The Essay and Beyond: Creative Non-Fiction

Non-fiction writing has a strong place within the traditions of literature, but has often tended to be neglected as a subject of study. To redress this, we will look at different genres of non-fiction: essays, popular science, travel writing, nature writing, and various types of "life writing". We will question the particular techniques and generic distinctions of texts studied, consider the specific subjects of non-fiction texts, examine how the texts are constructed and discuss their significance in the contexts most relevant to them. In addition, the course will explore the representation of place, displacement and placement; the history of subjectivity; recent interventions into postcolonial, globalisation and literary studies, and ecocriticism and human-animal studies; and the operation of gender and class as they apply to the production and readership of literary non-fiction.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from ENGL, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

Cultural Politics/Cultural Activism

This course offers students a grounding in Cultural Studies theories and methods. It examines the political dynamics and historical foundations of contemporary culture, and the strategic roles that it can play as a force for change. Drawing from a wide variety of examples, it focuses on how culture - as a process, as a practice, and as the production of meaning - functions as a battleground in the assignment of and struggle for social power.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from CULT or ENGL, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

CULT202

Crime Stories

The course addresses the usefulness and range of the crime genre as an appropriate focus for the acquisition of the skills (in research, critical analysis, and written expression) peculiar to English studies, as well as a form of social and political critique. It will particularly concentrate on the last two centuries of the representations of crime, detection, confession, and punishments, assaying major trends and preoccupations present in a range of texts and theories. Within a general contextual examination of engagements between these facets, the development of genre forms and concerns will be considered, especially because the genre often speculates the fears and desires of its time in ways that likewise shape wider perceptions of crime and punishment. Students will be expected to read a range of key material, including a small selection of novels, some short fiction, theoretical writings and visual texts that should represent differences and similarities in representation and subject choice that writers and directors negotiate.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from CULT or ENGL, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

ENGL352; CULT252; CULT352

Exceptional Americans: An Introduction to American Literature

This course offers students the chance to engage with some of the most exceptional writers and texts in the American tradition and, at the same time, to think critically about the idea of exceptionalism itself.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from ENGL, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

ENGL109 and AMST110

Children's Classics: Popular Children's Texts and their Representation on Film

Children's Classics teaches the genre-specific nature of children's literature, its socio-historical contexts, and the significance of its re-readings as film. It introduces a selection of enduring children's texts, illustrating the importance to literary production of changing cultural context, demonstrating the importance of intertextuality in children's literature and how texts change when filmed, and promotes the skills of reading and writing.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from ENGL, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

CINE224

Creative Writing: Storymaking and the Short Story

This course explores short-form prose storytelling with a focus on the short story. Students will be introduced to a wide range of short story forms and structures, and writing exercises will guide students towards expanding their writing practice and examining their own developing voice and style. This is a workshop process course where discussion, critical attentiveness, supportive insight and diverse ways of thinking will contribute to considered craft and creative exchange.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from ENGL, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

Animals on Screen

This course explores cinematic representations of insects, mammals, fish, birds and reptiles, with an emphasis on their special place in horror and science fiction genres. Students will also be introduced to Human-Animal Studies as a field of scholarship.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from CULT or ENGL, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

AMST236, CULT206, GEND213, AMST331, GEND311, and ENGL349