EN3WIT: The witty and the wanton: Donne, Jonson and their contemporaries

Module Provider:

English

Number of credits:

20 [10 ECTS credits]

Level:

H (Honours)

Terms in which taught:

Autumn

Module Convenor:

Dr ME Morrissey

Pre-requisites:

English Part 1

Co-requisites:

Modules excluded:

Module version for:

2007/8

Aims:
This module provides students with knowledge and understanding of early seventeenth-century non-dramatic literature in its literary, social and cultural context. It aims to familiarise students with a wide range of texts by canonical and less well-known seventeenth-century poets and writers and to develop a greater understanding of the seventeenth-century literary genres studied.

Assessable learning outcomes:
By the end of the module students will be expected to:
• show skills of close textual analysis
• show an awareness of broader theoretical issues generated by the texts
• engage critically with ideas discussed in seminars
• construct and express coherent arguments, both orally and in writing.

Additional outcomes:
Transferable Skills
Each module is designed to encourage you to develop skills of oral communication and effective participation in group work. Additionally, you will be encouraged to enhance your IT competence through the use of relevant web resources and library databases, and through the word-processing of assessed coursework.

Outline content:
The focus of each week’s work will vary, sometimes being a major author, sometimes a theme or style in order to contextualise or interrogate the work of particular author/ authors. We will examine some of the poetry of writers like John Donne, Ben Jonson and Aemilia Lanyer. The politics of literature, particularly during the Civil War years, will be examined through the writings of ‘Cavalier’ poets like Robert Herrick and Richard Lovelace as well as radicals like Margaret Fell Fox.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:
Students will receive preliminary information about the modules they will be taking in the preceding tem. There will be 9 meetings of two hours per week. The exact method of teaching will vary from seminar to seminar, but most modules are taught largely through two-hour seminars involving group discussion. Some modules may include occasional lectures. You may be asked to give brief seminar papers or oral reports. You are entitled to half an hour of tutorial feedback on your non-assessed essay.

Contact hours:

Assessment:
Coursework
You will be asked to write one non-assessed piece of coursework of 1,500 words and to submit one or two assessed pieces of coursework up to a maximum of 2,500 words.

Examinations
There will be a two-hour examination paper.

Each component will account for 50% of the mark of the module.

Penalties for late submissions
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.

Requirement for a pass
An average 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.