SFE11020 British Literature (Autumn 2020)

The course is connected to the following study programs

Mandatory course in the one-year English programme.

May be taken in the optional 60 ECTS part of the Bachelor's Programme in Society, Language and Culture (this applies for students who started 2018 or earlier).

Lecture Semester

One-year English programme: 1st semester (autumn).

Bachelor's Programme in Society, Language and Culture: 5th semester (autumn).

The student's learning outcomes after completing the course

Knowledge The student has:

• knowledge and understanding of British literature

• knowledge of literary periods, genres and topics in British literature

Skills The student:

• has analytical and critical skills in his or her encounters with literary texts

• is capable of studying literary works in the context of their history

• has improved his or her skills in written argumentation and oral discussion in English

• is capable of using the MLA style of referencing

General competence The student:

• is capable of independent and critical thinking in the analysis of British literature

• masters research techniques for searching, evaluating and using secondary literature on the internet and in the university college's library

Content

The course is a wide-ranging review of the development of British literature from the Middle Ages until the present, with a main focus on the 1900s. The compulsory part of the syllabus includes novels, plays, works of fiction and poetry. The texts are studied from the perspective of the age and the society from which they emerged.

Forms of teaching and learning

Teaching varies between physical and online lectures, seminars, talks and activities in small groups. The students are expected to read the course material every week and take active part in classroom and online discussions and group assignments. Students are encouraged to study in groups where they can go through the literature and work together on assignments outside the scheduled teaching sessions.

Workload

Approx. 280 hours.

Coursework requirements - conditions for taking the exam

• One individual written assignment with an extent of 3-4 pages.

Required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam.

Examination

Individual written exam (5 hours)

Permitted aids: English dictionary.

Grade scale A-F.

Examiners

One external and one internal examiner or two internal examiners.

Course evaluation

Feedback from our students is vital in order for us to be able to offer the best possible courses and study programmes. The course is evaluated every semester.

The results are considered by/in teacher groups, the head of studies and the local programme committee.

Literature

The reading list is last updated 05.06.2020.

Texts

The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors, 10th edition, vols. 1 and 2

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Wordsworth Classics, 1992.

Gardner, Janet E. and Joanne Diaz. Reading and Writing about Literature: A Portable Guide. 4th Edition, 2016. 

MLA Handbook. 8th ed., MLA, 2016.

Stoppard, Tom. Arcadia. Faber & Faber, 1993.

Woolf, Virginia. Mrs Dalloway. Wordsworth Classics, 1998.

(We will also read Othello by William Shakespeare but this text is included in the Norton Anthology.)

*All material handed out at lectures or posted on the learning platform is part of the syllabus. All students must have an English dictionary at their disposal, such as Collins Cobuild Dictionary, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary or other dictionary for non-native speakers of English (learner's dictionary).