English Literature
Join English Literature as part of a Combined Honours degree. Explore and understand a selection of writings from the Renaissance to the Modern Age.
About the programme
UCAS Code: BA Combined Honours (Y001)
In English Literature you'll have the chance to study a selection of writing from the medieval period to the Modern Age, with the study of film.
During your studies, emphasis is placed on the development of critical and writing skills. You can also get involved with other like-minded English Literature students for social activities in the English Society
You can get creative and attend workshops, writing activities and more with the Creative Writing Society
This is offered by the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics.
Pre-requisites
Students do not need to have taken English Literature at A-level to study English Literature here, but evidence of preparedness to study English Literature is essential.
This evidence may include having studied a related subject at A-level and achieved an A or B grade or having a strong personal interest in Literature in conjunction with A or B grades in your A-levels.
Stage 1
Select the module code for specific module information. This includes the module summary and aims, knowledge, the skills you'll gain, and the module leader.
Students taking three subjects in Stage 1 take the following two compulsory modules:
| Module Code | Module Title | Credit Value | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEL1034 | Beginnings | 20 | 1 |
| SEL1035 | Revolutions | 20 | 2 |
Students taking two subjects at Stage 1 must take SEL1034, SEL1035 and the following module:
| Module Code | Module Title | Credit Value | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEL1033 | Doing Criticism | 20 | 1 |
Stage 2
SEL1003 AND SEL1004 ARE BOTH PRE-REQUISITES FOR ALL STAGE 2 MODULES
Candidates must select Stage 2 modules in English Literature to a credit value of not less than 40 and not more than 80.
Candidates taking 40 credits in English Literature in Stage 2 must select:
- One module from Group 1 and one module from Group 2.
Candidates taking 60 credits in English Literature in Stage 2 must select:
- One module from Group 1 and one module from Group 2.
- One further module, from either Group 1 or Group 2.
Candidates taking 80 credits in English Literature in Stage 2 must select:
- One module from Group 1 and one module from Group 2.
- One further module, from either Group 1 or Group 2.
- The Independent Research Project, SEL2210
Group 1 Modules
| Module Code | Module Title | Credit Value | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEL2201 | Renaissance Bodies (Capped at 150) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL2202 | Writing New Worlds, 1688-1789 (Capped at 150) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL2203 | Revolutionary Britain, 1789-1832 (Capped at 150) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL2219 | Monsters, Misery & Miracles: Heroic Life in Old English Poetry (Capped at 150) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL2224 | Poetry Workshop (Capped at 60) (Note: pre-requisite of SEL1000 waived for Combined Honours students) |
20 | 2 |
| SEL2226 | Theatre Script Workshop (Capped at 30) (Note: pre-requisite of SEL1000 waived for Combined Honours students) |
20 |
2 |
| SEL2227 | Prose Workshop (Capped at 45) (Note: pre-requisite of SEL1000 waived for Combined Honours students) |
20 | 2 |
| SEL2228 | Screenwriting Workshop (Capped at 60) (Note: pre-requisite of SEL1000 waived for Combined Honours students) |
20 | 2 |
| SEL2232 | Stagecraft in Early Drama (Capped at 150) | 20 | 1 |
Group 2
| Module Code | Module Title | Credit Value | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEL2204 | Victorian Passions: Victorian Values (Capped at 150) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL2206 | Contemporary Cultures (Capped at 150) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL2207 | Modernisms (Capped at 150) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL2215 | Creative Practice (Capped at 80) (Note: pre-requisite of SEL1000 waived for Combined Honours students) |
20 | 1 |
| SEL2233 | Literatures of Decolonisation (Capped at 150) | 20 | 2 |
Independent Research Project
| Module Code | Module Title | Credit Value | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEL2210 | Independent Research Project (Capped at 150) |
20 | 2 |
Stage 3
SEL1034 AND SEL1035 ARE BOTH PRE-REQUISITES FOR ALL STAGE 3 MODULES
Candidates must select Stage 3 modules in English Literature to a credit value of not less than 40 and not more than 80.
Candidates taking 40 credits in English Literature in Stage 3 must select:
- One module from Group A and one module from Group B.
Candidates taking 60 credits in English Literature in Stage 3 must select:
- One module from Group A and one module from Group B.
