Skip to main content

Unit information: Modernism, Experimentation and Form in 2021/22

Please note: you are viewing unit and programme information for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.

Unit name Modernism, Experimentation and Form
Unit code ENGLM0039
Credit points 20
Level of study M/7
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director Dr. Kennedy-Epstein
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

School/department Department of English
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The unit introduces students to the formal and thematic innovations of Modernist writing. It addresses the structural and generic questions raised by early and high Modernist texts, as well as attending to the social, political and cultural contexts of the period, including scientific and medical discoveries; new technologies such as transport, telephony and film; the rise of psychoanalysis; feminism, sexual liberation and women in the workplace; the First World War, shell shock and language pathology; narrative, causality and chance-occurrence; animality, post-humanism, and Modernism’s evolved notion of the self.

The unit aims to develop students’ awareness of one of the most formally innovative periods in literary history; analyse its questioning of generic conventions and motifs; enable students to discuss and, at a mature level, write about literary works of the period and to encourage and develop existing skills through independent reading, research and writing.

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. A broadened experience of the range and variety of Modernist writing.

2. Improved independent critical thinking about literature of the period.

3. A maturing ability to apply critical, social and cultural contexts to the discussion of early-twentieth-century English literature.

4. Developing an appropriate style of critical writing for the discussion and analysis of literary works.

5. Improving existing skills through independent reading, research and writing on defined texts and topics.

Teaching Information

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.

Assessment Information

1 x 4000 word summative assignment (100%) [ILOs 1-5] 1000 word presentation

Resources

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. ENGLM0039).

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 Faculty 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. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.

Feedback