Understanding English modules

You will take the five core modules and...

• Shakespeare's Histories: Critical Approaches: Shakespeare’s histories explored a nation in crisis via the resources of commercial theatre. This module considers how Shakespeare reshaped history to dramatic effect, and how later theatre- and filmmakers have reinterpreted them in light of current events. Key topics include power and authority, gender politics, race and nation and war and trauma.

• From Talking Horses to Romantic Revolutionaries: Literature 1700 - 1830: Discover literature written between 1700-1830, a dramatic time in literary history that resulted in the Romantic period. This modules covers utopian literature, the developing novel, how irony works, what is self-expression and how the emergent genre of autobiography can be either manipulated, or used as part of a larger cause. 

• Victorian and Fin de Siecle Literature: 1830 - 1910: Understand and explore how literature from this period changed literary forms and genres and how these relate to broader developments in Victorian social, economic and political culture. This module covers topics such as empire and race, class and crime, identity and social mobility, gender and sexuality and literature and consumerism.

• Modern and Contemporary Literature: Moving between genres, this module explores 20th and 21st century literature, from modernism, through the inter-war years, and into postmodernism and the contemporary scene. You will examine how modern and contemporary literature connects to the cultural revolutions, intellectual debates, political and social upheavals, and ethical complexities of its times.

• Literary Linguistics: This module brings together the literary and linguistic parts of your degree, enabling you to explore any text from any period. You will study how texts can affect the reader, how characters can be imagined, how imagined worlds are built and brought to life, and how readers connect with literary worlds.

• Chaucer and his Contemporaries: This module explores a 40-year period of writing, considering whether Chaucer’s concerns with identity and authority, comedy and tragedy, and wit and wisdom are uniquely his, or shared with other writers. You will gain confidence in reading Middle English, and be aware of key issues around form, language, and authority and influence.

• Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Stage: This module focuses upon the historical and theatrical contexts of early modern drama. It invites students to explore the stagecraft of innovative and provocative works by Shakespeare and key contemporaries, such as Middleton, Johnson, and Ford. Students consider how practical performance elements such as staging, props, costume and music shape meaning.

• One and Unequal: World Literatures in English: This module examines the late twentieth and early twenty-first century globe through its correlates in modern fiction, drawn from across the world. Whilst introducing and attending to criticisms of the concept of ‘world literature’, this course explores literary systems, post-colonial criticism, cosmopolitanism, world ecologies, resource culture and literary translation theory.

• Making Something Happen: Poetry and Politics: This module considers how poetic forms manifest in historical moments and how poets have responded to the political and ideological upheavals of the twentieth century. The course also involves examining other writings by the poets’ – critical essays, manifestos, speeches and primary archival materials such as letters and manuscript drafts.

• Oscar Wilde and Henry James: British Aestheticism and Commodity Culture: This module uses the writings of Oscar Wilde and Henry James, alongside some of their contemporaries, to examine changes in literary culture and the practices of literary composition in the late 19th century. Key topics include the role of new technology, 'celebrity' culture, commodification, originality and the relationship between art and politics.

• Songs and Sonnets: Lyric Poetry from Medieval Manuscript to Shakespeare and Donne: Through exploring lyric poetry, this module examines cultural and literary change from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, developing student confidence in reading poetry from this period. We will consider the rise of ‘named poet’, the interaction of print and manuscript culture, the representation of love, and the use of the female voice.

• The Viking Mind: This module explores Norse and Viking cultural history, using an interdisciplinary approach grounded in the study of texts. It questions and challenges taken-for-granted perceptions of the Viking age and covers topics such as Viking society, exploration and diaspora, gender and family, religion and belief, outlaws, poetry and the supernatural.

• Modern Irish Literature and Drama: This module studies twentieth century Irish literature and drama. Students read texts in relation to their social, historical, and political contexts, tracking literary and cultural responses to Irish experiences of colonial occupation, nationalist uprising and civil war, partition and independence, socio-economic modernisation, and the protracted period of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.

You will take the five core modules and...

