ObjectivesTo combine an intensive introduction to the range of modern literary and cultural theory with detailed examination of individual writers, texts and issues. Students will develop in-depth knowledge of literature and ideas of the twentieth century, command of methodologies for understanding and analysing them, and will acquire, among others, the research skills of independent scholarly enquiry and information retrieval.
Entry requirementsEntry requirements Normally a good second class honours degree or its equivalent.
Academic titleMA in Modern Literature (and Creative Writing)
Course descriptionCourse modules
-Modern Literature and Theory, including the study of an author (Muriel Spark), a decade (The 1940s), a movement (Modernism) and a genre (AIDS Literature), plus Post-Colonial Literature, and Trauma, Theory and Fiction.
-Two Special Subjects:
Semester 1: Literature and Gender or Writing Fiction;
Semester 2: Literature and Exile or Poetry Writing and Contemporary Poetry.
-Bibliography, Research Methods and Writing Skills
-Dissertation
Teaching and assessment methods
The dissertation (maximum 20,000 words) is individually supervised and separately assessed. All other modules are taught by diverse methods in seminars or tutorial groups. The two core modules are assessed either by two essays of 2,500 words each or one of 5,000-words. The two special subject modules are each assessed by a 3,000-word essay.
Students have the opportunity to graduate with an MA in Modern Literature and Creative Writing by taking both creative special subjects and writing a creative dissertation