 1 Friday 2:00pm - 2:00pm Teams)
Seminar Content
Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies can draw tremendous emotional power and intellectual
interest from situations in which one character is deceiving another. Shakespeare was, in fact, an
artistic pioneer in using such scenarios for both humour and sustained psychological exploration.
The aim of our seminar will be twofold: to gain a deeper understanding of Shakespeare’s
achievement as an individual artist, and to place it in historical context. The rapid social changes
of early modernity brought new motives, techniques and opportunities for sophisticated trickery of
many kinds, and Shakespeare, keen observer that he was, soaked these up.
Like him, we will consider: the new kinds of fraudulent schemes that were made possible by
scientific and geographic discoveries of the time; the equivocations that helped people survive in
an era of violent religious upheaval; the web of spies, plots and traps laid by agents of the Queen
against her enemies; the mass migration of mostly illiterate country folk to London, and the rise of
an urban criminal class to fleece them. Accompanying an elaborate discourse of “cozenage” or
cheating in the public sphere was a strong interest in tricks and deceptions within the most intimate
of relationships: between lovers, spouses, parents, children, siblings and friends.
We will consider how this intense concern with information and misinformation, as given voice
by Shakespeare and other writers, may have shaped the very epistemology of the modern era, and
our understanding of subjectivity or selfhood within it.
Primary texts/Required textbooks
William Shakespeare,
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
King Lear
All’s Well That Ends Well
--All these plays are available in The Norton Shakespeare.
Other required reading (including primary texts by Raleigh, Bacon, Nashe and Greene) will be
made available in photocopied form and/or online.
26Learning outcomes
On successful completion, students should be able to:
• Critically read and analyse a selection of texts by Shakespeare and other writers of the
Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.
• Relate the texts to one another, and to their wider historical and cultural contexts.
• Define terms and concepts central to the seminar.
• Apply these terms and contexts to the texts given.
• Deliver fluent written and oral responses to the assigned readings.
• Engage with secondary material pertinent to issues raised in the course.
27Module Code Seminar Code Seminar Title Seminar Leader
EN2007 OMR 2.03 Dirty Tricks and Deception in Dr. M. Booth
Shakespeare’s World
Teaching Period Day Time Venue
Semester 2 Friday 12:00pm - 2:00pm TBC
Seminar Content
Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies can draw tremendous emotional power and intellectual
interest from situations in which one character is deceiving another. Shakespeare was, in fact, an
artistic pioneer in using such scenarios for both humour and sustained psychological exploration.
The aim of our seminar will be twofold: to gain a deeper understanding of Shakespeare’s
achievement as an individual artist, and to place it in historical context. The rapid social changes
of early modernity brought new motives, techniques and opportunities for sophisticated trickery of
many kinds, and Shakespeare, keen observer that he was, soaked these up.
Like him, we will consider: the new kinds of fraudulent schemes that were made possible by
scientific and geographic discoveries of the time; the equivocations that helped people survive in
an era of violent religious upheaval; the web of spies, plots and traps laid by agents of the Queen
against her enemies; the mass migration of mostly illiterate country folk to London, and the rise of
an urban criminal class to fleece them. Accompanying an elaborate discourse of “cozenage” or
cheating in the public sphere was a strong interest in tricks and deceptions within the most intimate
of relationships: between lovers, spouses, parents, children, siblings and friends.
We will consider how this intense concern with information and misinformation, as given voice
by Shakespeare and other writers, may have shaped the very epistemology of the modern era, and
our understanding of subjectivity or selfhood within it.
Primary texts/Required textbooks
William Shakespeare,
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
King Lear
All’s Well That Ends Well
--All these plays are available in The Norton Shakespeare.
Other required reading (including primary texts by Raleigh, Bacon, Nashe and Greene) will be
made available in photocopied form and/or online.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion, students should be able to:
• Critically read and analyse a selection of texts by Shakespeare and other writers of the
Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.
• Relate the texts to one another, and to their wider historical and cultural contexts.
• Define terms and concepts central to the seminar.
• Apply these terms and contexts to the texts given.
• Deliver fluent written and oral responses to the assigned readings.
• Engage with secondary material pertinent to issues raised in the course.
28Module Code Seminar Code Seminar Title Seminar Leader
Crossing Boundaries: Women’s
EN2007 MOD 2.04 Gráinne Condon
Writing of the First World War
Teaching Day Time Venue
Period
Semester 2 Wednesday 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm TBC
Despite contested but resilient claims for the primacy of the combatant experience the devastation of
the First World War was not confined to soldiers and the battlefront. Yet the conflation of the First
World War with the experience of male combatants endures, occluding alternative perspectives and
flattening the diversity of wartime literature, including that of the women writers. By examining a
range of women’s war writing authored during the war from different contexts and countries this
seminar traces in their writing “moments of illumination and imagination … where distance
becomes proximity” (Stubbs and Haynes, 2017: 4). Throughout this seminar students will study a
selection of the poetry, novellas, and novels authored during wartime. Themes which will be
examined include the imagery of war; publishing contexts, (trans)national identity, the impact of
war on the domestic realm, and the treatment of women’s war writing in anthologies and canons.
