Class Matters

Module Provider: English Literature
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites: English Part 1 or A-Level (A*, A or B)
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Module version for: 2016/7

Summary module description:
What is class and why does it matter? This module considers both the idea of ?working-class writing? and the representation of the working classes in cultural forms. Structured chronologically and moving from the work of Robert Tressell and D.H. Lawrence through to the literature of the 1984 Miners? Strike, the module introduces a variety of twentieth-century working-class writings including novels, short stories, essays, poetry and autobiography. Broadening our understanding of the literary and cultural history of the twentieth century, we consider the impact of unemployment, economic depression, im/migration, and changes in patterns of consumption and leisure on the production and reception of working-class writing.

Aims:
The module will enhance students? awareness of the role of class in literature and cultural production, and of the various ways in which class is intersected by other categories of identity including race, place, nation and gender. It aims to inform students of the rich and varied history of working-class writing in Britain and will enhance their critical understanding of twentieth-century literature, cultural history and literary movements. It will equip students? with the critical and historical framework to understand social and media debates about class and its representations today in Britain, including the discourses of im/migration and poverty.

Assessable learning outcomes:
By the end of the module it is expected that students will be able to:
- Provide rigorous readings and analysis of the selected primary texts
- Recognize the diversity of the ?working-class writer? and working-class writing, as well as how class intersects with other categories like race, gender and place
- Conceptualize the ways in which writers from a working-class background respond to cultural, social, economic and political shifts
- Discuss the interconnections between working-class writing and other literary groups and movements including modernism, social realism, ?Anger? and black British writing
- Engage critically with the ideas presented in lectures, seminars and secondary materials
- Work together in small groups to produce a rigorous and informative oral presentation
- Organize and articulate a coherent written argument, both in coursework essays and under timed examination conditions

Additional outcomes:
Oral and written communication skills will be developed, together with critical, interpretative and analytical abilities. Students will also enhance their IT competence through the use of relevant web resources in a critically informed manner. Planning, time management, co-operation and group work skills will also be developed through managing and conducting the assessed oral presentation.

Outline content:
Texts studied may include D.H. Lawrence, ?The Odour of Chrysanthemums?; Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists; Ethel Carnie, This Slavery; James Hanley, Boy; Walter Greenwood, Love on the Dole; Alan Sillitoe, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning; Shelagh Delaney, A Taste of Honey; Buchi Emecheta, Second-class citizen.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:
Three seminar hours weekly, for which students are required to do preparatory reading. Students are also entitled to a half-hour tutorial on their formative written work and will be offered one-to-one or group rehearsal time with the module convenor in preparation for the assessed oral presentation. With the consent of the module convenor, students may also undertake a placement, through which they will learn how to apply the knowledge and skills gained in studying for this module in a professional context outside the University.

Contact hours:
Seminars 27
Tutorials 0.5
Practicals classes and workshops 3
Guided independent study 129.5
Total hours by term 160.00

Summative Assessment Methods:
Written exam 50
Written assignment including essay 30
Oral assessment and presentation 20

Other information on summative assessment:
Formative assessment methods:
Students write one formative essay, of between 1500 and 2000 words, and give one formative seminar presentation. Feedback will also be provided on the assessed essay of 2000 words, or the equivalent placement report, and on the assessed oral presentation.

Length of examination:
Requirements for a pass:
A mark of at least 40% overall.

Reassessment arrangements:
Re-examination in August. Coursework will be carried forward if it bears a confirmed mark of 40% or more. Otherwise it must be resubmitted by 22 August.