| Unit name | Early Modern Women Writers |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL20139 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Batt |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
The historical, political and cultural transformations of the early modern period helped create the conditions in which greater numbers of women were able to write for a more or less public audience. The development of print culture and the institutionalisation of professional theatre companies reshaped the literary marketplace and facilitated greater numbers of ‘professional’ writers. Yet access to these institutions was unequal, and many barriers remained for women writers to negotiate, promoting innovative and often searching writing. At the end of the period covered by this unit, writers such as Aphra Behn and Eliza Haywood were able to make a living—if not always a good one—from their creative work. In this unit, we will study five major authors working in a range of genres and offering radically different outlooks and outputs. We will think together about the conditions in which their work was produced, and the social and political contexts in which it was consumed, reflecting critically throughout on the category of the ‘woman writer,’ and the history of scholarship thereon.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Exploration units offer thought-provoking and engaging investigations into key topics, including period-focused, thematic, and trans-historical options. You will hone your abilities as a researcher able to navigate skilfully a range of databases and archives, as well as engaging effectively with more advanced critical and theoretical perspectives. Exploration units ask you to both rethink the familiar and meet the unexpected, and encourage you to develop depth as well as breadth of critical understanding.
An overview of content
This unit will look at the emergence of women authors between the late sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries. We will look at the changing relationship between women writers and the worlds of literary production, print and stage, including changes in the gendering of reading and consumption. We will spend two weeks each on a major author (e.g. Mary Sidney, Queen Elizabeth I, Isabella Whitney, Hester Pulter, Lady Mary Wroth, Anne Bradstreet, Margaret Cavendish, Katherine Philips, Aphra Behn, Mary Pix, Susannah Centlivre, Anne Finch, Eliza Haywood). Considering their writing in relation to early modern culture and today's critical debates, we will ask how these authors' texts negotiate changing ideas about literary authorship, shifting constructions of private and public, and the rise (and fall?) of the literary canon.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Upon completion of this unit students will have deepened their understanding of early modern literary cultures, and the history of women’s writing in particular. Learning about the ways in which women writers negotiated early modern literary institutions provides an excellent way into thinking about the relationship between the literary canon and gender. The unit will explore some of the methodologies which feminist critics have used to interrogate that relationship, and show how these can be applied to different kinds of writing. It will develop students’ skill in close reading by asking how issues of gender are connected to questions of genre and literary and material form. We will use online databases of early modern sources to find women writers who are not well represented in literary anthologies and editions, so that by the end of this unit, students will have further developed skills in scholarly research which will be useful for developing their final year dissertations.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:
The unit is taught by seminars and a lecture programme. Teaching includes group discussion, research and writing activities, and peer dialogue. Students are expected to attend all timetabled teaching, engage with the reading, and participate fully with the weekly tasks and topics. Learning will be further supported through the opportunity for individual consultation
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Your learning and preparation will be supported throughout the unit, with teaching activities and resources. You will complete regular writing exercises throughout the term and have the opportunity for formative feedback on one of those exercises before submitting your final portfolio.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
1,500 word portfolio (60%) [ILOs 1-4].
2 hour exam (40%) [ILOs 1-4].
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the format or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are confirmed by the School/Centre shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ENGL20139).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
