| Unit name | Drinking in the words: The pleasures and pains of alcohol in British fiction and culture |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL20127 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Pam Lock |
| 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?
Drinking in the Words explores a range of different approaches to the consumption of alcohol in literature. Students will be encouraged to pay particular attention to addiction, pleasure, free will, and the material place of alcohol in our culture, and to think about drinking in terms of the individual, the community, and the state apparatus (criminal, medical, legal etc). Texts include 19th and 21st century novels and short stories and autobiographies and memoirs, as well as historical documents including contemporary newspapers, periodicals, medical monographs.
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 unit will be organised in 3-week blocks, each block covering literary, historical, and contemporary approaches to that theme. For example, one block might cover the art of the confession: 1) ‘true’ confessional narratives of drunkards such as Charles Lamb; 2) fictionalised confessions such as George Eliot’s ‘Janet’s Repentance’; 3) an independent research task to identify confessional narrative tropes in modern celebrity autobiographies. The overarching aim of this ‘thematic block’ would be to consider how and why the confessional narrative is important to public understandings of the pleasures and dangers of intoxication and alcohol (and other public discourses more widely). Each 3-week thematic block would include a flipped classroom session in which students take ownership of the classroom and present their ideas and research findings in short, informal presentations.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
This unit is designed to give students hands-on experience of historicist approaches to fiction in the nineteenth century and the present day. This will involve pairing new historical research skills with your existing skills in literary research and analysis. Learning to apply this combined approach with greater expertise will not only build important academic research and writing skills useful for later study, but also encourage students to consider cultural issues likely to apply to their own lives such as how the British relationship to drinking and alcohol has changed and/or stayed the same since 1800.
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. ENGL20127).
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.
