Unit name | Darkest London |
---|---|
Unit code | ENGL29026 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Matthews |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None. |
Co-requisites |
None. |
School/department | Department of English |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
London has been visited by disaster many times, both in real and fictional forms. Plague, fire, war, crime, terrorism, hardship and homelessness are recurring motifs in representations of the city, whether as responses to historical events or fantasies of destruction and renewal. Yet perversely even when the city is prosperous, powerful and secure, it condemns and destroys many of its citizens. Ranging from Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year (1722), one of the first works of 'docu-fiction', to the apocalyptic gangster film The Long Good Friday (dir. John Mackenzie, 1981), the unit studies works by writers, film-makers, and artists who have created some of the most powerful and imaginative responses to life, death and disaster in the 'Great Wen' since the Plague (1665) and Great Fire of London (1666).
Aims:
By the end of the unit, students should be able to:
One x 2 hour seminar per week, plus one-to-one discussion in consultation hours where desired.
Two summative essays: one of 2000 words (33.3%) and one of 4000 words (66.7%).