Admission requirements
Not applicable.
Description
This course offers an introduction to one of the richest eras of English literature and to a historical period that, in many ways, marks the beginning of the modern world. Students will familiarize themselves with a broad range of plays, poetry and prose. We will study the language and form of these texts, while at the time looking at the cultural, political and historical contexts by which they were shaped, and which they helped to shape in their turn.
Course objectives
By the end of the course, students will:
Have good general knowledge and understanding of the major stylistic, structural and thematic developments in early modern British literature.
Have a thorough understanding of key early modern literary categories and concepts such as early modern professional drama, closet drama, the sonnet, religious lyric poetry, and verse epic, and the ability to apply these in the formal analysis of literary texts.
Be able to analyse works of early modern literature in relation to key cultural-historical contexts.
Have further developed their academic research and writing skills by writing a scholarly essay.
Be able to express their critical understanding of a text in formal academic prose following the conventions of the MLA style literary-critical essay format.
Have shown independent learning skills by meeting deadlines and showing they can work with feedback to improve their academic writing skills.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture (1 hour per week)
Seminar (2 hours per week)
Research
Assessment method
Assessment
Mid-Term: a 1200-word essay, presented according to the rules of the MLA stylesheet. Submitted via Turnitin on Brightspace.
End of term: Timed in-person exam (3 hours)
Attendance is compulsory. Missing more than two tutorials means that students may be excluded from the tutorials. Unauthorized absence also applies to being unprepared, not participating and/or not bringing the relevant course materials to class.
Weighing
Mid-Term: a 1200-word essay (40%); minimum grade required: 6,0
End of term: Timed in-person exam (60%); minimum grade required: 5,0.
The final mark for the course is established by determination of the weighted average combined with additional requirements. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher. NOTE: the minimum grade for the MLA style mid-term essay is a 6,0, and the minimum grade for the exam is 5,0.
Resit
When the weighted average is below 5.5 or the grade for one of the assignments is lower than the minimum, the student will have to resit one (or both) of the assignments. Resit essays will need to be revised according to the feedback provided and resubmitted on the day of the resit deadline via Turnitin on Brightspace. For the exam there will be a fixed resit exam moment in June.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
The essay assignments will be posted with feedback on Brightspace. Students are expected to study the feedback and to use this to improve on their next writing assignment. Students will be offered the possibility to review their exam answers.
Reading list
Greenblatt, Stephen, et al (eds.). The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B (Norton). Students may purchase either the 10th edition or, if available, the 11th edition.
Klarer, Mario. An Introduction to Literary Studies (Routledge). Students may purchase either the 3rd or 4th edition.
Further reading material to be downloaded via the Leiden University Library online catalogue.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Please note: it's not possible to enroll in MyStudyMap yourself for the tutorial group of this course. If you are a higher year student and need to be enrolled in a tutorial group, please contact the education coordinator.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal
Remarks
Please see the Brightspace page for further literary and historical resources to prepare for your study.