• Writing and Place: Discover the work of selected regional writers, including Nottinghamshire authors such as DH Lawrence, Sam Selvon and Irvine Welsh. You will consider how their work engages with regional landscapes, the literary and industrial heritage of their area, and other distinctive cultural elements such as dialect. The module encourages you to reflect on recent theoretical developments in the field of literary geography, while also equipping you to read and appreciate literary works through a focus on their tangible social and historical contexts.

• The Psychology of Bilingualism and Language Learning: Drawing on theories of second language acquisition, we will consider how globalisation has increased bilingualism, how languages are learnt and how students differ in their mastery of languages. We also consider how the psychology of the classroom environment impacts the effectiveness of learning and how to motivate students and create good learner groups.

• Language Development: This module explores how English is learnt at different life stages. Topics relating to early speech development include: the biological foundations of language development, stages of language acquisition and the influence of environment. Further topics concerning later stages of development include humour and joke telling, story-telling and conversational skills and bilingualism.

• Language in Society: This module focuses on how people use language, how language varies between different speakers, and how language is used to represent and influence different social groups. We consider the ways language is used by the media, advertisers, online communities and workplaces and also look at the relationship between language, gender and sexuality.

• Names and Identities: What can given names, surnames and nicknames tell us about people in the past? What determines the choice of a name for a child? Where does our hereditary surname system come from? How have place, class and gender impacted upon naming through time? This module will help you answer all these questions and more.

• Old English: Reflection and Lament: This module explores the tradition that the poetry and prose of Old English often focuses on warfare and heroic action. You will study and analyse poems from the Exeter Book 'elegies' and also passages from Beowulf to explore this rich and rewarding genre.

• Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Stage: This module focuses upon the historical and theatrical contexts of early modern drama. It invites students to explore the stagecraft of innovative and provocative works by Shakespeare and key contemporaries, such as Middleton, Johnson, and Ford. Students consider how practical performance elements such as staging, props, costume and music shape meaning.

• Oscar Wilde and Henry James: British Aestheticism and Commodity Culture: This module uses the writings of Oscar Wilde and Henry James, alongside some of their contemporaries, to examine changes in literary culture and the practices of literary composition in the late 19th century. Key topics include the role of new technology, 'celebrity' culture, commodification, originality and the relationship between art and politics.

• Language and the Mind: This module examines the role of the mind when we speak, listen, read and write. It explores the difference between human language and animal communication, the purpose of our inner voice, how language and reading are learnt, language deficits, language production, sign language and the relationship between language and thought.

• Language and Feminism: This module comprehensively explores feminist theory, as applied to language and linguistic contexts, and you will critically engage with contemporary real-world problems associated with gender and sexuality. Topics include gender and sexual identity construction; sexist, misogynistic, homophobic and heteronormative representations in texts; and feminist theory from the 1970s to the present.

• Teaching English as a Foreign Language: This modules looks at the process of English Language Teaching (ELT) and its theoretical underpinnings. Students will learn the principles behind the learning and teaching of vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing, speaking, listening and intercultural communicative skills. Students will also learn how to apply these theoretical principles to the development of teaching materials.

• English Place-Names: The module uses the study of place-names to explore the languages that have been spoken in England over the last 2000 years. You will learn how place-name evidence can demonstrate the history of English, including: its interaction with other languages, its regional and dialectal patterns and its changing vocabulary.

• Changing Stages: Theatre Industry and Theatre Art: Examining the mainstream and fringes of 20th and 21st century theatre production, this module illustrates how theatre responds to changing contexts and audiences. Key topics include: long-running productions, the role of the theatre producer, subsidised theatre, theatre companies, reviewing cultures, theatre’s relationship with the film industry and the advent of the mega-musical.

You will take the five core modules and...

• Shakespeare's Histories:Critical Approaches: Shakespeare’s histories explored a nation in crisis via the resources of commercial theatre. This module considers how Shakespeare reshaped history to dramatic effect, and how later theatre- and filmmakers have reinterpreted them in light of current events. Key topics include power and authority, gender politics, race and nation and war and trauma.

