Module Descriptors
WRITING FOR YOUR LIFE: MODERN AMERICAN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
ENGL50208
Key Facts
Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies
Level 5
15 credits
Contact
Leader: Mark Brown
Hours of Study
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: 20
Independent Study Hours: 130
Total Learning Hours: 150
Assessment
  • COURSEWORK -ESSAY weighted at 25%
  • COURSEWORK - SECOND ESSAY weighted at 75%
Module Details
Module Texts
Paul John Eakin, ed. American Autobiography: Retrospect and Prospect (University of Wisconsin P., 1991)
James Goodwin, Autobiography: The Self Made Text (Twayne, 1993)
Sidonie Smith, ed. Women, Autobigraphy, Theory: A Reader (University of Wisconsin P, 1998)
Module Additional Assessment Details
First essay [Learning Outcome 1]
Second essay [Learning Outcomes 2,3,4]
Module Indicative Content
This module examines a body of writing about the self from a range of twentieth-century American authors. The issues explored include:

how subjectivity is shaped by social structures, norms, and expectations
how narrative conventions influence the representation of lived experience
the development of a tradition of autobiographical writing by women
the role of autobiography in giving voice to marginalized, deviant, or oppositional subjectivities

Authors studied my include Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Annie Dillard, Richard Rodriguez, Tim O'Brien, and Elizabeth Wurtzel.
Module Learning Strategies
The module will be taught via a mixture of lectures, independent study groups, student-led seminars, and tutor led seminars.
Module Resources
Library holdings, VCR/DVD, OHP