Primary Texts:
Poetry Collections:
Winifred Letts The Spires of Oxford and Other Poems (1917) *
Lola Ridge The Ghetto and Other Poems (1918) *
Amy Lowell Men, Women and Ghosts (1919) *
Collection of short sketches, stories and poems:
Mary Borden “The Forbidden Zone” (1929) *
Novella:
Rebecca West Return of the Soldier (1918) *
Autobiographical Novel:
H.D.’s Bid Me to Live (1960) * (*) texts available on www.iternetarchive.org
Learning outcomes
• Critically read and analyse a range of women’s writing of the First World War;
• Engage with a selection of women’s’ war writing to more fully understand the impact of the
First World War beyond the battlefield;
• Relate the given texts to one another and to their author’s multifarious life and wartime
experiences;
• Appropriately apply critical and theoretical frameworks to the discussion of texts e.g.,
transnationalism and Modernism;
• Strengthen oral presentation skills and write well-structured essays in correct Standard English.
29Module Code Seminar Seminar Title Seminar Leader
EN2006 Code “All of Them Witches”: Dr. Miranda Corcoran
MOD 2.05 Witchcraft in the
American Popular
Imagination
Teaching Period: Day: Time: Venue:
Online Only (MS
Semester 1 Tuesday 9:00am - 11:00am Teams)
Seminar Content
From the first European attempts to settle the vast, inhospitable wilderness of the New World, the
American imagination has been haunted by the sinister figure of the witch. An embodiment of the
darkness lurking at the heart of American idealism, the witch has historically served as a symbol
of the fears and anxieties that have plagued the nation since its earliest days. For the seventeenth-
century Puritan settlers, religious exiles attempting to build God’s kingdom in the wilds of New
England, witches were a ubiquitous and malignant presence, servants of the Devil and enemies of
Christianity. Yet, even as America grew into a modern, industrial nation, taming the wilderness
and dispelling the shadows of superstition, the figure of the witch continued to cast her spell over
the cultural imagination. As the centuries progressed, the American witch was disentangled from
her original connection to literal forms of demonic evil and instead came to represent other threats
to America. From racial Others to anti-communist paranoia, witches in American culture have
always served to embody the nation’s most potent fears and anxieties.
This seminar explores the evolution of the witch in American literature and culture from the
Puritan New England of the Salem witch trials to contemporary popular media. Introducing
students to a wide range of literary texts, including short stories, novels and films, the seminar will
chart the development of American representations of witchcraft, beginning with the writings of
early colonial settlers and working up to modern horror cinema. By engaging with these evolving
images of witchcraft, students will learn not only about the diverse ways in which American
literary texts engaged with actual historical accusations of witchcraft, but also how fictional
witches have functioned to give shape to a host of culturally-specific horrors, from anxieties about
race and politics to fears surrounding gender and sexuality.
Primary texts
• Writings and documents from the Salem witch trials.*
• Condé, Maryse. I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem. (Translated by Richard Philcox) 1986.
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The May-Pole of Merry Mount.” 1832.*
• ---. “Young Goodman Brown.” 1835.*
• Levin, Ira. Rosemary’s Baby. 1967. Corsair, 2011.
• Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. 1953. Penguin, 2011.
• Bell, Book and Candle. Directed by Richard Quine. 1958.
• The Witch: A New-England Folktale. Directed by Robert Eggers. 2015.
(Texts marked with * will be available as a PDF on Canvas)
30Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course students should be able to:
• Critically read and analyse a selection of American historical, literary and cinematic texts from the
seventeenth century up to the present day.
• Engage with a selection of relevant critical and secondary material in order to understand the social,
historical and political context from which these texts emerged, and identify how their depictions of
witchcraft reflect the primary cultural concerns of American society over the past four centuries.
• Discuss the cultural and historical context that impacted America’s witchcraft lore and explore how
changing values and concerns influenced literary representations of witchcraft.
• Explore fictional representations of witchcraft through the lens of critical theory, historicist
criticism and gender studies.
• Define terms and concepts central to relevant aspects of critical theory, historicist criticism and
gender studies.
• Apply these terms and concepts to the set texts.
31Module Code Seminar Code Seminar Title Seminar Leader
EN2006 MOD 2.06 Plague: Society, the Jennifer deBie
Apocalypse, and the
19th Century.
Teaching Period Day Time Venue
Semester 1 Monday 2:00pm - 4:00pm Aras Na Laoi G32
Seminar Content
As predecessors of the late twentieth century motif of zombie fiction or post-apocalyptic dystopia, the
plague narratives of the eighteenth and nineteenth century are still relevant today. This seminar aims
to explore a selection these plague narratives in novel, poetic, and short story form and connect them
not only to modern texts, but also 20th and 21st century historical responses to epidemic and pandemic.
