| Unit name | Ways of Reading 1: Forms and Approaches |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL10100 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Gareth Griffith |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will offer students a broad introduction to ways of reading literature, including close reading and a range of critical approaches. There will be opportunities to compare and contrast a variety of literary forms. Topics studied may include readers and reading (both in theory and in practice, looking forwards to future work in community engagement); the author, language, the tragic, the comic, and history; and the relationship between critical thinking and creativity.
Aims:
The unit aims to give students an opportunity to enhance their close reading and critical skills, and to think reflectively about their own reading and that of others. The unit will focus these discussions on five or six literary texts, which will be read from a variety of perspectives; a range of shorter critical texts and essays will also be introduced. Students should have an opportunity to acquire knowledge of the conceptual issues and challenges involved in thinking about (and through) literature, for use also in future units.
Students will have had an opportunity to reflect on a variety of topics related to reading critically, including topics such as readers and reading, the author, language, the tragic or comic, history, and the relationship between critical thought and creativity. Students will have been encouraged to apply these reflections to the study of particular texts within the unit, and also to consider their value beyond it. This unit will link explicitly to Ways of Reading 2: Critical Thought and Theory.
The unit will normally be taught in ten three-hour seminars, each of which will utilise a range of teaching methods including lectures by the tutor(s), formal and informal presentations by students, and small group discussion.
Assessment will be through 1 x formative essay of 1,800 to 2,500 words, and 1 x summative essay of 1,800 to 2,500 words. The unit mark will comprise the mark for the summative essay.