• Literature and Popular Culture: This module investigates the relationship between literature and popular culture. You will explore works from a range of genres and mediums, including: prose fiction, poetry, comics, graphic novels, music, television and film. As well as exploring topics such as aesthetics and adaptation, material will be situated within cultural, political and historical contexts.

• Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Page: This module explores material written between 1580 and 1630, introducing methods of reading early modern texts. Shakespeare’s poetry is among the core texts; other canonical writers include Marlowe, Spenser, Sidney and Donne. We explore the practice of historicised readings of early modern texts and consider the related challenges and limitations.

• Ice and Fire: Myths and Heroes of the North: The stories of Old Norse mythology have influenced writers throughout history. This module will take you back to the beginnings, exploring images on stone and wood in the Viking Age, and the written texts of the Middle Ages, and we will learn about mythical beings, cosmology and religion, and heroes and villains.

• From Stanislavski to Contemporary Performance: This module will develop your understanding of the theory and practice of theatre and performance from the beginnings of the twentieth century through to the present day. Building upon Introduction to Drama, we will consider the work of influential theorists and practitioners who have impacted theatre and performance in this period.

• Twentieth-Century Plays: Theatre makers in the 20th century have considered a range of artistic and social issues still pertinent today. This module gives an overview of key plays and performances from the 1890s to the present and you will study these key texts in relation to their original political, social, and cultural contexts.

• Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Stage: This module focuses upon the historical and theatrical contexts of early modern drama. It invites students to explore the stagecraft of innovative and provocative works by Shakespeare and key contemporaries, such as Middleton, Johnson, and Ford. Students consider how practical performance elements such as staging, props, costume and music shape meaning.

• Reformation and Revolution: Early Modern Literature and Drama 1588 - 1688: This module allows students to read Early Modern texts in their immediate contexts. It will situate the poetry, prose and drama between 1580 and 1700 against the backdrops of civil war, political revolution, scientific experimentation, and colonial expansion. It will ask how the seventeenth century informs modern understandings of the world.

• The Gothic Tradition: This module examines gothic texts and their connections to literature, politics, and historical/cultural contexts. You may cover poetry, novels, graphic novels or films and the course will explore critical and theoretical approaches to literature. The module also seeks to decolonise Gothic Studies, examining works by diverse creators from a range of subject positions.

• Modern Irish Literature and Drama: This module studies twentieth century Irish literature and drama. Students read texts in relation to their social, historical, and political contexts, tracking literary and cultural responses to Irish experiences of colonial occupation, nationalist uprising and civil war, partition and independence, socio-economic modernisation, and the protracted period of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.

• Songs and Sonnets: Lyric Poetry from the Medieval Manuscript to Shakespeare and Donne: Through exploring lyric poetry, this module examines cultural and literary change from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, developing student confidence in reading poetry from this period. We will consider the rise of ‘named poet’, the interaction of print and manuscript culture, the representation of love, and the use of the female voice.

• Changing Stages: Theatre Industry and Theatre Art: Examining the mainstream and fringes of 20th and 21st century theatre production, this module illustrates how theatre responds to changing contexts and audiences. Key topics include: long-running productions, the role of the theatre producer, subsidised theatre, theatre companies, reviewing cultures, theatre’s relationship with the film industry and the advent of the mega-musical.

• Making Something Happen: Poetry and Politics: This module considers how poetic forms manifest in historical moments and how poets have responded to the political and ideological upheavals of the twentieth century. The course also involves examining other writings by the poets’ – critical essays, manifestos, speeches and primary archival materials such as letters and manuscript drafts.

You will take the five core modules and...

• Creative Writing Practice: This module will introduce you to the processes involved in creative writing, exploring essential techniques and examining the contexts in which writers create their work. The course is delivered by published poets, novelists and playwrights and covers: techniques in poetry, drama and fiction; developing creativity; and creative and analytical responses to texts.

• Chaucer and his Contemporaries: This module explores a 40-year period of writing, considering whether Chaucer’s concerns with identity and authority, comedy and tragedy, and wit and wisdom are uniquely his, or shared with other writers. You will gain confidence in reading Middle English, and be aware of key issues around form, language, and authority and influence.

