Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25
None
Available as a Free Standing Elective
No
Aims
- to analyse and discuss the relationship between the detective and the city across a number of cultural fields: literature, visual art and film;- to treat the detective as a figure which reflects economic, demographic, cultural and political changes in American cities, and anxieties aboutidentity and status attending those changes;- to pay close attention to the detective as a peculiarly reflexive figure, someone who, in his or her quest to reconstruct plot and deliver explanation, reflects the processes both of the reader and the writer;- to discuss not only traditional detectives, but also broader theoretical issues of reading, spectatorship and criticism which will be of value tostudents in their further literary studies.
Intended Learning Outcomes
describe and evaluate basic features of multi-disciplinary scholarship (literary, historical and/or political) relating to study of the United States: 1,2analyse and interpret a range of primary and secondary written and/or visual sources: 1,2make coherent arguments based on evidence and analysis orally and in writing: 1,2relate textual analysis to social, cultural and historical contexts: 1,2carry out research using a range of textual and electronic resources: 1,2employ the basic bibliographical, referencing, and presentation requirements of the core disciplines: 1,2analyse features of the social, historical, and political identity of the United States: 1,2
1-hour weekly workshops + 2-hour weekly seminars= 36 hours; 50 hours tutorial and seminar preparation, including discussion threads; 64 hours assessment preparation.
Description of Module Assessment
1: Short Paper weighted 30%Close reading exercise of 1,000 wordsStudents will carry out a detailed close reading of an extract from one of the texts featured in
the first few weeks of the module.
2: Essay weighted 70%Discursive essay on one or two of the texts featured on the module, 2,000 words.Students will complete an essay of 2,000 words on one or two of the texts on the module, with reference to secondary critical material.