Victorian 1: Writing the Times ENGLIT5093

  • Academic Session: 2023-24
  • School: School of Critical Studies
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: No

Short Description

This course identifies significant historical flashpoints from across the Victorian period and selects a cluster of texts that respond to an event or its legacy and effects. Students will be encouraged to develop their understanding of how history shapes textual production, reception and afterlives.  

Timetable

Ten x 2-hour seminars

Requirements of Entry

Standard entry to Masters at College level.

Excluded Courses

None.

Co-requisites

None.

Assessment

One short piece of critical writing of 1500 words (15%)

One final essay of 3500 words (75%)

One presentation of 10 minutes (10%)

Course Aims

The course aims to

■ introduce students to a wide range of primary sources in Victorian literature

■ enable them to engage with Victorian and 20/21C critical ideas about relationships between literary culture and Victorian history

■ encourage the acquisition of research skills through directed and independent study..

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ use a variety of critical approaches to write and talk about a wide range of primary texts from the Victorian period

■ select relevant critical sources in a well-informed way and show understanding of those sources' varying approaches to the period, especially as regards questions of relationships between history and literary culture.

■ express their views competently in speech and in writing, frame arguments concisely and at length, and to conform to appropriate scholarly conventions in the presentation of their work.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.