1. To allow students to rethink the ways in which they read and write about literary texts and to engage in the critical and detailed analysis of literature across periods.
2. To encourage students to open up and challenge established critical methods of reading and interpretation and to deepen their understanding of and analysis of literary texts.
3. To introduce students to critical issues related to shifts in literary modes and reception of literature in English.

(LO1) Students will be able to demonstrate a sophisticated critical analysis of literary texts using secondary contextual material (critical theory and methodologies).

(LO2) Students will be able to develop a good understanding of the philosophical, historical, political and aesthetic contexts within which English literature has been produced across the ages.

(LO3) Students will be able to create a sound awareness of some approaches to reading and analysis, and to build appropriate critical terminology.

(S1) Critical thinking and problem solving - Critical analysis.

(S2) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Presentation skills - written.

(S3) Global citizenship - Relevant economic/political understanding.

Lecture topics may include some of the following: Tragedy and Epic (generic modes, formation of the ‘heroic’ from Aristotle to Raymond Williams). Satire and Truth (Restoration and beyond). Psychogeography and Travel (modern but also medieval and renaissance). Gender and Sexuality (feminist theory but also queer/transgender theories). Empire and Race (British/European Imperialism, ideas of nationalism). Capitalism and Commodity/Spectacle (Debord, Baudrillard). Narrative and the Author (Narratology, Genre theory, Barthes). Dreams and Reality (Surrealism, Psychoanalysis, Realism). Lyric and the Self (ancients to early Troubadours to modern lyric poem and selfhood). Great Lives and the Masses (Genius, auto/biography). Gesture and Virtuality (materiality of the dramatic text, textual production and physicality of text). Man’s Law and God’s Law (political and religious texts, Milton to Marx). Aesthetics and Eugenics. Conceptions and Depicti ons of Madness. Beginnings and Endings. Ways of Writing.

Teaching Method 1 - Lectures
Description: Lectures introduce key ideas and perspectives
Attendance Recorded: No

Teaching Method 2 - Tutorials
Description: Tutorials encourage discussion and elaboration on lecture topics through critical analysis and reasoned argument
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Teaching Method 3 - Drop-in sessions
Description: An opportunity for additional discussion in a small group or one-to-one, with the module convenor
Attendance Recorded: Not yet decided
Notes: This activity is optional