EN2MDR: Modern Drama

Module Provider:

English

Number of credits:

20 [10 ECTS credits]

Level:

I (Intermediate)

Terms in which taught:

Spring

Module Convenor:

Dr MK Davies

Pre-requisites:

EN1LL or EN1RS or EN1WKT

Co-requisites:

Modules excluded:

FT2US1A FT2BTA FT2US1B FT2BTB

Module version for:

2006/7

Aims:
This module aims to equip students with a critical and historical understanding of some major developments in modern drama, and to promote awareness of relationships between the selected texts and their contexts of production.

Assessable learning outcomes:
By the end of the module it is expected that students will be able to:
• recognise and analyse the distinctive features of the texts selected for study
• demonstrate an understanding of key themes and seminal movements in modern drama
• discuss aspects of the relationship between text, performance and society
• explain and appraise significant theatrical and theoretical debates arising from the texts
• engage critically with the ideas presented in lectures, seminars, or secondary materials
• organize and articulate a coherent written argument, both in coursework essays and under timed examination conditions

Additional outcomes:
Skills of oral communication and effective collaboration will be encouraged in group work, and students will develop their IT competence through the word-processing of assessed work and the use of relevant web resources.

Outline content:
An opening lecture provides a theoretical and historical outline of major developments in pre-twentieth-century drama, and introduces students to critical terms and definitions. Thereafter, lectures and seminars will focus on a range of influential plays selected either for their representative status or for the extent to which they effected radical change in the perception and presentation of drama in the twentieth-century. The nominated texts are as follows: A Doll’s House (Ibsen), Caucasian Chalk Circle (Brecht), Death of a Salesman (Miller), Waiting for Godot (Beckett), Look Back in Anger (Osborne), The Homecoming (Pinter), and Hysteria (Johnson). Particular attention will be given to such topics as ‘political’ drama, absurdism, ‘Theatre of Cruelty’, naturalism, and the techniques of ‘Epic’ theatre. Throughout, relationships between drama and performance, and the intersections between drama and society, will remain central to the module’s concerns.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:
A combination of lectures and seminars, with one essay tutorial. Students will be expected to do preparatory reading for seminars, and to contribute to group work. Video clips of plays in production will be used to explore some of the relationships between text and performance.

Contact hours:

Assessment:
Coursework:
Students write one non-assessed essay of approximately 1500 words for supervision. They also submit a second essay, of no more than 2000 words, for formal assessment.
Relative percentage of coursework : Assessed Essay 33%
Penalties for late submission:
Ten marks (out of 100 on the normal University scale) will be deducted from a piece of work submitted up to one calendar week after the original deadline or any formally agreed extension of that deadline. Once this period has elapsed, a mark of zero will be recorded.
Examinations:
A two-hour paper requiring two answers. The examination carries 67% of the overall mark.
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 resubmitted by 1 September.