| Unit name | American Literature: 1945 to Present |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL29007 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. O'Brien |
| 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 |
N/A |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
The years from 1945 to the Present in American history are extraordinary, fascinating, bizarre, frequently shocking, but hyper-stimulating, with a sense that, somehow, the events of actual life could outdo anything poets or novelists could imagine about them. This unit will introduce students to a wide range of post-war American writing, to focus on each author’s own vision of reality, and to explore the connections between their work and the cultural history of the U.S. at this time. American literature contains multitudes: dreams and fantasies, self-inventions and self-annihilations, paranoia and ecstasy, violence and the sacred, the American pastoral and the American berserk, morality and crime.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Specialisation units challenge and empower you to engage with specific elements of advanced literary study. Specialisation units include taught options, which are closely informed by the world-leading research of individual academic staff, as well as final-year dissertation units that will enable you to pursue your own research or creative interests. Specialisation units cultivate ambition and independent learning, and showcase the department’s wide-ranging and varied expertise.
An Overview of Content
The weekly seminar will be based around a particular author or text(s), sometimes a specific subject. The aim of the unit is to introduce students to a wide range of post-war American novels, short-stories, poetry and essays. Authors to be studied may include: Saul Bellow, Don DeLillo, Thomas Pynchon, Philip Roth, James Baldwin, Flannery O’Connor, Alice Munro, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, Bernard Malamud, John Cheever, Richard Ford, Vladimir Nabokov, Truman Capote, Cormac McCarthy, Mary McCarthy, Raymond Carver, E.L. Doctorow, John Updike, David Foster Wallace, Richard Yates, the ‘New York Poets’, Ralph Ellison, George Saunders, Claudia Rankine, Kurt Vonnegut.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
By the end of this unit, students will have developed an appreciation for modern and contemporary American literature that will last them a lifetime. They will have absorbed and assimilated a diverse range of extraordinary writings that will help deepen and broaden their understanding of themselves and the world.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:
Teaching will involve asynchronous and synchronous elements, including group discussion, research and writing activities, and peer dialogue. Students are expected to 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):
Students will be given the opportunity to submit an outline of your final summative essay, and receive formative feedback.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative)
Essay, 3,000 words (100%) [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. ENGL29007).
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.
