Module Provider: |
English |
Number of credits: |
20 [10 ECTS credits] |
Level: |
H (Honours) |
Terms in which taught: |
Spring |
Module Convenor: |
Dr
NAL
Bradbury |
Pre-requisites: |
AT1ALF
|
Co-requisites: |
|
Modules excluded: |
|
Current from: |
2005/6 |
Aims:
Specialist options allow students to develop their knowledge and skills in particular disciplines in greater depth and focus. This literature option aims to develop an informed appreciation of the work of Henry James, from the early short novels to the late non-fiction. Close study of selected texts from four periods is designed to promote awareness of critical debates surrounding James's development if the novel form within aesthetic, philosophical and cultural contexts. |
Assessable learning outcomes:
By the end of the module students will be expected to:
employ critical skills of textual analysis to demonstrate an understanding of the literature they have studied
analyse some of the ways in which James's work engenders aesthetic and philosophical debate
discuss the significance of cultural context to fictional form and theme in James's work
research, organize and articulate a scholarly critical argument in written work |
Additional outcomes:
|
Outline content:
Henry James's work can be viewed as developing through four phases: from The Europeans and the early novels to The Portrait of a Lady (1881); the dramatic years, including What Maisie Knew (1897) and The Awkward Age (1899); the late novels, culminating in The Golden Bowl (1904); and the late non-fiction in The American Scene (1907) and A Small Boy and Others (1913). Identifying such phases allows students taking this module to engage with the formal, aesthetic, philosophical, and cultural issues explored in his writing, whilst linking each critical enquiry to specific texts. James's work thus provides a site for discussion of major concerns in the novel form and its cultural force. |
Brief description of teaching
and learning methods:
A seminar-based module, interspersed with occasional lectures. Students also receive individual tutorial guidance on their written work. |
Contact hours:
| |
Autumn |
Spring |
Summer |
| Lectures |
|
4 |
|
| Tutorials/seminars |
|
10.5 |
|
| Practicals |
|
|
|
| Other contact (eg study visits) |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| Total hours |
|
16.5 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Number of essays or assignments |
|
2 |
|
| Other (eg major seminar paper) |
|
|
|
|
Assessment:
Coursework:
Students write one non-assessed essay of approximately 1500 words. They also submit a second essay, of no more than 2000 words, for formal assessment.
Relative percentage of coursework:33%
Examinations
A two-hour paper requiring two answers. The examination accounts for 67% of the overall mark for the module.
Requirements for a pass
An average mark of 40%
Reassessment arrangements
Re-examination in September. Coursework will be carried forward if it bears a confirmed mark of 40% or more. Otherwise it must be submitted by 1 September. |
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