Module Catalogue 2026/27

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

•       To examine a range of American literary responses to the period 1910-1945
•       To explore the aesthetic politics and political aesthetics of American writing in the period
•       To consider the ways in which critical reading of American literary texts needs to concern itself with
questions of economics, race, myth, gender and form.
•       To consider the relationship between regional landscapes and histories, the emergence of modernity, and the forms of narrative expression used to represent these things
* To identify and analyze the thematic concerns of the literature and the major strands of critical debate in which it may be framed
•       To develop analytical skills by combining close reading and critical analysis with knowledge of historical contexts, theoretical debates and wider scholarship

Outline Of Syllabus

What is modernity? Where does it happen? Who experiences it and what are the aesthetics of its expression?

This module explores a range of American literary responses to what it meant to be a ‘modern’ subject in the early 20th century. We will be looking at how American writing engages with contemporary politics, regional and national history, with ideas of the native and of the transnational, and with the possibilities and limits of literary expression.

There will be a dual emphasis on form and theme in this module, which aims to develop a vocabulary for critical analysis of both in the works studied. We will therefore consider the ways in which the asymmetries of modernity are expressed through focused reading of writers including Larsen, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Cather, Hurston and Steinbeck, and focus on the unevenness, the singularity and the asymmetries of modern subjective experience.

The module will also consider the ways in which the novels engage with debates around region, economics, conflict, gender, migration, labour and race.

Texts will include:

F Scott Fitzgerald, Tender is the Night
Nella Larsen, Quicksand and Passing
William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Willa Cather, The Professor's House
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

By the end of the module students should be:

- familiar with American modernism as a complex set of texts, ideas and responses to modernity;

- aware of different theoretical approaches to reading the American novel in the period;

- able to show relevant knowledge of American literary history in this period, its predominant themes and
concerns, and its relationship to history and society

Intended Skill Outcomes

By the end of the module students should be able to:

- assimilate information from module-specific sources: literary, critical, theoretical and historical

- critically evaluate and analyze a diverse range of American texts and contexts;

- identify and explore relevant intellectual and political concerns in the study of American Modernism;

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures introduce students to knowledge outcomes and model critical approaches and readings. Seminars develop this knowledge and enable the practice of skills, namely close textual analysis, critical engagement and interpersonal communications. Study groups and engagement give students a chance to study independently with their peers and prepare for the seminars, and to expand their critical engagement skills. Workshops will allow students to peer review work, understand assessment criteria, improve their written work and build collegiality. The module talk introduces complex concepts in accessible ways in a format in which students can ask questions and comment. Structured research and reading activities allow concentrated and focused critical activity that builds knowledge and helps with assessment preparation. Drop-in surgeries provide tutorial support for assessments.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The assessment will take the form of a presentation, during which students will present on a novel of their choice from the syllabus, and answer questions from the module leader about it. This will require them to be familiar with the course material, and understand and be able to explain their critical views and how these sit within the scholarship. It will develop skills of high level verbal engagement, and demonstration of subject specific knowledge.

The final assessment will be an two-hour invigilated exam undertaken during the assessment period. Students will answer two questions from the examination paper. There will be no separate assessment arrangements for Study Abroad students.

These assessments require the development of disciplinary knowledge and especially critical and analytical skills. The presentation allows for a competency-based approach. The examination provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate subject-specific and module knowledge, and to demonstrate skills that include accurate recall of facts, organization and presentation of complex argument, ability to prioritize information based on importance and relevance, ability to structure ideas and arguments and to write clear prose under time pressure. The exam room provides a forum similar to workplace environments, and the assessment will help hone key employability skills.

These assessments offer opportunities to engage in ways more akin to workplace situations and to value the work of students who are not good at traditional essays and other forms of take-home assignments.

General Notes

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