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Programme code | 1ENGL001U |
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Programme type | Single Honours |
Programme director(s) |
Sian Harris
|
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
School/department | Department of English |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Relevant QAA subject benchmark groups | English (2023) (benchmark statement) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 3 years (full time) |
This programme aims to develop students’ interest in and knowledge and understanding of English literature from the medieval period to the present day, and to increase students’ familiarity and appreciation of literatures in English. In following a programme of wide and varied reading through a broad and diverse curriculum, students engage in close reading and the interpretation and analysis of the principal literary genres in prose, poetry, drama and other types of imaginative writing, and learn to identify the formal and rhetorical characteristics of diverse texts, using appropriate critical, theoretical and stylistic concepts and terms. They learn how literary language, modes and genres vary in different historical periods, countries and social contexts. They study the relations between texts, between literature and other cultural forms, and the influence of literature and modes of literary analysis. They learn about how texts are composed and produced, and their reception histories, as well as the effect of different forms of dissemination, including manuscript, print, digital and performance. They also gain familiarity with some of the interdisciplinary approaches associated with English studies, such as critical and cultural theory, women’s studies, gender and queer studies, postcolonial studies, digital humanities, medical humanities, medieval studies and book history. Students are encouraged to read many widely known authors, while also being given opportunities to develop their own interests in particular authors and texts, including the less-read and non-canonical. Successful graduates will be able to read closely and critically, analyse texts and respond to the expressive power and nuance of language using appropriate terms and approaches, develop independent and creative interpretations of texts, and articulate a critical understanding of complex texts and ideas. They will be able to write clearly, precisely and effectively, be versatile researchers, active learners and good communicators. They will be well qualified for postgraduate study in English or related arts and humanities subjects, as well as postgraduate vocational and professional training. They will also be able to demonstrate a range of subject-specific and generic skills of value in graduate employment, including high-order critical, analytic and research skills, and advanced competence in oral and written communication.
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials and one-to-one supervisions and consultations. Lectures provide a structured overview of core texts and critical approaches, particularly in mandatory units in Years 1 and 2. Tutorials offer opportunity for in-depth analysis and critical response in discussion with tutor and peers. Seminars and workshops offer flexible formats for a range of activities, which may include presentations, group work, open discussion and topic-based tasks. Tutorials, seminars and workshops are opportunities for deeper examination of subject content. Supplementary methods may include contributions to online forums, formative writing tasks, directed preparation tasks. Directed reading of literary texts and criticism. Independent reading, research and writing. |
Methods of Assessment | |
Coursework essays of various lengths which involve extensive written analysis, knowledge and understanding of the texts. Methods of assessment to complement coursework essays include but are not limited to: Critical commentaries, annotated bibliographies, individual and group presentations with handout, unseen examinations, take-home examinations, poster presentations, online discussions. Portfolios of short writing tasks may include critical responses, blog posts, reviews, reflective journals. At levels I and C, special subjects allow students to address research-engaged topics in detail and depth. At level H, an optional dissertation (choice between one-semester and two-semester projects). Methods are mapped to level of study; see section 17. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Intellectual skills are developed through diverse methods including lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, seminar presentations, individual supervision, and structured online activity. Lectures promote active listening, notetaking, synthesis of information delivered orally and visually, and encourage independent investigation beyond the core curriculum; Seminars, workshops, tutorials and one-to-one supervisions and consultations cultivate the ability to work constructively with others, responding to changing individual and group dynamics; Tutorials promote confidence in collaborative analysis in a small-group setting. Intellectual skills are also developed by: Studying a broad and diverse range of primary and secondary texts in printed, digital and other forms; Communication and discussion of ideas; Independent research into set and self-devised topics; Extensive use of libraries and digital resources; Direct instruction, facilitated opportunities for active questioning and debate with peers and tutors, peer critique and feedback; Occasional sessions outside the classroom (including performances, field trips to libraries, archives, exhibitions etc.) |
Methods of Assessment | |
A variety of assessment methods are used as per individual unit aims and objects. Coursework essays of various lengths which involve extensive written analysis test the ability to analyse texts and present reasoned arguments. Unseen and take-home exams test problem-solving and improvisation skills. Research skills are assessed by means of extended written coursework and an optional dissertation. Presentations (individual and group) test the ability to select and analyse relevant materials, to present clear arguments, and to work individually and in teams (as relevant). |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Seminars and tutorials develop oral communication by requiring students to engage in group work, open discussions, and to give short talks/presentations to initiate discussion. The ability to think and work independently is stimulated by coursework essay and dissertation tasks. The full range of scheduled teaching, independent study and assessments promotes independent management of multiple kinds of work and task according to deadlines. |
Methods of Assessment | |
