LITERATURA INGLESA CONTEMPORÁNEA

Grado en Estudios Ingleses

Universidad de Alcalá

Curso Académico 2012/13 3º y 4º Curso – 2º Cuatrimestre

2

GUÍA DOCENTE

Nombre de la asignatura: Literatura Inglesa Contemporánea

Código: 251023

Titulación en la que se imparte: Estudios Ingleses

Departamento y Área de Conocimiento:

Filología Moderna Filología Inglesa

Carácter: Optativa

Créditos ECTS: 8

Cursos: 3º y 4º

Profesorado: Alberto Lázaro

Horario de Tutoría: Se publicará cuando el horario de clases esté disponible

Idioma en el que se imparte: Inglés

1. MODULE DESCRIPTION To complete the view of the literary periods and genres studied earlier, this module is designed to cover the major authors and the significant trends of English literature from 1945 to the present. Prerequisites: Since all activities are conducted in English, the module assumes a good working knowledge of English (Common European Framework level B2.2 or above).

2. AIMS

Generic competences:

1. Think in a critical way and be able to learn a set of critical reading skills.

2. Develop skills of comprehension, argument and analysis.

3. Express ideas and arguments with clarity and economy, both in written and spoken English.

4. Use library and research skills to find and organise information.

5. Be able to learn both independently and co-operatively.

Subject specific competences: Knowledge

1. Identify general cultural and social developments for the period involved.

3

2. Outline and characterise the main developments of British poetry, fiction and drama of the period involved.

3. Describe in outline the principal literary concerns, themes, styles and symbols of the main writers of the period.

4. Recognise and discuss the thematic and formal characteristics of example literary works for this period and relate them to general cultural and literary movements.

Skills

1. Analyse, interpret and discuss the selected literary works in detail by means of oral presentations and essays.

2. Develop an understanding of critical terminology and theoretical perspectives for the analysis of the texts.

3. Write about the selected texts, providing accurate and detailed reference in support of their views.

4. Place passages or works in precise contexts.

5. Demonstrate the ability to perform research and assimilate source information (from traditional library as well as electronic sources) into clear, coherent, well-documented argumentative essays.

Attitudes

1. Increase their understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of literature.

2. Develop an awareness that reading is an active, creative process which can unlock a range of possible meanings from a novel, play or poem.

3. Demonstrate an understanding of and respect for cultural and social diversity.

4. Develop independent thought and response to the literary texts studied.

5. Relate literature to their own experience and to the world around them.

3. MODULE CONTENTS

Units Hours

1. British society and culture since 1945 • The social, economic and cultural background. • The literary scene.

3 hours

2. Post-war poetry • From Modernist poetry to "The Movement" and “The Group”: Philip

Larkin. • Confessional and expressionist poetry: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. • "Pop" poetry. • Experimental poetry: modernist techniques and "Concrete verse". • The Minimalist School: Ian Hamilton.

6 hours

4

3. Post-war fiction • The reaction against Modernism: the Victorian narrative tradition,

chronicles and anti-heroes. • Trends towards fantasy: science fiction and the heroic fantasy. • Moral issues: William Golding, Iris Murdoch, Muriel Spark, Anthony

Burgess.

6 hours

4. A plurality of poetic voices • The Scottish and Northern Irish Renaissance: Seamus Heaney. • Working-class poetry: Tony Harrison and Douglas Dunn • "Martian Poetry": Craig Raine.

6 hours

5. Late developments in poetry • The woman poet and the continuities of feminism: Gillian Clarke and

Carol Ann Duffy. • Black poetry: Fred D'Aguiar, James Berry, Benjamin Zephania, Levi

Tafari and Merle Collins. • New Narrative poetry: Andrew Motion and James Fenton. • New Generation Poets

6 hours

6. Postmodernist fictions • Towards a definition of "Postmodernism". • The awareness of fictionality: John Fowles. • The historical turn: Julian Barnes, A. S. Byatt and Hilary Mantel.

6 hours

7. Late developments in fiction • Women novelists: Angela Carter and Zadie Smith. • The academic novel: Malcolm Bradbury, A. S. Byatt, Amit Chaudhuri

and David Lodge. • The “Condition of England” novel: Martin Amis. • British fiction and postcolonialism • New century fictions: Ian McEwan

6 hours

8. Late developments in drama • The post-war dramatic revival. • National Theatres: the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National

Theatre Company. • Alternative drama: political, feminist and gay theatre. • Physical and visual theatre. • Farces and comedies: Alan Ayckbourn.

