Poetry and Politics
| Module title | Poetry and Politics |
|---|---|
| Module code | EAS3408 |
| Academic year | 2023/4 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Professor Simon Rennie (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 32 |
|---|
Module description
This module explores the relationship between poetry and politics over the last two centuries through a uniquely reverse chronological approach. Beginning with contemporary poetry and working back episodically through the twentieth and nineteenth centuries, we will consider how poetry engages with broad sites of political tension and movement including gender, sexuality, class, and race, but we will also situate poetry within its particular political and historic framework, asking how this interacts with more literary considerations including form, address, and reception. The module will work back through history towards the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 and the French Revolution, treating them as points of literary, political, and historical focus.
You will find this module particularly interesting if you have an interest in history or politics. However, no specialist knowledge is required in order to engage fully with this module.
Module aims - intentions of the module
- You will encounter poetry from the last two centuries through a particular thematic approach. This module reads canonical poetry in new ways, but also engages with poetry which has suffered critical neglect.
- You will be asking what the nature of the role of poetry is in relation to the politics of the day. You will also be looking at how this role may have changed over the last two centuries.
- You will be examining not just the form of poetry but also its function – what role poetry plays in society. Lectures and seminars will bring together discussion of poetry both as a literary phenomenon and as an agent of social and political change.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate an understanding of the cultural and political implications of poetry since 1790
- 2. Demonstrate an appreciation of poetrys unique relationships with political discourses through history
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. Demonstrate the skills to apply extra-literary contexts to literary texts
- 4. Demonstrate an ability to read literature as both a reflection and a shaper of social desire
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. In synchronous and asynchronous learning, to develop advanced communication skills in order to convey complex ideas
- 6. In research, to work with core texts, critical works, and archives in order to collate and synthesise material to aid a cogent academic argument
- 7. Through the essay, to structure and sustain a complex argument with a high level theoretical and interpretive application
- 8. Through lecture slide portfolio, to demonstrate the ability to effectively utilise visual and textual media in order to produce and structure coherent presentational material
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:
Introduction and Context:
- Introduction and Contemporary Contexts – Carol Ann Duffy, Seamus Heaney, Michael Symmons Roberts
Pre- and Post-War Twentieth Century Poetry:
- Beats and the Black Mountain School: New American Voices – Allan Ginsberg, Diane Di Prima, Charles Olson
- The English Way: (Un)Official Laureates – W. H. Auden, John Betjeman, Philip Larkin
Early Twentieth Century Poetry:
- The Harlem Renaissance: Black Voices – Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn B. Bennett
- Politics and the Modernist Poets – T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, H. D.
Victorian Poetry:
- Victorian Women: The Female Voice – Christina Rossetti, Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- Chartist Poetry: The Male Voice and Vote – Ernest Jones, Thomas Cooper, William James Linton
- Cotton and Corn: Industrial and Agricultural Voices – Joseph Ramsbottom, Ebenezer Elliott, John Clare
Romantic Poetry:
- Peterloo: The Spectre of Class War – Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, James Leigh Hunt
- The French Revolution: Seeds of British Reform – William Wordsworth, Robert Southey, William Blake
- Focus on Assessment
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 44 | 256 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 11 | 11 x 1 hour lecture |
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 11 | 11 x 1 hour seminars/webinars |
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 22 | 11 x Asynchronous engagement |
| Guided independent study | 72 | Individual seminar preparation |
| Guided independent study | 184 | Reading, research, essay and presentation preparation |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture slide portfolio | 40 | 12 slides + notes | 1-6, 8 | Feedback sheet with opportunity for tutorial follow-up |
| Essay | 60 | 3000 words | 1-7 | Feedback sheet with opportunity for tutorial follow-up |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture slide portfolio | Lecture slide portfolio | 1-6, 8 | Referral/Deferral period |
| Essay | Essay | 1-7 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Students are advised to consult critical or authoritative editions when referencing, but most of reading will be made available on the module ELE site.
- Selected poetry from Carol Ann Duffy, Seamus Heaney, Michael Symmons Roberts
- Selected poetry from Allan Ginsberg, Diane Di Prima, selected prose from Charles Olson
- Selected poetry from W. H. Auden, John Betjeman, Philip Larkin
- Selected poetry from Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn B. Bennett
- Selected poetry from T. S. Eliot, Robert Frost, H. D.
- Selected poetry from Christina Rossetti, Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- Selected poetry from Ernest Jones, Thomas Cooper, William James Linton
- Selected poetry from Joseph Ramsbottom, Ebenezer Elliott, John Clare
- Selected poetry from Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Samuel Bamford
- Selected poetry from William Wordsworth, Robert Southey, William Blake
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | Yes |
| Origin date | 08/02/2018 |
| Last revision date | 28/07/2020 |