A variety of assessment methods are used as per individual unit aims and objects. Coursework essays of various lengths which involve extensive written analysis test the ability to analyse texts and present reasoned arguments. Unseen and take-home exams test problem-solving and improvisation skills. Research skills are assessed by means of extended written coursework and an optional dissertation. Presentations (individual and group) test the ability to select and analyse relevant materials, to present clear arguments, and to work individually and in teams (as relevant). |
Statement of expectations from the students at each level of the programme as it/they develop year on year.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
Students are expected to acquire the foundations on which to build appropriate expertise in line with the aims and objectives of the programme. They will acquire familiarity with significant authors, themes, contexts and concepts of study in English literature from the early medieval period to the early eighteenth century. They will be introduced to some of the major theoretical and critical preoccupations informing degree-level English studies, and to a wide range of poetry from different periods and genres, as well as to technical terms, literary conventions and contexts appropriate for critical analysis. Through Critical Practice students will be introduced to the conventions of scholarly discourse and presentation, become familiar with academic writing as a critical practice, receive some training in IT skills, and begin to develop research skills and good study habits. They will also develop communication skills through formative writing exercises and group oral presentations. Students’ work may require substantial direction and guidance from tutors, but students will also take the first steps towards choosing their own topics and conducting independent research. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
Students are expected to expand the range and depth of their knowledge in core areas of the discipline, develop their capacity to evaluate material using a variety of critical perspectives, and advance their written and oral communication skills. Students will improve their familiarity with significant authors, themes, contexts and concepts of study in English literature from the early eighteenth century to the present day. Students will have the opportunity to deepen and extend their knowledge and understanding of early medieval to early eighteenth century English literature through more specialised options. Working with staff on research-engaged Special Subject units, they will be expected to enhance their understanding of particular topics and authors. Students will have the opportunity to consolidate what they have learned in Year One and to use their knowledge, understanding and skills to evaluate critically and formulate evidence-based arguments. Students will extend their analytical skills and their ability to structure their work and present it fluently. They are expected to develop their capacity for self-directed learning (for example, through the researching and writing of essays and coursework assignments). |
Level H/6 - Honours |
At level H students are expected to broaden and deepen their knowledge, and to apply relevant conceptual and methodological approaches to more complex and specialised topics in literary study. Students will be encouraged to demonstrate independence as learners and in their own critical judgements, and to reflect both on the nature of literary study as a discipline and their own progress as critics of literature and culture. Students will have the opportunity to deepen and extend their knowledge and understanding of the main authors, themes, contexts and concepts of study in English literature from the early eighteenth century to the present day through more specialised options. Working with staff on research-engaged Special Subject units, students will be expected to demonstrate their ability to engage in sophisticated critical evaluation of particular texts, topics and authors. Students will also have the opportunity to undertake an independently conceived and researched dissertation conducted either over 15 or 30 weeks. Students will be able to demonstrate skills valued in graduate employment including critical, analytic and research skills, and competence in oral and written communication, as well as time-management and organisational skills. |
Level M/7 - Masters |
Not specified |
Level M/7 - Postgraduate Certificate |
Not specified |
Level M/7 - Postgraduate Diploma |
Not specified |
Level M/7 - Postgraduate Masters |
Not specified |
Level D/8 - Doctoral |
Not specified |
The intended learning outcome mapping document shows which mandatory units contribute towards each programme intended learning outcome.
For information on the admissions requirements for this programme please see details in the undergraduate prospectus at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/undergraduate/ or contact the relevant academic department.
UG Workload Statement
Success as an undergraduate student depends on you being able to make the transition to self-motivated, independent learning. Programmes are designed to assist you in this development, in many cases by starting with units in which timetabled teaching, such as lectures and practical classes, provides the foundations of knowledge and skills in a subject, moving on to individual research-based work. Over time you will be expected to take increasing responsibility for your own learning, guided by the feedback on your work that you will receive. At the heart of your studies at every level there must be regular and disciplined individual reading, reflection and writing and it is this skill of independent studies, above all others, that will serve you best when you leave the University.
Most programmes use credits and a 20 credit unit broadly equates to about 200 hours of student input. This includes all activities related to the teaching, learning and assessment of taught units.
A component of this is the time that you spend in class, in contact with the teaching staff, which includes activities such as lectures, laboratories, tutorials and fieldwork. Some of this activity may be online and could consist of activity that is synchronous (using real-time environments such as Blackboard Collaborate) or asynchronous (using tools such as tutor moderated discussion forums, blogs or wikis).
In some programmes there are field courses and/or placements that will take place in concentrated periods of time.
Outside scheduled activities you are expected to pursue your own independent learning to build your knowledge and understanding of the subjects you are studying. Such independent activities include, reviewing lecture material, reading textbooks, working on examples sheets, completing coursework, writing up laboratory notes, preparing for in-class progress tests and revising for examinations.
We recognise that many students undertake paid employment. To achieve a sensible balance between work and study, you are advised to undertake paid work for no more than 15 hours per week in term-time.
