LT210-5-AU-CO:
Love and Death in the Renaissance

The details
2021/22
Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Thursday 07 October 2021
Friday 17 December 2021
15
20 May 2021

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

(none)

Key module for

BA Q210 English and Comparative Literature,
BA Q211 English and Comparative Literature (Including Year Abroad),
BA Q212 English and Comparative Literature (Including Placement Year),
BA Q218 English and Comparative Literature (Including Foundation Year)

Module description

A century of religious, philosophical and political turmoil, the Renaissance was also the age of the great flourishing of the English stage and English verse.

In this module you will study Renaissance love poetry and learn about the sonnet, court literature, and the circulation of manuscripts. You will learn about the great writers of the canon, and some less familiar figures too, such as the female writers, who appropriated literary forms conventionally associated with men, and turned them to their own ends.

Moving from the focus on “love”, to the darker theme of “death”, some of the most extraordinary literature of this time is engaged with the religious turmoil and culture of martyrdom associated with the Reformation.

Finally, bringing these themes together, this module also explores Renaissance innovation in the theatre, and the revenge play, in which love, desire and death are intermingled and intertwined to horrifying effect.

Module content note: topics include traumas such as suicide, racism, rape, emotional and physical violence, and death. Please contact the Module Supervisor Dr. P. Gillies if you have any questions.

Module aims

The aim of the module is:

1. to provide an understanding of significant influences on early-modern writing
2. to provide an overview of the literature of the period, introducing students to many of the most important authors and genres of the sixteenth century.
3. to focus on women writers, as appropriate, in early-modern literature.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of a wide variety of writing in several important genres from c. 1540 - c. 1640.
2. Critically evaluate and analyse particular literary works with an informed understanding of the historical period which produced them
3. Demonstrate the ability to research an essay using primary and secondary texts, and unedited sixteenth-century texts (via Early English Books Online)

Module information

No additional information available.

Learning and teaching methods

Anticipated teaching delivery for 2021-22: Weekly 1-hour online lecture and 1-hour online seminar

Bibliography

This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Coursework   Essay (2,000-2,500 words)    80% 
Practical   Participation    5% 
Practical   Reflective Portfolio    15% 

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Patricia Gillies, email: pgillies@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Patricia Gillies
LiFTS General Office, email: liftstt@essex.ac.uk Telephone 01206 - 872626

 

Availability
Yes
Yes
Yes

External examiner

Prof Duncan James Salkeld
University of Chichester
Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature
Dr Doug Haynes
University of Sussex
Reader in American Literature and Visual Culture
Resources
Available via Moodle
Of 26 hours, 24 (92.3%) hours available to students:
2 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

 

Further information

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