ENG-20038: Post-War British Fiction and Poetry

To study selected fiction and poetry produced in Britain from the end of the Second World War to the present.
To enable students to reflect on the social contexts and political ideologies that have dominated during the period (1945 to the present) and to consider the significance of a variety of literary texts in relation to these.
To provide students with a knowledge of various critical frameworks (cultural and literary) such as feminist theory, postmodernism and postcolonialism, and to develop an ability to work with these as part of an independent critical practice.
To enable students to appreciate and analyse the emergence and significance of different literary styles during the period.
To account for the importance of gender, class, sexual and racial identities in the literature of the period.

Intended Learning Outcomes

identify and assess critically the formal techniques used in post-war narrative fiction; will be achieved by assessments: 2, 3
identify and assess critically the formal techniques used in post-war poetry; will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2, 3
to identify trends in fiction and poetry over the period from 1945 to the present will be achieved by assessments: 2, 3
demonstrate close reading skills appropriate to the analysis of poetry. will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2, 3
demonstrate close reading skills appropriate to the analysis of ficiton. will be achieved by assessments: 2, 3
recognise how the interpretation of texts is enhanced by knowledge of the historical contexts informing the period from 1945 to the present; will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2, 3
recognise and employ critical concepts and terms used in modern critical study such as formalism, postmodernism, postcolonialism, and gender studies. will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2, 3

Study hours

lectures (11 hours)
small group classes (10 hours)
seminar preparation and private study (75 hours)
essay writing and preparation (43 hours)
formative exercise preparation and writing (10 hours)
essay feedback (1 hour)

Description of Module Assessment

01: Short Paper weighted 20%

Close reading of a short poem
Students will be asked to produce a close reading of a poem. They will be offered three poems to choose from. This exercise will be given out to students in Week 3, submitted in Week 5 and feedback will be given in Week 8.

02: Class Participation weighted 20%

Seminar preparation and contribution to seminar discussions
Students will be provided with seminar preparation sheets which they will be required to fill in each week. They will bring them to the seminar and use them to contribute to class discussions. these sheets will be handed in at the end of the seminar. Students will be assessed on their contribution to the seminar discussion.

03: 2 Hour Seen Exam weighted 60%

2-hour exam
The exam will have 2 parts. In the first part, students will write an analysis of an extract of prose fiction. They will be asked to choose one extract from three. The second part will be a general essay question chosen from a list of 8-10 options. The weighting for each part of the exam will be equal.

Version: (1.06B) Updated: 03/Mar/2013

This document is the definitive current source of information about this module and supersedes any other information.