Professional Programmes
Many undergraduates in the Faculty of Health Sciences will be following the professional programmes of:
For these professional programmes, full time attendance is compulsory unless absence is formally approved. Academic activities are timetabled throughout the 5-day week and student workload is around 40 hours per week on average. Where possible, students in the early years are permitted Wednesday afternoons for sport and extra-curriculum activities. This may not be available in later years of professional programmes as when a student progresses through the curricula there is an increasing exposure to clinical and professional activities. Students in clinic or on placements may need to stay later than core times of 08.00 – 18.00 or even overnight to observe out-of-hours activities. This increasing exposure to clinical activities means that students on these professional programmes often have longer term dates than the University standard. Individual years within programmes are likely to vary in length (for example because of the timings of placements) and further information on this will be found in individual programme regulations. Another important point to note is that many of the assessments sit outside of the standard University examination timetable and are likely to be more frequent meaning that students will more oftentimes be engaged in revision activities and self-directed learning.
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty Assessment and Feedback Statement for Undergraduate Students. University of Bristol access only.
Students on the English Single Honours programme may elect to study abroad for one teaching block in their second year. Current destinations for study abroad include Ireland (Trinity College Dublin), France (University of Paris-Sorbonne), Germany (Heidelberg), the Netherlands (Leiden), North America (North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Rochester), Canada (McGill) and Australia (Adelaide; Macquarie). Students take a single 60 credit Study Abroad/Erasmus unit (HUMS20002) that replaces all units in one Teaching Block.
English may also be studied as a Joint Honours programme with Classical Studies (QV38), Philosophy (QV35), Theatre (4CC8) or Film (6T3X), and as a pathway on the Liberal Arts BA (2ZB7) and the Liberal Arts integrated Masters with Study Abroad (MLibArts) (2T23).
English accepts annually a large number of Study Abroad Programme students (especially from the USA, but also from elsewhere overseas) and ERASMUS students (from countries including France, Germany, Italy, and Spain).
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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List A | |||||
Literature 1150-1550 | ENGL10042 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
List B | |||||
Critical Issues | ENGL10017 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
List C | |||||
Transformations | ENGL10046 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Reading Identities | ENGL10062 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List D | |||||
Approaches to Poetry | ENGL10039 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
List E | |||||
Literature 1550-1740 | ENGL10043 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
List F | |||||
20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Introduction to Early-Modern Art | HART10216 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Living Religions East | THRS10065 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Representations: (Re)-Making the World | HUMS10011 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The Medieval World | HIST10042 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Certificate of Higher Education | 120 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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List A | |||||
Literature 1740-1900 | ENGL20063 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
List B - Choose 20 CP | |||||
African American Literature | ENGL20111 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
American Literature: 1945 to Present | ENGL29007 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Creative Writing, Prose Fiction: Representing the World | ENGL20113 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
Eighteenth-Century Women's Writing | ENGL20031 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Poetry of the 1960s | ENGL20032 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Revenge Tragedy | ENGL29008 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
The Fairy Tale in English | ENGL20028 | 20 | Optional | TB-1,TB-2 | |
Literature and Trauma: 1900 to the present | ENGL20129 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Utopian Literature | ENGL20058 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
The Nineteenth-Century Russian Novel | RUSS20069 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Performance Histories | THTR20010 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Melodrama | THTR20008 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
For students who take the optional unit HUMS20002 from this list, this replaces all the Year 2 units in TB1. This includes units that are normally mandatory in this programme. | |||||
Study Abroad/ Erasmus | HUMS20002 | 60 | Optional | TB-1,TB-2 | |
List C - Choose 20 CP | |||||
Writing the City: London 1550-1740 | ENGL20069 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Shakespeare | ENGL20068 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List D | |||||
Literature 1900-present | ENGL20064 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
List E - Choose 20 CP | |||||
Arthurian Literature | ENGL20060 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Chaucer and Chaucerians | ENGL20061 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Old English Language and Literature | ENGL20065 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List E2 - Choose 20 CP from this list or from list F | |||||
American Avant Garde | ENGL20114 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-2 |
Black British Literature | ENGL20041 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Border-Worlds | ENGL20135 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Contemporary Multi-Ethnic Writing of America | ENGL20019 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Creative Writing: Poetry | ENGL20051 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Dangerous Books | ENGL20023 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Drinking in the words: The pleasures and pains of alcohol in British fiction and culture | ENGL20127 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Gender, Desire and the Renaissance Stage | ENGL20206 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Literature and the Sea: The Seafarer to The Shipping News | ENGL20020 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Large, Loose, Baggy Monsters: Victorian Fiction and Novel Form | ENGL20128 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The Author as Character | ENGL20048 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Writing the Margins: Early Modern Race, Gender, and Nation | ENGL20131 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Writing the Working Classes | ENGL20030 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The Art of Grief | ENGL20116 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Politics of Performance | THTR20005 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Contemporary Latin(x) American Poetry | HISP20115 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Transforming the Tragic Hero(ine): 1770-1840 | GERM20044 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
