Module Details |
The information contained in this module specification was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change, either during the session because of unforeseen circumstances, or following review of the module at the end of the session. Queries about the module should be directed to the member of staff with responsibility for the module. |
Title | Rethinking American Fiction | ||
Code | ENGL210 | ||
Coordinator |
Dr DM Hering English D.Hering@liverpool.ac.uk |
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Year | CATS Level | Semester | CATS Value |
Session 2020-21 | Level 5 FHEQ | Second Semester | 30 |
Aims |
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The aims of this module are as follows: - To enable students to engage with a cross-section of American literature from the 20th and 21st centuries - To allow students to become conversant with the major critical contexts of this era, to understand how these critical debates are conducted. - To provide students with the materials to perform a critique of American literature and culture. - To attract students who are interested in approaching the study of American literature as an inherently international practice. - To develop skills in the comparison of literary and critical/theoretical writing, and in the understanding of how to apply theoretical contexts to contemporary literary contexts. |
Learning Outcomes |
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(LO1) On completing this module students will have acquired a knowledge and understanding of a range of twentieth and twenty-first-century American fiction. |
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(LO2) Developed a vocabulary for the critical analysis of this literature and an understanding of the construction and critique of the American canon. |
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(LO3) Gained an appreciation of the historical and cultural contexts in which this literature was produced. |
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(LO4) Gained an appreciation of the place of this literature within the traditions of literature in English. |
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(S1) International awareness: An understanding of American literature and culture as a global matter. |
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(S2) Independent research and essay writing skills: Ability to research and develop ideas in the form of an assessed essay. |
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(S3) Assessment planning skills: Ability to create a piece of formative assessment and develop it, through feedback and academic support, into a summative piece of written coursework. |
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(S4) Communication skills: Ability to discuss the cultural discourse of American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries in a seminar group. |
Syllabus |
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Topics covered will include: America’s global relations; American citizenship and race/legacies of slavery; American modernism; the great depression; postwar anxieties and the cold war; American approaches to gender and sexuality; paranoia and conspiracy; regional writing; the 1990s and the ‘end of history’. Texts/authors on the syllabus may be subject to change and are intended here to show the kind of reading required for each week. Writers studied may include Toni Morrison, Sylvia Plath, Willa Cather, Thomas Pynchon, Jhumpa Lahiri, Flannery O’ Connor and Colson Whitehead. Assessment will be via: - A 1000 word formative assessment (a plan for the assessed coursework at the end of the module) - A 3000-3500 word summative assessment which will take the form of a coursework essay - A Take-Home Exam (24 hours, to be scheduled by SAS) |
Teaching and Learning Strategies |
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Teaching Method 1 - Weekly 1-hour F2F tutorial with small group Self-Directed Learning Description: During this time, students will be required to read ahead to fulfil their required weekly reading, and also to read more widely from an extensive list of secondary material which will be provided by the convenor - this will be made available via VITAL and the library e-reading list. VITAL will also give students access to a series of blended learning options (links to online materials) that will enhance their learning. This time will also be used to write up assessment, both formative and summative. |
Teaching Schedule |
Lectures | Seminars | Tutorials | Lab Practicals | Fieldwork Placement | Other | TOTAL | |
Study Hours |
22 |
11 |
33 | ||||
Timetable (if known) |
60 mins X 2 totaling 22
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60 mins X 1 totaling 11
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Private Study | 267 | ||||||
TOTAL HOURS | 300 |
Assessment |
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EXAM | Duration | Timing (Semester) |
% of final mark |
Resit/resubmission opportunity |
Penalty for late submission |
Notes |
Assessment ID: Take-Home Exam (24 hours, to be scheduled by SAS) Assessment Description: Summative Anonymous Assessment: Yes Resit opportunity: Yes | 24 hours | 50 | ||||
CONTINUOUS | Duration | Timing (Semester) |
% of final mark |
Resit/resubmission opportunity |
Penalty for late submission |
Notes |
Assessment ID: Essay Plan Assessment Description: Formative Anonymous Assessment: No Resit opportunity: N/A | 800-1000 words | 0 | ||||
Summative Essay Anonymous Assessment: Yes Resit opportunity: Yes | 3000-3500 words | 50 |
Recommended Texts |
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Reading lists are managed at readinglists.liverpool.ac.uk. Click here to access the reading lists for this module. |