After a brief introduction on plague as divine wrath, both biblical and Greco-Roman, we will trace a
line of apocalyptic texts from Defoe’s 1722 Journal of A Plague Year, to Poe’s 1842 “Masque of the
Red”, via selections from Thomas Malthus’ Essay on the Principle of Population, Mary Shelley’s The
Last Man and Lord Byron’s “Darkness.” All plague narratives carry with them the implication of
disease or distress in the body politic, and through these texts we will search for the root of the
disease; tracing historical records, authorial personal experiences, and intertextual relations.
This course aims to lead students to a better understanding of the “body politic” as a wide and vital
metaphor in social and political discourse, to show the social and political implications of writing
apocalyptic literature in both England and America, and to lead them to a greater understanding of
contextual analysis and intertextuality through these texts.
Primary texts:
Daniel Defoe: Journal of a Plague Year
Thomas Malthus: Essay on the Principle of Population
George Gordon, Lord Byron: “Darkness”
Mary Shelley: The Last Man
Edgar Allen Poe: “Masque of the Red Death”
Supplementary Reading Selections from:
Ovid: Metamorphoses
Bible: Exodus
Samuel Pepys: Diary of a Plague Year
*All primary texts can be found for free online. Specific selections for secondary/supplemental
reading will be provided in class. Students should also expect modern plague “texts” (examples from
film, comic books, video games, and modern literature) to be discussed as well.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course students should be able to:
• Identify and diagnose the body politic as a part of common societal discourse
• Identify and comment on the intertextuality of 18th/19th century texts and connect them to their
modern counterparts.
• Students will work in teams for presentation and class debate purposes, thus honing academic
cooperation and public speaking skills.
• Further hone skills in academic discussion and writing
32Module Code Seminar Code Seminar Title Seminar Leader
EN2006 MOD 2.07 Pinter: Sexual Politics and Dr. Anne Etienne
Political Discourse
Teaching Period Day Time Venue
Semester 1 Tuesday & 2:00pm - 3:00pm & WW7
Wednesday 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Seminar Content
The seminar focuses on four of Pinter’s plays. The Birthday Party, The Caretaker, The Lover and
The Collection will give us the opportunity to explore the term and concept of the ‘comedy of
menace’ which is often associated with Pinter’s entire work, and to reflect on his political
discourse from the 1960s. Pinter’s early plays will also enable us to reflect on his place within
the theatre of the 60s in England, at a time when both the Angry Young Men and Beckett were
hailed as evidence of a renaissance in drama, and on his perspective of sexual politics in the
Swinging 60s.
Primary and secondary texts
Required Texts:
The Collection
The Lover
The Birthday Party
The Caretaker
Additional reading:
Martin Esslin. The Theatre of the Absurd. (Boole Call No. 809.2.ESSL)
---. The Peopled Wound. (Boole Call No. 822.9.PINT.E)
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course students should be able to:
• Demonstrate close reading analytical skills
• Understand the term, ‘comedy of menace’.
• Discuss the political and philosophical ideas expressed in a number of Pinter’s plays
• Discuss the place of Pinter’s work between two traditions (Absurd and social realism)
• Show extensive knowledge of British theatre in the 1960s
• Assess his perspective on sexual politics of the time
33Module Code Seminar Code Seminar Title Seminar Leader
EN2007 MOD 2.08 The Contemporary Dr. Alan Gibbs
American Novel
Teaching Period Day Time Venue
Semester 2 Tuesday 2pm - 4pm C_ BOOLE_6
Seminar Content
This module aims to give students an understanding of many ideas and themes running
through contemporary American fiction. The course explores novels by a range of twenty-
first-century American writers, and focuses on the ways in which contemporary fiction
draws on or reacts against existing literature. Detailed readings of individual novels will
encourage students to take account of the cultural context in which they were produced,
and to consider the ways in which contemporary writers engage with processes of rapid
cultural and political change in the U.S. The course reflects the diversity of contemporary
American texts, including, for example, representations of trauma, reflections on climate
change and ecological disaster, the effects of neoliberal policies, and the politics of race
and ethnicity in the United States. The course will also analyse narrative forms and critical
theories such as postmodernism, and examine texts through the perspectives of gender,
class and race.
Primary Texts
Egan, Jennifer. A Visit from the Goon Squad (Corsair, 2011)
McCarthy, Cormac. The Road (Picador, 2006)
Auster, Paul. Man in the Dark (Faber and Faber, 2008)
Alam, Rumaan. Leave the World Behind (Bloomsbury, 2021)
Morrison, Toni. Home (Chatto & Windus, 2012)
Other selected short readings made available through Canvas
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course students should be able to:
• Critically read and analyse a selection of contemporary American novels.
• Relate the set texts to one another and to other American novels.
• Discuss the cultural and historical background which frames the development of
American fiction.
• Define terms and concepts central to contemporary criticism.
• Apply these terms and concepts to the set texts.
• Participate in class and group discussions.
• Write clearly structured essays in correct Standard English that adhere to the
School of English style sheet.
34You can also read
