Unit information: Writing the Margins in 2018/19

Unit name	Writing the Margins
Unit code	ENGL20109
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Sebastiaan Verweij
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None.
Co-requisites	None.
School/department	Department of English
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will introduce students to another kind of early modern period: that which played out on the relative margins of society, texts, gender, politics, race, sexuality, class, and geography. If the first year course ‘Literature 1550-1740’ presents (to some degree) a broad and canonical overview, it is the purpose of this unit both to complement and to problematize this period, by attending to the several kinds of decentred or marginalized voices, texts, and genres.

Examples of subjects that will be explored in this unit include:

• conditions of authorship (men v. women; professional v. elite);
• representations of sex and gender on the page and stage (masculine v. feminine);
• publication histories (manuscript v. print);
• geographical locations (city v. the country, London v. the provinces);
• representations of class and race (English white v. the ‘racial other’);
• religious persuasions (Protestant v. Catholic; Conformist v. Non-Conformist);
• the literary critical canon v. the unknown, unedited, or unpopular.

Students will read a wide range of marginal texts from the period, sometimes alongside more canonical or central texts, in order to develop a deeper and more critical understanding of one of the most rewarding periods of English literature. Teaching will proceed on a modular basis, with 2/3 week periods devoted to a single ‘marginal’ issue, populated by a variety of primary and secondary texts.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the early modern period and its development from c. 1500 onwards;
2. demonstrate understanding of historical, cultural and intellectual contexts that underpin literary texts, authorial practice, and publication;
3. demonstrate understanding of what might constitute a ‘marginal text’ as opposed to a canonical one;
4. identify and present pertinent evidence to develop a cogent argument in oral and written discourse, as appropriate to level I;
5. demonstrate skills in textual analysis, argumentation, and critical interpretation using evidence from primary texts and secondary sources.

Teaching Information

1 x two-hour seminar per week

Assessment Information

1 x 1,800 words summative essay (40%) [due near the end of the unit] [ILOs 1-5]

1 x 2.5 hour exam (60%) [ILOs 1-5]

Reading and References

Woudhuysen, Henry, and David Norbrook, eds. The Penguin Book of Renaissance Verse: 1509-1659. London: Penguin, 1993.

Hattaway, Michael, ed. A New Companion to English Renaissance Literature and Culture. 2 vols. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.

Stevenson, Jane, and Peter Davidson, eds. Early Modern Women Poets 1520-1700. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.