| Unit name | Transformations |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL10046 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Ian Calvert |
| 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?
This unit looks at how authors respond to, revise, challenge, engage, remake, and are in dialogue with earlier texts and ideas. It focuses particularly on material from antiquity (both classical and Biblical) which has played a key role in shaping attitudes towards humanity’s place and status in the wider world. It consequently explores how scholars, writers and other creative practitioners evaluate and historicise literature, as well as how they deploy earlier texts to reflect on and critique their own contemporary moment. By reading synchronically and diachronically, students will engage with the evaluation and criticism of literary lineages and developments. They will also appraise key ideas regarding literary transmission, influence, canonicity, translation and adaptation (in the latter cases, both across genre and media). Students will be introduced to key theoretical texts in the study of reception, which will inform the tracing of cultural themes and attitudes and prepare them to look for forms of textual relation on units they will take in subsequent years (in particular, the I/5 core units and H/6 exploration units).
How does this unit fit into the 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
Transformations introduces you to a wide selection of texts and creative forms. You will study poetry, drama and creative non-fiction, among other genres, to explore a range of ideas whose roots can be traced back to the ancient world and which have informed cultural debates ever since. Topics studied are likely to include creation and origins, literature and landscape, and epic.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Upon completion of this unit you will be able to identify how writing in English is shaped by, and helps to shape, broader transhistorical and transnational literary traditions. You will have practised how to combine close, detailed analysis of literary texts with the application of key critical and theoretical concepts relevant to studying material from pre-modern cultures, and literature in translation, as well as to more contemporary English-language texts. By extending your knowledge and understanding in these ways the unit will thus enable you to strengthen your critical and interpretative skills and prepare you for the next stage of your programme.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:
1. recognise how authors respond to the work of their predecessors and contemporaries, and identify some of the major cultural forces that shape those responses;
2. apply understanding of historical, cultural and intellectual contexts to readings of the relations between texts;
3. apply textual analysis, argumentation, and critical interpretation to evidence from primary texts and secondary sources;
4. practise working both individually and as a team by contributing to group tasks and discussions.
Teaching will involve asynchronous and synchronous elements, including lectures, 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 with unit tutors.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Contribution mark (10%) [ILO 4]
Group presentation (30%) [ILOs 1-4]
Portfolio of 3x700-word writing exercises (60%) [ILOs 1-3]
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. ENGL10046).
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.
