Run by School of Arts, Culture and Language

20.000 Credits or 10.000 ECTS Credits

Semester 1

Organiser: Dr Michael Durrant

Early Modern Literature offers the opportunity to study a diverse range of writings from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at an advanced level. Building upon the encounters with plays, poetry and prose from the reigns of Henry VIII to those of the later Stuarts which the student has encountered in a variety of modules in the first and second years, this module focuses upon questions of authorship and literary production, audience and reception and engages with dominant thematic interests of social change, gender, sexuality, heroism, violence and the body.

Syllabus:

1. CITIZEN NARRATIVES: Deloney - Jack of Newbury; Dekker - The Shoemaker’s Holiday
2. [SELF-]GOVERNMENT: Marlowe: Edward II; Bacon: ‘Of Seditions and Troubles’, ‘Of Ambition’, ‘Of Followers and Friends’
3. INTIMACY: Gascoigne: The Adventures of Master F.J.; Donne – ‘Sappho to Philaenis’; Linche – ‘The last so sweet…’; Barnes – ‘Jove for Europa’s love…’
4. REVENGE – Marston: The Malcontent; Bacon ‘Of Revenge’
5. COMEDY I: Jonson: Bartholomew Fair; Bacon - ‘Of Simulation and Dissimulation’
6. ROMANCE: Shakespeare Cymbeline; G.B.A.F. A discovery of the great subtiltie (1591)
7. COMEDY II: Beaumont: The Knight of the Burning Pestle;
8. 17c POETICS: Henry Vaughan; Robert Herrick; Lucy Hutchinson.
9. HEROISM: Milton -Samson Agonistes
10. RESTORATION SOCIETY: Etherege: The Man of Mode; Rochester Poems
11. EARLY FICTION & DEBATE: Eliz Heywood: Fantomina; Astell: Some Reflections; Katherine Phillips Poems
12. Revision Week

excellent

Typically, work graded A- to A** (or 70 to 100) will show many of the following qualities:

• Discusses ideas with confidence and precision • Demonstrates maturity and sophistication • Displays deep knowledge of the subject in question; the answer is totally relevant • Shows independent, analytical and clear thought • Gives evidence of substantial and relevant reading • Shows great accuracy in expression, displaying total mastery over all aspects of the language • Shows occasional signs of brilliance and originality of thought • In creative work: displays considerable originality • Command over medium; may have potential for publication/production

good

Typically, work graded B- to B+ (or 60 to 69) will show many of the following qualities: • Discusses ideas adeptly • Most of the arguments about a specific field are well-aired • Displays knowledge of the subject in question; the answer is relevant • Shows analytical and clear thought • Gives evidence of relevant reading • Shows accuracy in expression with mastery over language. • A few minor errors here and there. • Signs of creative thought deserve a higher position within the class • In creative work: shows signs of originality, having understood the requirements of the medium • Plans of well-balanced and full answers, despite some gaps

Typically, work graded C- to C+ (or 50 to 59) will show many of the following qualities: • Discusses ideas, but without much confidence • A respectable effort but not showing any unusual talent; a few flashes of originality here and there • Makes reference to the subject in question, but some important matters not mentioned • Fairly clear thought on most occasions, and the arguments relevant on the whole • Evidence of having read some works associated with the field in question • Quite accurate expression, though the points may sometimes be presented clumsily • Signs of conscientious work deserve a higher position within the class • In creative work: not having quite mastered the requirements of the medium
• Evidence of planning in the answers, but a lack of coherence at times; undisciplined and unsure at times

threshold

Typically, work graded D- to D+ (or 40 to 49) will show many of the following qualities: • Unsure and lacking in confidence when discussing ideas • Referring to the subject in question in a superficial manner • Making an effort to provide fairly balanced answers • Some points in the argument irrelevant to the topic • Little evidence of background reading • Some uncertainty over language and syntax • Strengths and weaknesses fairly balanced; occasionally clumsy and unimaginative • In creative work: superficial • Not succeeding in mastering the requirements of the medium

Type	Name	Description	Weight
	2,000 word essay 2		50.00
	2,000 word Essay 1		50.00

		Hours

• Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
• Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software
• Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
• Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
• Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
• Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting

• Conceptual skills developed by demonstration and discussion. (English Benchmark Statement 3.2.2; 3.3.14; 3.3.17; 3.3.18; 3.3.19).
• Study skills in researching concepts and contexts by directed reading. (English Benchmark Statement 3.3.22; 3.3.23).
• The ability to analyse texts, using appropriate critical terminology. ( English Benchmark Statement 3.1.8; 3.2.1; 3.2.6; 3.3.12).

