University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 30

ECTS credits : 15

Level : SCQF level 10

Semester: 2

Availability restrictions: Not automatically available to General Degree students

Planned timetable: 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm Mon

During the English Renaissance it was widely understood that literature ought to 'instruct by pleasing'. This module is concerned with those writers and texts that seem to ignore this imperative. Why, we will ask, do writers from John Donne to Alexander Pope go out of their way to challenge or baffle or confuse or overwhelm their readers? What are the forms, conditions, and uses of literary complexity? This module might alternatively be called 'How To Read Hard Renaissance Texts.' Likely authors studied will include Donne, Marvell, Cavendish, Milton, Dryden, Swift, Pope. (Group B)

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisite(s): Before taking this module you must pass EN2003 and pass EN2004

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 1 x 2-hour seminar, and 2 optional consultative hours.

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: 2-hour Written Examination = 40%, Coursework = 60%


Re-assessment: exam = 100%

Personnel

Module coordinator: Dr M C Augustine
Module teaching staff: Dr M C Augustine
Module coordinator email mca3@st-andrews.ac.uk

Intended learning outcomes

• Demonstrate a broad familiarity with the texts and authors studied in the module
• Demonstrate an awareness of how writers operate with respect to generic conventions and expectations
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of relevant secondary literature including but not limited to the set reading
• Engage strategically with complex texts
• Demonstrate a sense of the reception histories and histories of reading in which texts are embedded