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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : English Literature

Undergraduate Course: Literary Studies 1B (ENLI08021)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryProse may appear so familiar as not to need any further introduction and yet it traverses the line between 'fact' and 'fiction,' encapsulates a wide variety of forms and fulfills a remarkable range of functions; for example, from a tag line through the short story to serial novels or from fantasy fiction to political polemic. Indeed, most critical debates within the field of literary studies, as well as the assessment of most of our courses, take place in prose form (usually essays). This course will explore the key terms and concepts needed to analyse prose texts critically and develop your own writing and bibliographical skills.
Course description On this course you will be encouraged to develop your close-reading skills in the genre of prose (fictional and non-fictional). You will be introduced to some key concepts in literary criticism (e.g., narration, intentionality, habits of reading) and acquire the associated specialist terminology needed to identify and explain how a literary text engages with accepted conventions. While some texts will be studied in full, lectures and tutorials will draw on a variety of examples by writers from diverse backgrounds to ensure you are encouraged to reflect on how diverse experiences and context affect the discussion of authorship and readership. Lectures will provide you with appropriate terminology and demonstrate how this is used in practice; to consolidate your understanding, you will undertake regular exercises both individually and in small groups to prepare for broader discussion in weekly hour-long tutorials and engage with quizzes that will test your acquisition of technical vocabulary. In your final assessments, you will be expected to demonstrate how you can reflect upon and apply what you have learned by producing a close reading of a prose extract, and an essay on the theory and practice of prose.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Literary Studies 1A (ENLI08020)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs Course Texts
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  350
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 22, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 163 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Close-reading exercise (1 x 1,500 words) 40%
Essay (2,000 words) 60%
Feedback Autonomous Learning Group activities, LO 1, 2, 3 (weekly);
Weekly preparation exercises LO 1, 2, 3, 4
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Identify and define the key technical terms used to analyse fictional and non-fictional prose.
  2. Produce critical close readings that demonstrate an understanding of genre, varieties of form, and literary critical terms relevant to fictional and non-fictional prose.
  3. Critically evaluate how writers use these forms for different effects by paying attention to rhetorical detail, providing textual evidence, and engaging with literary criticism.
  4. Confidently make use of a range of university study skills, including close-reading, essay-writing and appropriate scholarly referencing.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Communication skills (verbal and written); interpersonal skills; critical thinking; team working; independent learning and development.
KeywordsLiterary studies,narrative,fiction and non-fiction,close reading,technical language
Contacts
Course organiserDr Tim Milnes
Tel: (0131 6)50 3615
Email: tim.milnes@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Lina Gordyshevskaya
Tel:
Email: pgordysh@ed.ac.uk
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