The Supernatural in Early Modern Literature

Module title	The Supernatural in Early Modern Literature
Module code	TRU2907
Academic year	2019/0
Credits	15
Module staff	Professor Marion Gibson (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks		11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	16

Module description

Questions of belief gained a charged resonance in the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, following significant developments in how religious identity was defined - and policed. Early modern authors debated these points within their writings. Issues of faith impacted upon early modern views of magic, at a time when people feared the Devil might walk among them; this period witnessed an increased literary and historical emphasis on persecuting witches, even as magical practices such as alchemy and astrology retained a certain social acceptability. On this module, you will explore the representation of and engagement with such supernatural themes and beings.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will introduce you to how the English literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries responded to key historical debates about supernatural practices and figures, both religious and magical. In doing so, the module will enable you to develop the literary and historical research abilities required for in-depth, independent analysis of early modern texts and issues, gaining skills and knowledge that will enhance your ongoing study of English literature. Through engagement with a diverse range of primary sources, you will become familiar with important sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literary texts and trends, and gain an understanding of how this period’s imaginative preoccupation with questions of magic and belief remains significant today.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Describe historical developments that influenced early modern literature
2. Describe specific works of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature
3. Demonstrate a critically-informed understanding of how sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature responds to important historical, intellectual and social developments that occurred during the period
4. Engage with theoretical concepts relevant to the study of early modern literature

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

5. Analyse the literature of an earlier era and to relate its concerns and its modes of expression to its specific historical moment
6. Interrelate texts and discourses with issues in the wider context of cultural and intellectual history
7. Understand and analyse relevant theoretical ideas, and to apply these ideas to literary texts

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

8. Through seminar work, demonstrate communication and listening skills and work both individually and as a member of a group
9. Through essay-writing, demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills, construct a coherent, substantiated argument, and write clear and correct prose
10. Through preparation for seminars and essays, demonstrate organisational and time management skills, and proficiency in research, information retrieval and analysis

Syllabus plan

This is an indicative syllabus. Texts and topics studied on this module may include:

From Beyond the Grave: John Donne
Fighting Magic: The Faerie Queene
Conjuring Devils: Henry VI Part One
False and Fraudulent: The Alchemist
Of Angels and Devils: Paradise Lost
Writing the Supernatural: The Renaissance Legacy

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
19	131	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled learning and teaching	5	Lectures large group teaching (5 x 1 hour)
Scheduled learning and teaching	10	Seminars small group teaching around given texts for that fortnight (5 x 2 hours)
Scheduled learning and teaching	4	Essay workshops small group teaching around specific critical context and practical skills (4 x 1 hour)
Guided independent study	131	Reading, researching, writing, seminar preparation, ELE- and web-based activity, attending office hours with tutor, etc

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Annotated bibliography	1000 words	1-7, 9-10	Written and option for oral feedback
Seminar presentation	5 minutes	All	Oral

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
Essay	100	2000 words	1-7, 9-10	Written and option for oral feedback

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
Essay	Essay	1-7, 9-10	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 redo the assessment(s) as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Primary reading (try Amazon Marketplace or Abebooks online, but don’t order as a ‘print on demand’ or facsimile – these are often both expensive and unreliable):

William Shakespeare, Henry VI Part One, ed. Michael Hattaway (Cambridge, 1990)
Ben Jonson, The Alchemist, ed. Gordon Campbell (Oxford, 1995)
Stephen Greenblatt et al., ed., The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 9^th edition (2012): Volume 1/Part B

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Dictionary of National Biography
Early Modern Literary Studies
EEBO
JSTOR
Project Muse
Renaissance and Reformation
The Milton Reading Room
World Shakespeare Bibliography Online

Key words search

Literature, Renaissance, early modern, witchcraft, magic, religion, faith, ghost, death, magic, alchemy, devil, angel, God, fairy

Credit value	15
Module ECTS	7.5
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	5
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	19/01/2016
Last revision date	20/08/2018