Module Descriptors
EARLY MODERN WRITING
ENGL40236
Key Facts
Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies
Level 4
15 credits
Contact
Leader: Barry Taylor
Email: B.P.Taylor@staffs.ac.uk
Hours of Study
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: 22
Independent Study Hours: 128
Total Learning Hours: 150
Assessment
  • COURSEWORK -ESSAY weighted at 66%
  • PROJECT EVALUATION weighted at 34%
Module Details
Module Additional Assessment Details
1 coursework essay discussing one or more of the study texts. [LO 1,2,3]

1 evaluation of the preparation and delivery of the group-led seminar [LO 3,4,5]
Module Learning Strategies
Weekly 2hr lecture/workshop sessions divided flexibly between introduction of texts, contexts and critical concepts, group development of reading/analytical skills, and the planning and development of group presentations.
Module Resources
OHP
VCR
Library
Internet
Module Texts
Julia Briggs This Play-Stage World (1997)
Howard Felperin Shakespearian Romance (1972)
Stephen Greenblatt Renaissance Self-fashioning (1980)
Module Indicative Content
The module will introduce students to a wide range of writing from the early modern period in England, exploring the relationship between examples of key literary forms and the wider cultural and social 'landscapes' of the period. The module comprises three inter-related study units: 1 The New City, exploring the social and economic transformation of C16th London in relation to Ben Jonson's Volpone; 2 Culture at Court, investigating Tudor poetry in the context of Courtly culture; 3 New Worlds studying Shakespeare's The Tempest in relation to contemporary representations of the Americas and their native inhabitants.