| Unit name | Renaissance Literature: Texts and Contexts |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGLM0037 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Lesel Dawson |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will consider key Renaissance texts in relation to their wider historical context, exploring the complex ways in which literary works take up, critique, and are in dialogue with the cultural practices, debates, and technologies of their time. It will focus on selected current issues in the field of early modern studies. Example topics include: early modern ideas about interiority; literary and cultural geography and the ways in which identity is seen to shape, and be shaped by, encounters with space and place; ideas about sexuality, gender, and the body on stage and in medical texts; women’s writing; and the representation of violence and trauma on the Renaissance stage.
The unit aims to give a broadened experience of the range and variety within Renaissance literature and its comparable textual cultures, as well as providing an insight into the current shape of Renaissance studies as a discipline. Students will learn to read literary texts historically, developing a strong sense of the ways in which literature works within its broader contexts. They will also learn to write critically about literary texts, and to develop their skills in in close and interdisciplinary textual analysis.
By the end of this unit, students should have:
1. A greater appreciation of the range and variety within Renaissance literature.
2. An advanced understanding of the key literary, historical and cultural developments of the early modern period.
3. A strong grasp of the ways in which Renaissance texts can be understood in relation to their wider historical and social contexts.
4. A sense of the current shape of Renaissance studies and some of the recent preoccupations of the field.
5. An ability to write critically about literary texts, and a familiarity with methodologies for reading literary texts historically.
6. A development of existing skills in research, analysis and independent thinking.
7. Present findings in a coherent and communicable form orally.
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous activities. These can include seminars, lectures, class discussions, formative tasks, small group work and self-directed exercises.
Tasks which do not count towards your unit mark but are required for credit (zero-weighted)
1,000 word presentation (0%, required for credit) [ILO 7]
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
4,000 word essay (100%) [ILOs 1-6]
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the format or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are confirmed by the School/Centre shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ENGLM0037).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
