English Studies at NEWI

 

The study of English at NEWI aims to reflect the richness and diversity of writing from Chaucer to the present, looking at major works of poetry, narrative and drama, and with an eye to contemporary issues and concerns. We also introduce writing from America, Europe and Africa, whilst also providing the opportunity for you to develop skills in creative writing.

English can be taken as a Single, Major, Joint or Minor Honours degree route. Single Honours students take all available modules listed below; Major students take up to a total of 24 modules, eight at each level; Joint students take up to 18 modules, 6 at each level; Minor students take up to 12 modules, 4 at each level.

The following Major, Joint and Minor combinations are possible for 1997/8:

o        English with History (Major/Minor)

o        English/History (Joint)

o        English with Geography (Major/Minor)

o        English/Geography (Joint)

o        English with Media Studies (Major/Minor)

o        English/Media Studies (Joint)

o        English with Psychology (Major/Minor)

Modules at Levels 1 and 2 are taught on a semester basis, that is, studied for half the academic year; Level 3 modules are taught for the whole academic year. In Level 3 all students write a Dissertation (worth 2 double-modules) in an area of their choice. Finally, in Levels 1 and 2, students have the option of taking "electives", that is, modules in subjects outside of their principal subject(s).

 

Level I Modules

Semester 1

Introduction to Poetry: foundation-level study of poetic form, devices and structures, approached through close study of a wide range of examples.

Introduction to Narrative: an introduction to the basic forms, styles and strategies used in narrative, approached through the close study of one core text (J Conrad’s Heart of Darkness) and assorted extracts.

Introduction to Drama: a study of the basic ingredients of dramatic performance and interpretation, including some practical drama.

"Between the Acts": a study of writing in the inter-War period, including works by E M Forster, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley, Graham Greene, Scott Fitzgerald and George Orwell.

Chaucer: study of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, including the study of one tale in detail.

Process, Practice and Product I: The first module in the creative writing strand, which introduces composition and shaping in all three major genres, poetry, prose and narrative.

 

Semester 2

Victorian and Edwardian Writing: exploration of key texts in the late Victorian and Edwardian period, from Mrs Gaskell and late Victorian poets, Thomas Hardy and Joseph Conrad.

Edwardian and Modernist Writing: dealing with the late Edwardian period and British and American early modernist writing.

Modern European Drama: considers the range of European drama from Ibsen to the present, and includes some exploration of contemporary television drama.

Popular Fiction: the study of texts generally considered to be outside the literary canon, including John Buchan, Catherine Cookson, Daphne du Maurier, Richard Adams and Frederick Forsyth.

Contemporary British Women Novelists: a study of the range of modern and contemporary women novelists, including Angela Carter, Anita Brookner, Fay Weldon and Emma Tennant.

Transferable Skills: all NEWI Level I students take this module, which aims to develop a range of presentation, research, IT, personal effectiveness and vocational awareness skills.

Level 2

Semester 1

Shakespeare I: this module explores Shakespeare’s development up to 1600, with exploration of the Histories and Comedies.

Critical Theory: introduction to the range of modern critical approaches to literature and its interpretation, including Marxist, structuralist, feminist, liberal humanist and formalist criticism.

Romantic Poetry: traces the development of British poetry from William Blake through to Lord Byron, with reference to historical, social and cultural contexts.

The Nineteenth Century Novel: considers the development of the English Novel from Jane Austen, through Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens, George Eliot and Thomas Hardy.

Process, Practice and Product II; the second of the creative writing modules, developing the skills and approaches across all three major genres.

American Narratives: looks at the range of nineteenth and twentieth century American fiction and the ways in which it responds to changes within America from 1850 to the present.

 

Semester 2

Shakespeare II: examines Shakespeare’s development after 1600, with particular consideration of the Tragedies, Problem Plays, and the Romances.

English Prose in the Eighteenth Century: explores the early days of the novel, from the works of Defoe and Swift through to Richardson and Fielding.

Romantic Prose and Criticism: parallels the Romantic Poetry module, but looks at the impact of Romanticism on prose, including Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the novels of Jane Austen, and its continuation into the mid-Victorian period (Jane Eyre).

The Twentieth Century Novel: traces the development of the Novel after 1900, and includes the study of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, inter-War writers through to the modern day.

Process, Practice and Product III: the third of the creative writing modules, which works towards production of a finished piece of writing in one or more genres.

Aspects of Love and Ideas on Humanity: introduction to some key texts and ideas of the period from 1590 to 1660, and includes consideration of writiers such as Milton, Donne, Jonson and Spenser.

 

Level III (All double modules)

 

Aspects of English Literature, 1590-1660: a detailed consideration of the writers of the Elizabethan and Jacobean period.

Twentieth Century Poetry: explores the depths of major poetry from Yeats and Eliot through to the present day.

Ancient and Modern Tragedy: this genre-based double-module looks at the variety and development of "tragedy", from the Greeks though to modern day literature and film.

Modern and Contemporary Writing: an in-depth exploration of writing from 1945 to the present, including American and Afro-Caribbean texts.

The European Novel: examines the development of the novel in Europe, from Flaubert and Balzac through Dostoevsky and Tolstoy to Mann, Sartre and Camus. Texts are studies in English translation.

 

Dissertation: all students, at Level 3, write an 8,000-word Dissertation, which involves close study of a writer or area of their own choice. Students work on this throughout the year, and submit the finished piece in April of their final year.

 

For further details contact Dr Richard Dover (01978-293272 or email "doverr@newi.ac.uk") or see http://www.newi.ac.uk/rdover/courses.htm"

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