University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 30

ECTS credits : 15

Level : SCQF level 9

Semester: 2

Planned timetable: 10am - 12 Tues

This module introduces students to the lively but little-known world of literature in Older Scots before the cultural watershed of the 1560 Reformation. Works to be studied include the Fables of Henryson (building on the 'Cock and Fox' fable studied on EN2003), poems by James I, Dunbar, Douglas and Lyndsay, and some of the comic or chivalric works of their anonymous contemporaries, all studied in the context of developments in the language, literary culture and political climate of the period. (Group A)

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 lecture, 1 seminar and 2 optional consultative hours.

Scheduled learning hours: 22

Guided independent study hours: 278

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: 2-hour Written Examination = 30%, Coursework = 70%


Re-assessment: exam = 100%

Personnel

Module coordinator: Professor R Purdie
Module teaching staff: Prof R Purdie

Intended learning outcomes

• Display an understanding of how Older Scots literature developed in the independent kingdom of Scotland before the 1560 Reformation
• Appreciate the ways in which history, politics and culture intersected in a late-medieval/early-modern Scottish context
• Analyse poetic form and function in early texts
• Understand some of the most important critical issues in relation to this period of literature