STUDY

This module introduces students to the link between analysis of writing and style to creation of your own work in prose writing; this includes reflection on the writing you have produced. You will also explore the creative process itself; what drives the writer to create? 

Through the study of key texts, you will be able to explore and explode the traditional canon of literature through the lens of gender representation. Not only are you encouraged to consider how language, grammar, syntax and style has developed and evolved, but also to explore the relationship literature has had with the times in which it has been produced—how politics, history, culture and other influences have steered and perhaps controlled gender representation in creative work. 

Through the study of key texts, you will be able to explore and explode the traditional canon of literature through the lens of post-colonial representation. Not only are you encouraged to consider how language, grammar, syntax, and style has developed and evolved, but also to explore the relationship literature has had with the times in which it has been produced—how politics, history, culture and other influences have steered and perhaps controlled the representation of diverse cultures in creative work. 

This module introduces you to the link between analysis of writing and style to creation of your own work in poetry; this includes reflection on the writing you have produced. You will also explore the creative process itself; what drives the writer to create? How does stimulation and influence manifest itself in poetry? Thus, the module introduces an element which will be explored in greater depth as the course progresses. 

This module introduces you to the essential skills of close reading and the requirements of critical analysis of literary texts. Covering a wide range of literary theory and forms, it provides the building-blocks on which you will progress into studies at levels 5 and 6 when theoretical understanding and practical application will be requirements.

This module aims to provide you with the knowledge and understanding of processes of finding their voice in writing in all its forms. It is an essential element of level 5 study, following on from the Creative Writing introductions at level 4 and particularly in preparation for real-life briefs and Dissertation or Project work at level 6.

Our local area is undergoing massive regeneration and this module is designed to put you at the heart of the creative and communications sectors locally. Research, exploration and creation of fiction and non-fiction writings about and for places will combine to allow you to devise your own writing for the place in which you live and study. This module will engage, through a variety of forms, with the local wherever it can be found in order to understand the range of ways writing seeks to engage with public audiences. Through exposure to a variety of contemporary vehicles, you will be encouraged to apply the outcomes of your evaluative approaches to employer and industry briefs and produce a portfolio of creative writings.

This module takes the setting of the modern day and issues around social class, race, sexuality and gender as a starting point and explores the relevance of Shakespeare through responses, reworkings, reinterpretations and reimaginings in literature, on the stage and screen. The module will reflect the global resonance, creativity and strength of Shakespeare’s writings as they are developed to work across different art forms, languages, cultures and continents.

As contemporary writers we have access to a myriad of publishing and reinvention opportunities, enabling our work to reach both a wider audience and transcend its original formation to encompass theatre and performance, the graphic novel, film, radio, television, music video, animation, streaming services and other modern media. This module will encourage you to take your own writing, developed in earlier modules and adapt it to meet new purposes, through exposure to a variety of contemporary storytelling vehicles, strategies and techniques.

This module will explore the enduring appeal of 'Death, immortality, sexuality, rebellion and temptation (which) has embodied many literary and legendary images over the centuries' (J. Gordon Melton, the vampire book). You will explore the important effect these themes, as represented through literature, have had on western ways of thinking about evil and social norms, giving a framework for understanding their significance in a variety of literary contexts. You may explore texts from the Gothic, Victorian, Modern and contemporary such as the works of Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelly and Bram Stoker, Haruki Marukami, Daphne Du Maurier, Stephanie Meyer and Defoe.

Following World War 1 (1914-18) great changes came to literature and art in general. Shocked by the horror, atrocity and senselessness, artists and writers felt betrayed by the institutions of the civilized world that had led to such apocalyptic events. This module explores the role women played in this movement, challenging traditional views of femininity, and representing a more radical understanding of women's nature and role in society, associated with a range of unconventional behaviour—from smoking and bicycle-riding to sexuality outside marriage and political activism. This module will examine some of the key literary texts from this the period, organised around central thematic concerns such as: sexuality and motherhood; suffrage and politics; career and creativity that represented the turning away from what had gone before, the break with tradition, the reaction against the establishment, the breakdown of ‘absolute truths’, and the reliance on inner strength rather than established institutions. 

This module provides the opportunity to explore the challenges of producing a portfolio of creative writing accompanied by a self-reflective critical commentary. This portfolio may consist of a single extended piece of creative writing or a collection of pieces of shorter length and may be entirely original or derived from work earlier in the course. 

Or the dissertation is intended to provide you with an opportunity to select a research topic relating to an aspect of literary study which has engaged their own particular interest, and to explore it in detail through guided self-study. 

This module examines a range of British texts (poetry, prose and drama) by writers in the three decades following the end of World War Two. Beginning with the 1950s and spanning two decades, we discuss literary reactions to life post-war culminating arriving finally in the late 1970s. From the “angry young men”, disillusioned with traditional British society we will move through the literature of a new generation with its different ethnic, regional, and social character. The main contextual topics of study will explore the cultural politics of race, class economics, sexuality and gender.

This module explores the adaptation of English-language novels and plays into film since the early twentieth century. It introduces you to film language and analysis, to the theory of film adaptation, and then focuses on eight film adaptations of novels written in English since the early twentieth century. You will explore the extent to which the change of medium requires adaption of narrative, temporal considerations, language etc. and thus will hone their analytical and critical skills as well as their creative skills in their own reinventions. You will also consider the demands of the 21^st century market.

In this module you will look at a range of fiction written in the last 10 years, examining formal and thematic issues and the relationships between them. They will consider narrative experimentation and the recycling of old stories and forms; the representation of and return to history; posthumanism and the limits of the human; globalization and technology. The module will invite you to consider the power and role of literature in contemporary society and the impact of literary prize culture on publishing and publicity.

You will explore the practical aspects of creating content and compiling content into a published product—an anthology of your work. You will learn practical skills such as the basics of desk editing, web editing, and using publishing software as well as learning about legal issues related to sourcing content, the theory behind text and paratext, and the basics behind cover design and typography. Individually, you will be responsible for creating a written and visual component of a larger anthology; the class as a whole will design and create the anthology of you work which can be printed in book form. The module will be the culmination of the course, bringing skills learnt and talents developed since year 1, to fruition.