Undergraduate Course: Cities of Words: 20th Century Urban America (ENLI10096)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course will examine the ways in which urban space has been represented in writing of the United States in the twentieth-century, with particular emphasis on the intersection between geography and literature in modern American culture. |
| Course description |
This course enables students to explore a variety of representations of modern urban United States, focusing
specifically at New York and Los Angeles. We'll be looking a number of different genres of writing -
fiction, poetry, travel narrative, screenplay
to consider the ways in which the city has been depicted in American literary culture. The relationship between aesthetics and urban geography will also be examined through
reading a number of key theorists alongside the primary texts. The course encourages both close critical engagement and conceptual thinking about the ways in which city spaces function as part of modern culture.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of 4 college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as civilisation or other interdisciplinary classes, Freshman Year Seminars or composition/creative writing classes/workshops are not considered for admission to this course. Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course having 4 literature classes at grade A.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
10 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1 essay of 2,500 words (30%);
1 practical assessment (10%);
1 examination essay of 3,000 words (60%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- By the end of the course each student will be able to demonstrate their understanding of critical issues in relation to the city as a crucial site in the production of US literature and American modernity.
- By the end of the course each student will be able to speak and write fluently about these issues in relation to the primary texts, and the socio-historical contexts in which they are embedded.
- By the end of the course each student will be able to apply a range of relevant literary theories, such as spatial theory, African-American literary criticism, and postmodernism, to the primary texts on the course, and evaluate these theories in relation to each other.
- By the end of the course students will be able to apply a range of secondary criticism to the primary texts on the course, and evaluate them in relation to their own readings.
- By the end of the course students will have further improved their abilities in areas fundamental to the study of English literature at Honours level: essay writing, independent reading, critical thinking, class discussion, oral presentation of information, and the ability to learn autonomously in small groups.
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Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Andrew Taylor
Tel: (1031 6)50 4584
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Anne Mason
Tel: (0131 6)50 3618
Email: |
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