BA English Literature Degree

Overview & facilities

Our BA English Literature degree with Honours studies the major periods and the important aspects of English literature, from the age of Shakespeare to the present day. You will study English literature as part of the broader culture that it is written in, such as the Renaissance or nineteenth or twentieth centuries; and alongside important ideas, such as modernity or otherness, or other art forms such as film.

The BA English Literature degree includes many of the most recent developments in the subject including courses that draw on the research that lecturers are engaged in. New areas include animal studies, post-colonial writing, and current interpretations of Shakespeare.

Content & modules

Modules

• Year 1

  Critical Reading (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module introduces you to skills and ideas essential for the reading of literary texts. It studies major literary genres: drama, poetry and fiction, and introduces you to the interpretation of literature through an idea that connects all the texts, the idea of the self. It also provides an understanding of the use of historical contexts and criticism in relation to critical reading. The module also teaches key skills, including considering sources, preparing and writing an essay, and introduces bibliographic skills and the use of learning resources.

  Introduction to Writing A: Fiction and Poetry (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  To develop reading and writing skills through exploration of two of the major forms of literary writing, prose fiction and poetry. To introduce students to technical considerations and stylistic methods. To engage in critical discussion of existing texts and recognise how this aids the development of one s own voice. To develop and improve skills in reading, thinking and group work.

  Reading Contemporary Literature (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  To help students develop a capacity to enjoy, understand, and analyse the meanings of modern and contemporary literature. Different kinds of writing, in different styles and with different aims will be studied. The emphasis will be on close reading that develops into a critical interpretation of a text. Students will develop advanced reading skills centred on key literacy critical concepts eg form and structure, metaphor narrative and so on. Texts will be studied through knowledge of appropriate generic, theoretical, and critical contexts.

• Year 2

  Literature in a Media Age (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module explores relations between literature and other media - film, radio, television and journalism. We examine adaptation, authorship, reviewing, and the ways marketing and publicity affect cultural production, and consider the nature of literary and cultural value. The module has four strands. The first two we will look at in tandem in the first term, and they concern authorship and cultural value across different media, and detective fiction - a specifically modern genre that develops in the nineteenth century, and now thrives in different media. The third and fourth strands which we will study after Christmas overlap. We will explore an ancient genre which remains hugely popular, but whose claims to cultural status have sometimes occasioned controversy: comedy. The final strand examines works that have stirred controversy, especially as claims to artistic freedom of expression clash with the assertion of other values.

  Literature in the Long 19th Century (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  The long nineteenth century 1789-1914 begins and ends in revolution and global war. Britain industrialised and expanded its global empire. Literature sought to make sense of this fast-changing world. Writers tried to get back to basics, but were divided. Romantic writers championed imagination; yet the nineteenth century was also the heyday of realism and science. Our goal will be to understand changing practices of reading, and literary tradition, experimentation and innovation in a variety of genres, and a variety of texts ranging from Jane Austen to early science fiction, and to develop the skills necessary to do so.

  Renaissance Literature (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module aims to introduce key texts and ideas from the English Renaissance, a period of exploration - of the globe and of the self; of religious upheaval; of the idealisation of order and of political revolution. Moving through the period chronologically students will assess literary texts in their historical context, and, by reading plays, poems and prose alongside critical and historical materials they will explore concepts of self and other, order and disorder in the period.

  Twentieth-Century Literature: Modernity to the Present (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  This course explores key texts of the twentieth century and up to the present day, spanning the genres of poetry, drama, and fiction in relation to the profound and wide-ranging historical changes that have taken place in that time. It focuses on such issues as class, gender, and historical and cultural change.

• Year 3

  Gender, Violence and the Postmodern (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  Gender is a central way in which we think and imagine ourselves. This third level module examines how gender has been configured within literary texts, mainly through the twentieth century, and the role of writing in producing gendered identities. Violence is inextricably linked to issues of gender, in multiple ways that map both masculinity and femininity and the module traces some of these. Postmodernism has further complicated the ways in which we conceptualise gender, and the module examines the link between postmodern literature and contemporary postmodern culture, mapping important social, political and cultural themes and concepts in relation to how gender is configured in relation to history, the body, ethnicity, work and leisure.

