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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2013/2014
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : Lifelong Learning (LLC)

Undergraduate Course: The Great Detectives 4 (LLLG07056)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Course typeStandard AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 7 (Year 1 Undergraduate) Credits10
Home subject areaLifelong Learning (LLC) Other subject areaNone
Course website None Taught in Gaelic?No
Course descriptionTHIS IS A FOR-CREDIT COURSE OFFERED BY THE OFFICE OF LIFELONG LEARNING (OLL); ONLY STUDENTS REGISTERED WITH OLL SHOULD BE ENROLLED.

Detective fiction is a fascinating genre because of the sheer multiplicity of novels within it. This course aims to tease out the different approaches that detective fiction writers have used. We will study a novel of the American neo-noir in which the author resists the temptation to resolve the ending alongside the first-person narrative of a young detective with learning disabilities. We will also consider the impact of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood in changing the direction of detective fiction towards more postmodern factional techniques.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs None
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2013/14 Lifelong Learning - Session 2, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Learn enabled:  No Quota:  0
Web Timetable Web Timetable
Course Start Date 13/01/2014
Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 78 )
Additional Notes
Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
No Exam Information
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
* discuss texts confidently;
* assess literature based, to a certain extent, on their own close reading;
* place literature in its historical context;
* explain the various elements of the genre of detective fiction;
* demonstrate a good understanding of how the genre has developed and diversified.
Assessment Information
2000 word essay submitted after the course finishes, worth 100% of the total course mark.
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus Week 1 and Week 2: Recording experiences in a 'murder mystery novel': a discussion of a rather unusual detective and a rather unusual crime.
Text: Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Week 3 and Week 4: 'Very little is discovered and the detective is defeated': Umberto Eco's post-modern take on historical detective fiction.
Text: Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose

Week 5 and Week 6: 'The book's suspense is based largely on a totally new idea in detective stories: the promise of gory details, and the withholding of them until the end.' (Tom Wolfe) A discussion on how Capote's novel changed detective fiction.
Text: Truman Capote: In Cold Blood

Week 7 and Week 8: An auctioneer turned detective: Welsh's Rilke in Glasgow.
Text: Louise Welsh: The Cutting Room

Week 9 and Week 10: A discussion of James Ellroy's neo-noir style and his refusal to tie up his loose ends.
Text: James Ellroy: L. A. Confidential
Transferable skills * Close critical reading of passages from texts.
* Small group working.
* Setting literature in historical, social and political context.
* Advance preparation of material for class including work for essays and class discussion.
* Wide reading. Students will be encouraged to work around the subject by reading other detective novels and relevant secondary material.
Reading list Essential
Eco, Umberto 2004. The Name of the Rose. London: Vintage.
Capote, Truman 2009. In Cold Blood. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Ellroy, James 1995. L. A. Confidential. London: Arrow.
Haddon, Mark 2004. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. London: Vintage.
Welsh, Louise 2003. The Cutting Room. Edinburgh: Cannongate.

Recommended
Priestman, Martin ed., 2003. The Cambridge Companion to Detective Fiction. Cambridge: CUP.
Scaggs, John 2005. Crime Fiction. London: Routledge.
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserMs Rachael King
Tel:
Email: Rachael.King@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Diane Mcmillan
Tel: (0131 6)50 6912
Email: D.McMillan@ed.ac.uk
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