| CODE | ENG2290 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Genre: Creative Nonfiction | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | English | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Creative nonfiction, also often called 'literary nonfiction', is any form of writing that takes styles, narrative devices and other elements from literature and applies them in nonfictional contexts, thus combining the appeal to 'fact' characteristic of nonfiction with the attention to the aesthetics of language defining the literary. This unit provides an introduction to creative nonfiction through a specific focus on important works in several sub-genres of creative nonfiction, mainly, the essay, memoir, literary journalism and creative criticism. Some of the authors who may be discussed in this unit are Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Roland Barthes, Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Annie Dillard , Brian Dillon, William Hazlitt, George Orwell, Claudia Rankine, Zadie Smith, Rebecca Solnit, Susan Sontag, Jonathan Swift, Gay Talese, David Foster Wallace, Tom Wolfe and Virginia Woolf. Study-unit Aims: - To introduce students to the genre of creative nonfiction; - To study examples of selected sub-genres of creative nonfiction, including the essay, literary journalism, memoir and creative criticism; - To explore the relation between creative nonfiction and literature; - To foster an appreciation for the literary use of English in non-fictional contexts. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - identify key examples of creative nonfiction from literary history; - discuss creative nonfiction as a genre; - discuss the relation between creative nonfiction and literature; - critically analyse given examples of creative nonfiction written in various sub-genres; - reflect on the notion of genre through a specific consideration of creative nonfiction. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - write full-length essays about the defining characteristics of creative nonfiction; - analyse and evaluate given examples of creative nonfiction; - appreciate the ways in which literary devices such as style, narrative and imagery may be used in nonfiction writing; - discuss the notions of genre and hybridity of genre; - write about the ways in which various language strategies contribute to the production of memorable and effective writing. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: There is no textbook for the unit, but a selection of essays and chapters from a range of books will be recommended to students in every occurrence. The following books, though not compulsory reading, will be useful to anyone taking the course: - Singer, Margot, and Nicole Walker, Bending Genre: Essays on Creative Nonfiction (Bloomsbury, 2013) - Butrym, Alexander J. (ed.), Essays on the Essay: Redefining the Genre (University of Georgia Press, 1989) - Foster, Patricia and Jeff Porter (eds), Understanding the Essay (Broadview Press, 2012) - Williford, Lex and Michael Martone, Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: Work from 1970 to Present (Simon & Schuster, 2007) - Benson, Stephen and Clare Connors, Creative Criticism: An Anthology and Guide (Edinburgh University Press, 2014) - Aquilina, Mario, ed., The Essay at the Limits (New York and London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021). |
||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
||||||||||||
| LECTURER/S | Mario Aquilina |
||||||||||||
|
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 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
|||||||||||||