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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : Lifelong Learning (LLC)

Undergraduate Course: Banned Books: Novels which have Courted Controversy (LLLG07071)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 7 (Year 1 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryTHIS IS A FOR-CREDIT COURSE OFFERED BY THE OFFICE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING (OLL); ONLY STUDENTS REGISTERED WITH OLL SHOULD BE ENROLLED.

This course discusses novels that have caused controversy. We will look at each of the novels in context, considering how contemporary readers responded to them. The reading list includes novels which shocked readers because of their treatment of issues like war and slavery or their use of profanity. We will also consider works that depict a society of the future whose horrors did not seem far away enough from the present. We will think about whether these novels really are fundamentally controversial or simply challenge the social and political mores of their times.
Course description Week 1 and Week 2: Confronting the past: Toni Morrison's 'spiteful venom' on slavery.
Text: Toni Morrison: Beloved

Week 3 and Week 4: Offending the sensibilities of the Booker judges: Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting.
Text: Irvine Welsh: Trainspotting

Week 5 and Week 6: Satirising wartime bureaucracy: Heller's Catch 22.
Text: Joseph Heller: Catch 22

Week 7 and Week 8: Envisioning a future which was a bit too much like the present: Atwood's Handmaid's Tale
Text: Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale

Week 9 and Week 10: 'Promoting euthanasia'? John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
Text: John Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2014/15, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Lifelong Learning - Session 3
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 20, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 78 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) One 2000 word essay submitted after the courses finishes, worth 100% of the total course mark.
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
* confidently discuss texts.
* assess literature based on close reading.
* place literature in its historical context.
* understand the various issues which affect the critical and public response to novels.
Reading List
Essential:
Morrison. Toni. 1997. Beloved. London: Vintage.
Welsh, Irvine. 1994. Trainspotting. London: Vintage.
Heller, Joseph. 2011. Catch 22. London: Vintage.
Atwood, Margaret. 1996. The Handmaid's Tale. London: Vintage.
Steinbeck, John. 2006. Of Mice and Men. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Recommended:
Mullan, John. 2008. How Novels Work. OUP, Oxford.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and 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 relevant secondary material.
Special Arrangements None
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Anya Clayworth
Tel:
Email: aclaywor@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Sabine Murdoch
Tel: (0131 6)51 1855
Email: Sabine.Murdoch@ed.ac.uk
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