Module Descriptors
CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN FICTION 1
ENGL50506
Key Facts
Digital, Technology, Innovation and Business
Level 5
15 credits
Contact
Leader: Mark Brown
Email: Mark.Brown@staffs.ac.uk
Hours of Study
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: 36
Independent Study Hours: 114
Total Learning Hours: 150
Assessment
- SEMINAR PRESENTATION weighted at 50%
- CRITICAL ANALYSIS weighted at 50%
Module Details
INDICATIVE CONTENT
This module examines some key texts and issues in American writing and culture since the 1960s. It explores the way in which literary texts respond to Counter-cultural protest against 1950s conformity; how writers begin to develop the features of what we now recognise as postmodernism; how writers critique the consumer culture and commodity fetishism of late captitalism; and how African-American women writers bring the issues of multiculturalism and sexuality into the canon of American literature. It also looks at how a literary-historical period is constructed through a canon of 'classic' American texts by paying attention to the critical and popular reception of the novels studied.
Primary texts might include:
Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho (1991)
Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (1977)
Primary texts might include:
Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho (1991)
Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (1977)
ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT DETAILS
1 x seminar presentation (10 minutes) [Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 4, 5] 50%
1 x critical analysis (1000 words) [Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 5 ] 50%
Key Information Set Data:
50% Practical Exam
50% Coursework
1 x critical analysis (1000 words) [Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 5 ] 50%
Key Information Set Data:
50% Practical Exam
50% Coursework
LEARNING STRATEGIES
The module is based on a series of workshops. Students will be expected to prepare for classes by reading both the set primary text and independently identified secondary reading.
Key Information Set Data:
16% Scheduled Teaching and Learning Activity
84% Guided Independent Study
Key Information Set Data:
16% Scheduled Teaching and Learning Activity
84% Guided Independent Study
TEXTS
Kenneth Millard, Contemporary American Fiction: An Introduction to American Fiction Since 1970 (Oxford UP, 2000)
Mark Currie, Postmodern Narrative Theory (Macmillan, 1998)
Frank Lentricchia, ed. New Essays on Don DeLillo's White Noise (Cambridge UP, 1991)
Linda Hutcheon, A Poetics of Postmodernism (Routledge, 1988)
Brian McHale, Postmodernist Fiction (Routledge, 1987)
Jill Matus, Toni Morrison (MUP, 1998)
Dix, Jarvis and Jenner, The Contemporary American Novel in Context (Continuum, 2011)
Mark Currie, Postmodern Narrative Theory (Macmillan, 1998)
Frank Lentricchia, ed. New Essays on Don DeLillo's White Noise (Cambridge UP, 1991)
Linda Hutcheon, A Poetics of Postmodernism (Routledge, 1988)
Brian McHale, Postmodernist Fiction (Routledge, 1987)
Jill Matus, Toni Morrison (MUP, 1998)
Dix, Jarvis and Jenner, The Contemporary American Novel in Context (Continuum, 2011)
RESOURCES
Library holdings; OHP; VCR; DVD
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. EVALUATE CURRENT CRITICAL DEBATES ON AT LEAST TWO TEXT AND OFFER AN INFORMED ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUES THROUGH ORAL, VISUAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION Communication
Analysis
2. SHOW AN AWARENESS OF CRITICAL DEBATES ON CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN LITERATURE. Communication
Learning
3. APPLY CLOSE READING SKILLS TO A READING OF AT LEAST TWO TEXTS IN ESSAY FORM
Enquiry
4. CONNECT AT LEAST TWO LITERARY TEXTS WITH A SPECIFIC HISTORICAL CONTEXT OR THEORETICAL APPROACH IN ESSAY FORM
Problem Solving
5. DEVELOP SKILLS OF SUMMAR,AND ANALYSIS
Reflection
Analysis
2. SHOW AN AWARENESS OF CRITICAL DEBATES ON CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN LITERATURE. Communication
Learning
3. APPLY CLOSE READING SKILLS TO A READING OF AT LEAST TWO TEXTS IN ESSAY FORM
Enquiry
4. CONNECT AT LEAST TWO LITERARY TEXTS WITH A SPECIFIC HISTORICAL CONTEXT OR THEORETICAL APPROACH IN ESSAY FORM
Problem Solving
5. DEVELOP SKILLS OF SUMMAR,AND ANALYSIS
Reflection