  Literature and Otherness: Empires and Animals, 1880 to the Present (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module focuses on novelistic and theoretical representations of the Other as constructed as belonging to another race , ethnicity, nation or species. It begins at the end of the nineteenth century with Joseph Conrad s Heart of Darkness and Robert Louis Stevenson s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and comes up to the present with John Coetzee s Disgrace and Yann Martel s Life of Pi. Otherness is explored in terms of the boundaries of self and other, human and non-human; the place of scientific knowledge and races , ethnicities, nations, and animals; and how representations of racial and animal others intersect with questions of class, gender and sexuality.

  Proposition Module (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  The Proposition Module allows students to select an area for specialised study in order to develop interests not covered elsewhere, or to further interests developed in previous study. To deepen and extend each student s knowledge and understanding of a particular aspect of English literature. To develop generic research skills including the ability to discover and assimilate information and the ability to communicate that information in writing in a coherent and balanced way.

  Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module studies texts by Shakespeare and contemporary dramatists in the context of Renaissance England, and as manifestations of some important concerns of the culture of the time: the theatre and theatricality; identity and self-fashioning; masculinity and femininity. The plays chosen are a representative selection, and will offer students a broad knowledge of the writings of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as some of the most significant cultural and intellectual movements of the period. Each play will be studied in relation to relevant contextual, critical and theoretical materials.

Thecourse starts by developing your critical powers with small-group discussions of modern literature; and giving the chance to do some creative writing. Then you acquire knowledge of important historical periods of literature. The final year is more specialised, with topic-based courses, along with training in research and the undertaking of a small research project.

Entry & applying

We normally make offers on a minimum of 240 UCAS tariff points including C at A level English Literature or English Language and Literature plus GCSE English Language at C or above, or overseas equivalent. Mature students without traditional school qualifications are welcome to apply.

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Qualifications accepted

For a comprehensive list of qualifications accepted by Middlesex, see further information under entry requirements

English language requirements

You must have competence in English language and we normally require Grade C GCSE or an equivalent qualification. The most common English Language requirements for international students are IELTS 6.0 (with minimum 5.5 in all four components) or TOEFL internet based 72 (with at least 17 in listening & writing, 20 in speaking and 18 in reading).

Middlesex also offers an Intensive Academic English course (Pre-Sessional) that ranges from 5-17 weeks depending on your level of English. Successful completion of this course would meet English language entry requirements. For more information on applying for the pre-sessional please email english@mdx.ac.uk.

Entry into year two or three (transfer students)

If you have achieved a qualification such as a foundation degree or HND, or have gained credit at another university, you may be able to enter a Middlesex course in year two or three. For full details of how this works see transfer students

UK/EU applicants with existing higher education qualifications

If you have already been awarded a qualification at the same level as the course you are applying for, you may not be eligible for a tuition fee loan, see fees and funding for more information.

Applying

Applications for UK and EU students should be made to UCAS – the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. The institution code for Middlesex is M80, and the code name is MIDDX. You also need the code for the course you wish to apply for – this is found in the 'at a glance' box above.

International students from outside the EU can make a direct application.  We have a network of regional offices across the world to assist you with your application.  They have worked with people from your region coming to Middlesex before and can help. Read more on international applications

Fees & funding

The tuition fee for the 2012/2013 academic year for UK/EU students is £9,000.
The tuition fee for the 2012/2013 academic year for International students is £10,400.

Click here to find out more about fees, funding and our scholarships in 2012.

Careers & placements

With the knowledge and skills you acquire, you will graduate with a degree that is highly valued, and provides entry to a wide range of careers, including management, research and consultancy, the public services, publishing and the creative industries.