- One further module from either Group A or Group B.
Candidates taking 80 credits in English Literature in Stage 3 must select:
- One module from Group A and one module from Group B.
- A further 2 modules from any of the modules in Group A, Group B, Group D* or Group E.
* Students can only take one of the modules in Group D.
Students who are already taking a 20 or 40 credit independent study module on any other part of their degree cannot take either the Dissertation or a Portfolio module. Further, students who are already taking more than 20 credits of independent study on any other part of the degree cannot take a module from Group D.
Group A
| Module Code | Module Title | Credit Value | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEL3379 | Enlightened Romantics: A Revolution in Feeling (Capped at 48) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3412 | Writing Liberty in the Romantic Era (Capped at 48) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3420 | Fiction and the Philosophy of Terror: From the Supernatural to the Sublime (Capped at 48) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3442 | War Writing: Heroic and Hostile Discourses in Early Literature (Capped at 48) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL3444 | Envious Show: Wealth, Power and Ambition in Narratives of the Country House, 1550 – 2000 (Capped at 64) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL3451 | Keats and Romantic Epic (Capped at 48) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3452 | Shakespeare and Company: Gender, Power and Theatre (Capped at 48) | 20 | 1 |
Group B
| Module Code | Module Title | Credit Value | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEL3091 | Sex and Money: Economies of the Victorian Novel (Capped at 48) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3346 | Documentary Storytelling: Theory and Practice 1 (Capped at 15) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL3347 | Documentary Storytelling: Theory and Practice 2 (Capped at 15) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3378 | Landscapes of American Modernism (Capped at 48) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3395 | The Victorian Novel: Time, Change and the Life Course (Capped at 48) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3397 | American Poetry Now (Capped at 48) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL3409 | Planetary Imaginations: Literature in the Time of Environment Crisis (Capped at 48) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3428 | Freedom and Imagination: US Literature 1850 - 1900 (Capped at 48) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL3429 | Deep North: Modern Literature of the North East (Capped at 48) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL3433 | Popular Romance and Contemporary Political Discourse (Capped at 48) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL3434 | Making Young Adult Literature (Capped at 48) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3447 | Exposing Ourselves: Privacy, Contemporary Performance and the Public Sphere (Capped at 48) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3449 | Devolutionary Fictions: Literature, Politics and the British State since 1960 (Capped at 48) | 20 | 2 |
| SEL3450 | Border Fictions: Migration, Memory and Transgressions in Global Anglophone Literature, 1900 - Present Day (Capped at 48) | 20 | 1 |
Group D
Students can only take either SEL3364 or SEL3365, not both.
Students who are already taking more than 20 credits of independent study on any other part of the degree cannot take either SEL3364 or SEL3365.
Those wanting to take 40 credits of independent work in English Literature should choose the Dissertation or a Portfolio module (from Group E).
|
Module Code |
Module Title |
Credit Value |
Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEL3364 | Independent Essay 1 (English Literature) | 20 | 1 |
| SEL3365 | Independent Essay 2 (English Literature) | 20 | 2 |
Group E
| Module Code | Module Title | Credit Value | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEL3400 | Prose Portfolio (Pre-requisite one of SEL2224, SEL2226, SEL2227 or SEL2228) | 40 | 1&2 |
| SEL3401 | Theatre Script Portfolio (Pre-requisite one of SEL2224, SEL2226, SEL2227 or SEL2228) | 40 | 1&2 |
| SEL3402 | Poetry Portfolio (Pre-requisite one of SEL2224, SEL2226, SEL2227 or SEL2228) | 40 | 1&2 |
| SEL3403 | Screenwriting Portfolio (Pre-requisite one of SEL2224, SEL2226, or SEL2227) | 40 | 1&2 |
| SEL3405 | Dissertation: Digital Exhibition (Pre-requisite SEL2210) | 40 | 1&2 |
| SEL3417 | Dissertation: Digital Edition | 40 | 1&2 |
| SEL3362 | Dissertation: Long-Form Essay (Pre-requisites SEL2210) | 40 | 1&2 |
Get in touch
If you have any questions about choosing this subject as part of your Combined Honours degree, contact us and we'll be more than happy to help.
Subject adviser
Dr Leanne Stokoe - School of English Literature, Language & Linguistics