University of the West of England

MODULE SPECIFICATION

(Template Revised October 2005)

Code: UPGPPA-30-3 Title: Contemporary American Narrative Version: 3

Level: 3 UWE credit rating: 30 ECTS credit rating: 15

Module type: Standard

Owning Faculty: Social Sciences and Humanities Field: English

Valid from: September 2008 Discontinued from:

Contributes towards: Awards up to BA (Hons)

Pre-requisites: UPGPDC-60-1-Approaches to Literature and Criticism; or, UPGPDD-30-1

Narrative Literature: Prose and Verse.

Co-requisites: None

Excluded combinations: None

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate:

§ a critical understanding of the social, economic and aesthetic issues that have shaped American literature since 1975 (assessed through all elements of Components A and B);

§ an engagement with the key debates concerning the nature and purpose of American fiction in the period, this involving an examination of selected critical essays and reviews of the literature under consideration (assessed through all elements of Components A and B);

§ a knowledge of the major writers on the module, and the relevant texts, in relation to their historical context (assessed through all elements of Components A and B);

§ an ability to read fiction critically and self-consciously, and to discuss and write about the challenge of handling interpretative difficulties within a framework of competing theoretical views on the nature and purpose of reading fiction at an academic level (assessed through all elements of Components A and B);

§ research skills appropriate to a level 3 module (assessed through all elements of Components A and B);

§ in the writing of assignments: the judicious use of primary and secondary material; organisational skills; sustained relevance; and a capacity for handling assignment questions with critical scepticism (assessed through all elements of component B).

Syllabus outline:

Through literary analysis the module will examine the social and cultural shifts in America from the post-Vietnam era to the present, particularly in relation to the move from “Full” to “Flexible Fordism, or the generalisation of consumption as an available way of life. The course will develop a theoretical understanding of narrative structure, focusing on the changing representation of war and its aftermath; the effects of commodification on everyday life; the city as a spectacle and location of commodity aesthetics; the acknowledgment of, and resistance to, regional change, and the reaction of marginalised voices to increased consumerism.

Teaching and learning methods:

A weekly lecture and seminar. Lectures will focus on supplying information, encouraging students to engage with the texts and issues at a progressively more demanding level, and stimulating enthusiasm. Seminars will concentrate on facilitating group discussion, often on the basis of work prepared in advance by students working in teams. Lectures and seminars will be supplemented by the occasional showing of films and the contribution of guest speakers.

Reading Strategy

The list of essential texts will be made available to students in advance of the module’s start date. In addition to the texts that students must buy, a supplementary handbook is also made available, for a small fee, that includes reading material for five weeks of study.

Students will be encouraged to use electronic sources – detailed references for which can be found in the module handbook as well as on UWEOnline. Their use of such sources will be assessed in the written report assessment. Students will also be advised to make full use of the library search engine and other searches (i.e. MLA) to find relevant secondary material for assignment purposes – searches that are particularly necessary given the contemporary nature of the module. In addition, a collection of articles are available to students in the short loan section of the library in a module box.

Indicative Reading List:

Annesley, James. Blank Fictions: Consumerism, Culture and the Contemporary American Novel. London: Pluto Press, (1998).

Aronson, Ronald. The Dialectics of Disaster: A Preface to Hope. London: Verso, (1983).

Bilton, Alan. An Introduction to Contemporary American Fiction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh

University Press, (2002).

Bradbury, Malcolm. Contemporary American Fiction. Stratford: Hodder Arnold, (1987).

Grice, Helena, Beginning Ethnic American Literatures. Manchester: Manchester

Candida Hepworth, University Press, (2001).

Maria Lauret and

Martin Padget (eds.).

Grice, Helena. Negotiating Identities: An introduction to Asian American women’s writing.

Manchester: Manchester University Press, (2002).

Harvey, David. The Condition of Postmodernity. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, (1997: First

published 1990).

Lee, A. Robert. Multicultural American Literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,

(2003).

Millard, Kenneth. Contemporary American Fiction: An Introduction to American Fiction since

1970. Oxford: Oxford University Press, (2000).

Vickroy, Laurie. Trauma and Survival in Contemporary Fiction. Charlottesville and London:

University of Virginia Press, (2002).

Assessment

Weighting between components A and B (standard modules only) A: 25% B: 75%

ATTEMPT 1

First Assessment Opportunity

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Examination (1 hour) 25%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Seminar Presentation and 750 Word Written Report 10%

2. Coursework Essay (2000 Words) 20%

3. Extended Essay (4000 Words) 40%

4. Attendance (for the whole module) 5%

Second Assessment Opportunity (further attendance at taught classes is not required)

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Examination (1 hour) 25%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Seminar 750 Word Report (only written submission) 10%

2. Coursework Essay (2000 Words) 20%

3. Extended Essay (4000 Words) 45%

SECOND (OR SUBSEQUENT) ATTEMPT: Attendance at taught classes is required.

Specification confirmed by ……………………………Date ……………………………

(Associate Dean/Programme Director)

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