| Unit name | Large, Loose, Baggy Monsters: Victorian Fiction and Novel Form |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL20128 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Gao |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
n/a |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
n/a |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
n/a |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
Why are Victorian novels so big? How do we even study them? This unit challenges you to read three of the longest texts you’re likely to encounter in your degree, and trains you in the skills to focus, process, understand, and discuss large quantities of information in a world of increasingly limited time and attention. We will only be reading three novels in this unit, and we will be reading each novel over four weeks. We will support each week’s reading with narrative summaries, scaffolds for discussion, and communal annotations; we will make allowances for skimreading, misreadings, and missed readings. This process will show us both how Victorian novelists structured complex narratives with multiple, interweaving plots and characters, and how we might in turn structure our own time, analysis, and critical writing in response to such big texts.
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
Looking back in 1908 at the previous century’s major novels, Henry James wondered derisively ‘what do such large, loose, baggy monsters…artistically mean?’ In this unit, we will try to answer James by reading three big, doorstop Victorian novels by authors such as Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, and George Eliot to consider what their bigness might mean, especially in our new media age of serialised, binge-worthy, and immersive fiction. Our primary lens for thinking about these novels will be form and formalism (i.e., why are these novels a certain shape?) but we will be connecting our analysis to topics including: serial and episodic narratives; social representation and social networks; plotting and subplotting; boredom and attention drift; immersion and emotional investment; time-wasting and time-sinks.
We will be dedicating three or four weeks to reading each novel, discussing them in accumulative parts and then as a whole. This offers a unique opportunity to reflect on a work as it unfolds, to ‘mull over’ a text over multiple seminars, and to develop longform project and time management skills. It will offer a complementary experience to encountering these or similar texts as a ‘week’s’ topic in a period or thematic course.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
On completion of the unit students will have had the opportunity to engage with major exemplars of the mid-Victorian novel, gain an increased understanding of formalist approaches to text, and refine their understanding of the period in ways that consolidate their work in survey units at Level C/4, as well as complement the more diverse set of literary forms in other I/5 units. The experience of analysing literary texts over a longer timeframe will also be a good starting point and preparation for finalyear dissertation projects.
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 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. ENGL20128).
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.
