Poetry: Best Words, Best Order

Code

ENGL4262

School

English

Level

4

Credits

20

Semesters

Autumn UK

Summary

This module will investigate poetry across the period from 1500 to the present day, via a range of forms and approaches. Through a broad selection of poetic and critical texts, the module will examine how poems function technically, as well as considering how poetic expression enables us to think about culture, identity, spirituality, experience, language and beyond. We will ask, for example, how poetry relates to debates around constructions of the self, in connection with wider ideas of the social and political; and will examine a spectrum of poetic practice, drawing in cultural criticism and theoretical debates

Target Students

Only available to on-site postgraduate students in the School of English.

Classes

• One 2-hour seminar each week for 11 weeks

Activities may take place every teaching week of the Semester or only in specified weeks. It is usually specified above if an activity only takes place in some weeks of a Semester

Assessment

• 100% Coursework 1: One 4,000 word essay

Assessed by end of autumn semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding of:

• theoretical frameworks and practical approaches to the study of poetry
• the history of British poetry and of poetry in English
• relevant concepts and critical positions

Intellectual Skills:

• the ability to think independently while giving due weight to the arguments of others
• the ability to relate poetic texts to their appropriate historical and literary-historical contexts
• the ability to discuss and apply relevant critical, formal or theoretical concepts and terms
• the ability to identify patterns of influence and recurrent themes in a comparative poetic context

Professional/Practical Skills

• the ability to communicate effectively in writing
• the ability to present a logical and sustained argument
• the ability to conduct research, evaluating and employing secondary sources in a scholarly manner

Transferable Skills:

• the ability to communicate research effectively in written and oral presentations
• the ability to conduct self-directed study and research
• the ability to write clearly and comprehensively
• the ability to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively and to develop sustainable judgements in dialogue with relevant secondary-critical and historical sources

Conveners

• Dr Victoria Sparrow