Module Descriptors
WRITING NARRATIVES
FTVR40391
Key Facts
School of Computing and Digital Technologies
Level 4
15 credits
Contact
Leader: Margaret Leclere
Email: M.Leclere@staffs.ac.uk
Hours of Study
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: 24
Independent Study Hours: 126
Total Learning Hours: 150
Assessment
  • GROUP COURSEWORK weighted at 50%
  • SCRIPT weighted at 50%
Module Details
Module Resources
Viewing facilities (video/DVD); book and video stock; scripts available on internet
Module Learning Strategies
12 two hour seminars, incorporating lectures, screenings, workshops, student presentations and tutorials. Familiarisation with media genres through lectures, discussion, independent learning; seminar presentations of group analysis of various media artefacts with reference to their writing; group project to produce magazine; formal exercises in script forms; formal exercises in prose writing; creative thinking/ideas workshops/'pitching' ideas to class
Module Texts
Keeble, R.: The Newspaper Handbook (London Routledge, 1994)
Collinson, D., Kirkup, G., Kyd, R. & Slocombe, L. Plain English (Open University Press, 1992)
Truss, Lynne: Eats, Shoots & Leaves (Profile Books, 2003)
McKee, Robert: Story (Methuen, 1999)
Field, Syd: Screenplay (DTP, 1984)
Cowgill, Linda: Writing Short Films (Lone Eagle, 1997)
Crook, Tim: Radio Drama (Routledge, 1999)
Forster, E. m.: Aspects of the Novel (Penguin 2002)
Lodge, David: The Art of Fiction (Penguin 1992)
George, Elizabeth: Write Away (HarperCollins, 2004)
Module Additional Assessment Details
Two Items of work totalling 2,000 words:
1. 50% A group project - a dossier containing several pieces of written work, presented as a 'magazine', including: one arts review; one 'hard' news story; one 'soft' news story; one lifestyle feature; one celebrity profile or interview; one opinion column; one editorial or 'leader' column (1000 words per group member) [Learning Outcomes 1 to 4]
2. 50% Either: a) A complete short script for a film/radio or TV programme (7-10 pages/equivalent to 1000 words) [Learning Outcomes 2 and 3]
Or: b) A complete short story [Learning Outcomes 4]
Module Indicative Content
Introduction to narrative in the media:
Writing styles/formal conventions in different media
Basic editorial skills (proof-reading, re-writing, polishing)
The message - cultural/social/philosophical approaches
Screen writing - visual storytelling/juxtaposition of images/tool for propaganda/silent film
Familiarisation with various script formats (film, TV, Radio, documentary script, news report)
The basics of prose narrative style
Narrative in the news
Analysis - learning to read beyond the surface of media products
Ideas (and how to get them)