6 hours

A week-by-week schedule of lecture and seminar topics, set readings, workshops and tutorials will be provided at the start of the course

4. TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS Module time is devoted to lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials, which include group work, class discussions, critical reading, critical writing and oral presentations. Students are greatly encouraged towards independence, and project work figures

5

large in this module, so they acquire not only academic skills, but learn how to manage time and decision making effectively. During the workshops students will be involved in writing an “Author Report” and will be asked to orally present their findings to the group. Students are expected to read the set texts before they are discussed in the seminars. There can be no substitute for reading the original work and it is the student's response to and knowledge of those works that mainly matter. Attendance and participation Faithful attendance and regular participation in class are expected. Additionally, seminars will involve students working in small groups. Each student is expected to participate as a group member, neither dominating participation nor failing to participate.

Student workload: 200 hours

Class-contact hours: 50 15 lectures, 30 seminars, 2 workshops, 1 tutorial and 2 exams (2 hours).

Independent learning: 150

This time includes studying lectures notes, reading literary texts, seminar preparation (reading journal), researching, working with other students to co-produce a report, and preparing an oral presentation.

Learning activities

Face-to-face hours

• Lectures provide an introduction and overview of the topic under discussion.

• Seminars explore the issues in more detail through analysis and discussion of selected works.

• Workshops: students will have two workshop sessions in groups (up to ten students) over the semester. The purpose of these workshops will be to assist students to prepare the “Author Report”. - Workshop 1: Introducing the research project / Decisions on research topic - Workshop 2: Checking the progress of the Author Report / Presentation of first results / Solving problems and making decisions

• Tutorials are specific research-oriented sessions, conducted under the supervision of the teacher. There will be one meeting of the tutorial group (up to six students) over the semester, which will include training activities in oral and written presentation of research results.

Reading journal • Guided reading of the set texts.

• The reading journal involves entries that are

6

responses to the literary texts students are reading. Prior to some class meetings students are required to write a journal entry that identifies and develops a specific response that they had to the reading assignment for that day.

Author Report

• The Author report consists of gathering information and reflecting about an author from the period studied in the areas covered in this module: his life, historical and cultural background, major works, outstanding literary features, writing philosophy, etc. This author should not be someone students have read extensively for other classes.

• All this information should be organised into sections which define the author’s main literary characteristics.

• Once students have done research on the writer, they will prepare an oral presentation and a written report.

Individual tutorials

• Tutorials provide a valuable opportunity for individualized teaching and learning.

• Interested students can attend individual tutorials by appointment to explore issues they find particularly challenging or interesting, to discuss problems with either course material or study strategy.

Optional assignments

• Research Papers: students may discuss any literary topic of their choice, as long as it is related to one of the set texts of this course. The teacher will help students to decide what is feasible if they are having trouble.

• Response papers: students may submit personal responses to other works by writers of the period that they have read. The length of these papers should be between 2 and 3 double-spaced pages.

Materials and resources

A variety of poems and short extracts from plays and novels will form the basis of the literary analysis and discussions in the seminars. Among others, we shall discuss literary texts by Philip Larkin, Ted Hughes, Adrian Mitchell, Ian Hamilton, Kingsley Amis, Alan Sillitoe, William Golding, Anthony Burgess, Seamus Heaney, Craig Raine, Carol Ann Duffy, Julian Barnes, Douglas Dunn, Fred D'Aguiar, James Berry, Merle Collins, Levi Tafari, David Lodge and Tom Stoppard. Copies of the assigned poems and extracts will be provided by the teacher. In addition, the following full texts will be studied, and students will be asked to provide these for themselves: - John Fowles: The French Lieutenant's Woman

7

- Angela Carter: “The Company of Wolves”, in The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

- Zadie Smith: White Teeth - Caryl Churchill: Top Girls Students will be supported through an e-learning platform (Blackboard), which will be used: - as a supplement to the module - as a tool for self-study activities and independent revisions of module materials - for class communication

5. ASSESSMENT Continuous assessment The assessment of the programme will be based on seminar work, written assignments, oral presentations and two exams:

• Participation: 10% • Author Report: 20% • Reading journal: 30% • Midterm exam: 20% • Final exam: 20% • Total: 100%

Extra assignments will earn bonus marks, e.g. a research paper will add 1 point (10%) to the final score. Around mid-semester and at the semester’s end, students will be asked to demonstrate what they have learned in the form of one-hour written exams. They may include objective questions (multiple choice, true/false, matching, etc.), short answer questions (definitions, identifications, examples, relationships, etc.) and short discussion questions (personal response tasks, analytical writing, etc.). Assessment criteria Students will be expected to demonstrate: - A thorough knowledge and understanding both of the themes and of the individual

works studied. - An ability to respond to literary texts critically, sensitively and in detail, using

appropriate terminology and textual evidence, and coherent, accurate written expression.

- Detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in literary texts, considering different approaches to texts and alternative interpretations.

- Understanding of the significance and influence of the social, cultural and historical contexts in which literary texts are written and received.

- A considerable level of class participation, which will be assessed in all the learning activities.

8

- High standards of presentation and of written and oral English in all submitted coursework. By the end of the module students are expected to have acquired the language level required for each course (C1.1 by the end of the 3rd year and C1.2 by the end of the 4th year).

Reading journal entries will be marked taking into account the following aspects: content, illustration, organisation and expression. Similarly, the Author Report will include a short oral presentation, which will be marked for content, organisation, expression and delivery. Further details about the characteristics and the marking of the reading journal and the Author Report will be provided by the teacher. Students are warned that plagiarism will not be tolerated. The ideas from other sources, regardless of whether they are quoted, summarized or paraphrased, must be documented adequately. According to article 34 of the University regulation on evaluation, any plagiarism found in the final version of a paper will be penalised and could result in the failure of the module. The teacher will provide students with assessment cover sheets for written work, which certifies that their submitted work is entirely their own or appropriately referenced. Grading descriptors - Outstanding (MH): Students display an outstanding grasp of the aims and

contents of the module. All assessment criteria have been achieved to an exceptionally high level. Author Reports and Reading Journals show that students have read and thought at a level well beyond what is expected on the module. Students attend lectures and are always well-prepared for discussion in seminars. They obtain outstanding results in the exams.

- Excellent (SS): Students display an excellent grasp of the aims and contents of the module. All assessment criteria have been achieved to a very high standard and most at an exceptionally high level. Author Reports and the Reading Journals show all or most of the appropriate characteristics expected for this type of work. Students attend lectures are practically always well-prepared for discussion in seminars, with almost no absences. They obtain excellent results in the exams.

- Very Good (N): Students display a very good grasp of the aims and contents of the module. All assessment criteria have been met fully and many have been achieved at a good or very good standard. Author Reports and the Reading Journals show a good knowledge of the primary texts and the relevant context; they have a good foundation in the prescribed reading and build on ideas put forward in lectures and seminars. Students attend lectures and seminars, with few absences, and have done most of the preparation. They obtain very good results in the exams.

- Satisfactory (A): Students show a satisfactory grasp of the aims and contents of the module. All assessment criteria have been met, but some barely exceed the threshold standard to pass the module. Author Reports and Reading Journals show some of the appropriate characteristics in relation to content, illustration, organisation and expression. Students are present in lectures and seminars, with few absences, and occasionally contribute to discussions. They obtain acceptable results in the exams.

- Fail (S): Students show an unsatisfactory grasp of the aims and contents of the module. Some assessment criteria do not reach the threshold standard to pass the module. Author Reports and Reading Journals show limited understanding of

9

the primary texts and/or minimal research. Students have multiple absences and when they come, they are often not prepared or they do not say much. Their results in the exams are insufficient considering the requirements of the course.

Final exam In accordance with the University regulation on evaluation, for those students who are not able to follow the continuous assessment scheme there will be one final summative two-hour written exam over the material covered during the module. This exam may include objective test questions, short answer questions and discussion questions. There will be a resit opportunity at the end of the second semester. This will also take the form of a two-hour written exam, with a similar format to the above-mentioned final examination, which will constitute 100% of the resit mark.

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY In addition to the books recommended here, a detailed bibliography of literary histories, reference books, anthologies and literary criticism on the authors discussed could also be provided. Literary histories Childs, Peter (2005) Contemporary Novelists: British Fiction since 1970.

Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Draper, R. P. (1998) An Introduction to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English.

London: Macmillan. English, James F., ed. (2006) A Concise Companion to Contemporary British

Fiction. London: Wiley-Blackwell. Hampson, Robert and Peter Barry, eds. (1993) New British Poetries: The Scope of

the Possible. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Innes, Christopher (1992) Modern British Drama, 1890-1990. Cambridge:

Cambridge UP. Stevenson, Randall. The Last of England? 1960-2000. Vol. 10 of The Oxford

English Literary History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Tew, Philip (2004) The Contemporary British Novel. London: Continuum. Websites “Voice of the Shuttle”, edited by Alan Liu, has a useful section on Literature (in

English) with lots of links to interesting websites: http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=3

“Intute” includes an English Studies section with interesting links many resources: http://www.intute.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/english/ Jack Lynch's Literary Resources on the Net:

http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/