| CODE | ENG1077 | ||||||||||||||||
| TITLE | Literary Criticism and Theory: An Introduction | ||||||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | English | ||||||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit seeks to ease students’ transition to undergraduate studies in literature, making students aware of some of the main differences between studying English at Advanced Level and studying English at undergraduate level and providing an introduction to some of the skills and key resources that are indispensable at this level. Students are first given a brief introduction to the different kinds of reference texts and electronic resources that are helpful when reading English at university. Paraphrasing skills, the appropriate formatting of footnotes and bibliographies, and some other essay writing skills are also considered. The unit begins with an exploration of what it means to read, respond, and write about different literary texts. Students learn how to conduct an analysis of plot, narration, character, setting, symbol, and theme in an essay for which they submit multiple drafts. They practice summary, paraphrase, description, and critique. Through multiple drafts they learn how to build an academic argument and fine tune it through editing and proofreading. In addition, the unit offers workshops on how to use HYDI, TURNITIN, REFWORKS and MHRA. The unit is a foundation for Writing Seminars units held throughout the undergraduate programme. The main part of the study-unit aims to provide first year undergraduates with a more comprehensive understanding of the history of English literature, tracing some of its developments from the Old English Period to the present, mainly through a discussion of extracts from the work of major authors from each period. Students will be encouraged to consider the extent to which the creation of the literature of the future is dependent on a dialogue with the literature of the past and how literary history puts the present in perspective. The unit is therefore an opportunity for discovery, comparison and wider reading. After having followed this study-unit, students should be able to confidently assign single literary works to a context, and will have gained a clearer sense of what English literature consists of as well as of how different authors and texts are related to others chronologically and stylistically. Reading List: - Andrew Sanders, The Short Oxford History of English Literature (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994) - Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle, This Thing Called Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing (London: Routledge, 2015) - Kelly J. Mays, The Norton Introduction to Literature: Shorter Thirteenth Edition (New York: Norton and Company, 2019) - Paul Poplawski, English Literature in Context (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008). Course Pack (provided at the beginning of the study-unit). |
||||||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
||||||||||||||||
| LECTURER/S | Mario Aquilina Norbert Bugeja Giuliana Fenech Marija Grech |
||||||||||||||||
|
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
|||||||||||||||||