For students who take the optional unit HUMS20002 from this list, this replaces all the Year 2 units in TB2 This includes units that are normally mandatory in this programme. | |||||
Study Abroad/ Erasmus | HUMS20002 | 60 | Optional | TB-1,TB-2 | |
You may additionally take MODL20018 in TB1 in combination with HUMS20002 If you choose this combination you will be taking 130 CP in total. | |||||
Foreign Language Skills for Semester Abroad Students | MODL20018 | 10 | Optional | F | TB-1 |
List F - Choose 20 CP from this list or from list E2 | |||||
20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units - OR choose 20 CP from list E2 above | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Diploma of Higher Education | 120 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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List A - Choose 20 CP from this list | |||||
Victorian Fiction: Art and Ideas in the Marketplace | ENGL30117 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Novel Territories: Eighteenth-century Prose Fiction | ENGL30115 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List B - Choose 20 CP from this list if you also choose a 20 CP option from List E | |||||
Hero or traitor? Outlaws in Literature | ENGL30069 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Illness Narratives | ENGL30089 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Modernism and the Movies | ENGL30128 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Literature's Children | ENGL39015 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Representing HIV/AIDS | ENGL30141 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
Shakespearean Tragedy: Textual and Literary Criticism | ENGL39027 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
The Spanish Civil War in British and American Writing | ENGL30058 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Women on the Verge: Gender and Experimentation in the 20th/21st Century | ENGL30149 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
Writing the Self: Literature and Autobiography | ENGL30107 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Students may alternatively choose 20 CP from this list in place of an English 'B' unit | |||||
Music and Sex | MUSI30120 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List C - Choose 20 CP from this list | |||||
American Revolutions | ENGL30108 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Literatures of Decolonisation | ENGL30147 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List D - Choose 20 CP from this list | |||||
Celebrity Culture: Icons, Industry and Aesthetics | ENGL30110 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Literature - Enslavement - Liberation | ENGL30142 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List E - Choose one unit from this list | |||||
Creative Writing Dissertation | ENGL30126 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Dissertation | ENGL30112 | 40 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Dissertation (English) | ENGL39024 | 20 | Optional | B,E | TB-2 |
List E2 - Choose 20 CP from this list or list F | |||||
Charles Dickens | ENGL39020 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Literature and Medicine | ENGL39011 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Modernist Writers | ENGL30140 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Homing Desires/Imaginary Homelands: Representing South Asia and its Diasporas | ENGL30145 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The History of the Language of English Literature | ENGL30123 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Writing the Anthropocene 1945-Present | ENGL30124 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Writing for Art | ENGL39019 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Victorian Materialities | ENGL30079 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Medievalism in the Modern Age | ENGL30150 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Students may alternatively choose 20 CP from this list in place of an English 'E2' unit | |||||
Studying and Making Early Printed Books | MODL30040 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Transnational Narrative in pre-modern cultures | MODL30041 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Dostoevsky (TB2) | RUSS30073 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Decadence, Decay and Rebirth: Russian & Czech Literature, 1870 - 1914 | RUSS30084 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List F - Choose 20 CP from this list or list E2 | |||||
Take 20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units – OR choose an additional 20 CP from lists A-E above. However, you may not choose both ENGL39024 or ENGL30112 | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
English (BA) | 120 |
Unit Pass Mark for Undergraduate Programmes:
For details on the weightings for classifying undergraduate degrees, please see the Agreed Weightings, by Faculty, to be applied for the Purposes of Calculating the Final Programme Mark and Degree Classification in Undergraduate Programmes.
For detailed rules on progression please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes and the relevant faculty handbook.
Please refer to the specific progression/award requirements for programmes with a preliminary year of study, the Gateway programmes and International Foundation programmes.
All undergraduate degree programmes allow the opportunity for a student to exit from a programme with a Diploma or Certificate of Higher Education.
Integrated Master's degrees may also allow the opportunity for a student to exit from the programme with an equivalent Bachelor's degree where a student has achieved 360 credit points, of which 90 must be at level 6, and has successfully met any additional criteria as described in the programme specification.
The opportunities for a student to exit from one of the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry with an Award is outlined in the relevant Programme Regulations (which are available as an annex in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes).
An Ordinary degree can be awarded if a student has successfully completed at least 300 credits with a minimum of 60 credits at Level 6.
The pass mark for the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine and Dentistry is 50 out of 100. The classification of a degree in the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry is provided in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided.
University of Bristol,
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Tyndall Avenue,
Bristol, BS8 1TH, UK
Tel: +44 (0)117 928 9000