English and drama
Burning to Read
Module code: Q9132
Level 4
30 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar, Workshop
Assessment modes: Report, Essay, Log
Why study literature? This module centres questions of why we read prose, poetry, and plays, exploring not just what we do to texts, but what texts do to us. Telling stories about the world that can start fires and help put them out, we’ll ask how literary forms make (different) sense of the world and explore literature’s intimate connection with politics and identity.
The work you do on this module will help you gain the practices needed for your degree while helping you understand what it means to be part of an academic community that reads together.
Through a variety of genres and texts from across historical periods, both local and global, we’ll introduce you to literature that might:
- destabilise your worldview
- open up new sources of joy
- reflect your own thoughts back to you
- introduce worlds, people – even futures – you might not have encountered otherwise.
Module learning outcomes
- Demonstrate understanding of the types of learning and study your degree involves.
- Discern the intersection of literature with social, political, and artistic movements.
- Perform textual analysis of literary texts in a range of forms and genres and from a range of historical periods.
- Write a close-reading essay utilizing appropriate scholarly research and referencing.