Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Page

Code

ENGL2006

School

English

Level

2

Credits

20

Semesters

Autumn UK

Summary

Shakespeare & Contemporaries on the Page focuses on material written between 1580 and 1630, to provide a deep and concentrated introduction to methods of contextual reading of early modern texts. Shakespeare’s poetry will be among the core texts; other canonical writers will include Edmund Spenser, Philip Sidney and John Donne. In addition, students will be given the opportunity to read outwith the canon, and to reflect on issues such as genre, rhetoric, transmission and audience, and how they affect reception, both among contemporaries and in modern responses. The module will thus build on the introduction to early modern material in Studying Literature and questions about canon formation raised in Academic Community. This module is intended to be complementary to Shakespeare and Co on the Stage. The module will be delivered through lectures and seminars: the seminars will, on the one hand, give further practice in close reading and equip students with the skills necessary for reading early modern material fluently and easily, and on the other encourage examination of the assumptions made in contextual readings, to enable students to develop their own critical voices and authority.

Target Students

Only available to second-year students on SH and JH English programmes, including 2+2 programmes; students participating in exchanges from the School partner institutions; and second or third-year students on the Liberal Arts programme.

Classes

• One 1-hour seminar each week for 11 weeks
• One 2-hour lecture each week for 11 weeks

Assessment

• Coursework 1 - Formative: Coursework 1 - (Formative) 1,500 word essay mid-semester
• 100% Coursework 2: Coursework - 3,000 word essay end-semester

Assessed by end of autumn semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

Familiarity with common early modern genres and core texts
Generic, inter-textual and intellectual assumptions in early modern writing (A1)
The means and methods of transmission and circulation in early modern writing (A5)
Theoretical and historical approaches to the study of early modern performance (A2)

Intellectual skills
Proficiency in close reading of early modern texts, including prose, poetry and drama (B1)
Ability to research historical information and apply it to literary-critical readings (B3)
Ability to identify challenges and strengths in different literary-historical approaches (B2)

Professional practical skills
Familiarity with scholarly tools for reading early modern literature (C1)
Ability to bring together a variety of information to support interpretation (B4)
Ability to carry out independent and class-based research, evidenced in summative assessment (C5)

Transferable (key) skills
reflect upon their progress, strengths and weaknesses (D6)
Ability to read with attention both to textual detail and contextual understanding (D6)
Ability to conduct self-directed study and present written findings clearly (D2, D5)

Conveners

• Dr Jeremy Bloomfield