UNSW Handbook Course - The Canon of English Literature

The Canon of English Literature - ENGL1007


	Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
	School: School of English, Media and Performing Arts
	Course Outline: See below
	Campus: Kensington Campus
	Career: Undergraduate
	Units of Credit: 6
	EFTSL: 0.125 (more info)
	Contact Hours per Week: 3
	Fee Band: 1 (more info)
	Further Information: See Class Timetable

Description

A historical survey of English literature aimed at improving students' knowledge of how it has been organised into a set of special texts (a 'canon'). Enhances their powers to describe, interpret and enjoy it. Presents particular works of literature in English from the earliest periods through to the twentieth century in chronological order, attending to the features of language that make them literary, the context of their production, and some of their major themes. Introduces students to some different kinds of criticism (Marxist, feminist, post-colonial, Bloomian) by way of critical engagement with their accounts of how the canon has been formed and how it should be revised.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

Improve their abilities to understand and enjoy literature in English
Heighten their sensitivity to those features by virtue of which these texts are literary and the passions out of which many of them were produced
Improve their abilities to speak and write about literature in a way that is articulate
Enhance their abilities to judge the quality of works of literature and to justify those judgments
To remember and actually to present works of literature, and not just explanations of them, to other people.

Assessment

Essay 1 (1200 words) - 20%
Essay consultation - 5%
Essay 2 (2000 words) - 35%
Final test - 20%
Tutorials participation - 20%

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