Talis Reading list

http://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/qxe-3107.html

Reading list

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Primary Texts: • Norton Anthology, vols. B & C • David Bevington et al (eds.), English Renaissance Drama (New York: Norton, 2002) • Paul Salzman (ed.), An Anthology of Elizabethan Prose Fiction (Oxford: World’s Classics, 1987) • Shakespeare Cymbeline (any edition) • John Milton Samson Agonistes (any edition) • Library Database: Early English Books Online (EEBO) • Handouts (to be distributed by seminar tutor)

Secondary Texts: A.R. Braunmiller et al (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to English Renaissance Drama (Cambridge: CUP, 2003). T.N. Corns, A History of Seventeenth-Century English Literature (Oxford: Blackwell, 2007). William M. Hamlin, Tragedy and Scepticism in Shakespeare’s England (Cambridge: CUP, 2005). Michael Hattaway (ed.), A Companion to English Renaissance Literature and Culture (Hoboken: Wiley, 2008). Naomi Conn Liebler (ed.), Early Modern Prose Fiction (London: Routledge, 2007). David Loewenstein et al (eds.), The Cambridge History of Early Modern English Literature (Cambridge: CUP, 2002). Randall Martin, Women Writers in Renaissance England (London: Longman, 1997). Steve Mentz, Romance for sale in Early Modern England (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006). Anita Pacheco (ed.), A Companion to Early Modern Women’s Writing (Oxford: Blackwells, 2002). Jason Scott-Warren, Early Modern English Literature (Cambridge: CUP, 2005). Gary Waller, English Poetry of the Sixteenth Century (London: Longman, 1993

Compulsory in courses:

• 3Q5Q: BA Cymraeg and English Literature year 3 (BA/CEL)
• Q310: BA Eng Lit with Eng Lang year 3 (BA/ELEL)
• 3QV1: BA History and English Literature year 3 (BA/ELH)
• 09V3: BA English Literature and Italian year 4 (BA/ELI)
• 3YT5: BA English Literature and Spanish year 4 (BA/ELIS)
• 065C: BA English Literature with Journalism year 3 (BA/ELJ)
• 1Q3Q: BA Linguistics and English Literature year 3 (BA/ELL)
• QQC3: BA English Lang and Lit year 3 (BA/ELLIT)
• QQCF: BA English Language & English Lit [with Foundation Year] year 3 (BA/ELLITF)
• 32N6: BA English Literature and Music year 3 (BA/ELM)
• 32N7: BA English Literature & Music with International Experience year 3 (BA/ELMIE)
• 32M8: BA English Literature with Theatre and Performance year 3 (BA/ELTP)
• M3Q9: BA English Literature and Criminology and Criminal Justice year 3 (BA/ENC)
• 2P17: BA English Literature and Creative Writing year 3 (BA/ENCW)
• 2P1P: BA English Literature and Creative Writing with Place Yr year 3 (BA/ENCWP)
• 8H25: BA English Literature year 3 (BA/ENGL)
• 8H2P: BA English Literature with Placement Year year 3 (BA/ENGLP)
• 8H26: BA English Literature (with International Experience) year 4 (BA/ENIE)
• 06CD: BA French and English Literature year 4 (BA/FEL)
• 3P3Q: BA Film Studies and English Literature year 3 (BA/FSEL)
• 3N7S: BA German and English Literature year 4 (BA/GEL)
• T124: BA English Literature & Chinese year 4 (BA/LITCH)
• 3HPQ: BA Media Studies and English Literature year 3 (BA/MEN)
• 3VQV: BA Philosophy and Religion and English Literature year 3 (BA/PREN)
• 3L3Q: BA Sociology and English Literature year 3 (BA/SEL)

Optional in courses:

• W890: BA Creative&Professional Writing year 3 (BA/CPW)
• W89P: BA Creative and Professional Writing with Placement Year year 4 (BA/CPWP)
• W899: BA Creative & Professional Writing with International Exp year 4 (BA/CRIE)
• 2P78: BA English Lit with Creative Writing with International Exp year 4 (BA/ECI)
• Q3Q2: BA English Language w English Lit year 3 (BA/ENGEL)
• 2D13: BA English Literature with Creative Writing year 3 (BA/ENGLC)
• Q1Q3: BA Ling with Eng Lit year 3 (BA/LEL)
• M115: LLB Law with English Literature (International Experience) year 3 (LLB/ILEL)
• Q2W9: MArts English Literature with Creative Writing year 3 (MARTS/ELCW)
• Q321: MArts English Literature with International Experience year 3 (MARTS/ELIE)
• Q320: MArts English Literature year 3 (MARTS/ELIT)