• Old English: Reflection and Lament: This module explores the tradition that the poetry and prose of Old English often focuses on warfare and heroic action. You will study and analyse poems from the Exeter Book 'elegies' and also passages from Beowulf to explore this rich and rewarding genre.

• Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Stage: This module focuses upon the historical and theatrical contexts of early modern drama. It invites students to explore the stagecraft of innovative and provocative works by Shakespeare and key contemporaries, such as Middleton, Johnson, and Ford. Students consider how practical performance elements such as staging, props, costume and music shape meaning.

• From Talking Horses to Romantic Revolutionaries: Literature 1700 - 1830: Discover literature written between 1700-1830, a dramatic time in literary history that resulted in the Romantic period. This modules covers utopian literature, the developing novel, how irony works, what is self-expression and how the emergent genre of autobiography can be either manipulated, or used as part of a larger cause. 

• Victorian and Fin de Siecle Literature: 1830 - 1910: Understand and explore how literature from this period changed literary forms and genres and how these relate to broader developments in Victorian social, economic and political culture. This module covers topics such as empire and race, class and crime, identity and social mobility, gender and sexuality and literature and consumerism.

• Language in Society: This module focuses on how people use language, how language varies between different speakers, and how language is used to represent and influence different social groups. We consider the ways language is used by the media, advertisers, online communities and workplaces and also look at the relationship between language, gender and sexuality.

• The Viking Mind: This module explores Norse and Viking cultural history, using an interdisciplinary approach grounded in the study of texts. It questions and challenges taken-for-granted perceptions of the Viking age and covers topics such as Viking society, exploration and diaspora, gender and family, religion and belief, outlaws, poetry and the supernatural.

• Island and Empire: This module interrogates English and British representations of colonisation and empire, within Great Britain and Ireland and with particular reference to India. Well known writers such as Rudyard Kipling and Salman Rushdie, will be set against less familiar voices, to consider the ways in which dominant narratives come about and can be challenged.

• One and Unequal: World Literatures in English: This module examines the late twentieth and early twenty-first century globe through its correlates in modern fiction, drawn from across the world. Whilst introducing and attending to criticisms of the concept of ‘world literature’, this course explores literary systems, post-colonial criticism, cosmopolitanism, world ecologies, resource culture and literary translation theory.

• Songs and Sonnets: Lyric Poetry from the Medieval Manuscript to Shakespeare and Donne: Through exploring lyric poetry, this module examines cultural and literary change from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, developing student confidence in reading poetry from this period. We will consider the rise of ‘named poet’, the interaction of print and manuscript culture, the representation of love, and the use of the female voice.

• Language and Feminism: This module comprehensively explores feminist theory, as applied to language and linguistic contexts, and you will critically engage with contemporary real-world problems associated with gender and sexuality. Topics include gender and sexual identity construction; sexist, misogynistic, homophobic and heteronormative representations in texts; and feminist theory from the 1970s to the present.

• Dreaming the Middle Ages: Visionary Poetry in Scotland and England: The genre of dream-vision inspired work by all the major poets of the Middle Ages. The course will depend upon close, detailed reading of medieval literary texts, as well as focusing on the variety and urgency of issues with which dream poetry is concerned: literary, intellectual, social, religious and political.

You will take the five core modules and...

• Creative Writing Practice: This module will introduce you to the processes involved in creative writing, exploring essential techniques and examining the contexts in which writers create their work. The course is delivered by published poets, novelists and playwrights and covers: techniques in poetry, drama and fiction; developing creativity; and creative and analytical responses to texts.

• Literature and Popular Culture: This module investigates the relationship between literature and popular culture. You will explore works from a range of genres and mediums, including: prose fiction, poetry, comics, graphic novels, music, television and film. As well as exploring topics such as aesthetics and adaptation, material will be situated within cultural, political and historical contexts.

• Literary Linguistics: This module brings together the literary and linguistic parts of your degree, enabling you to explore any text from any period. You will study how texts can affect the reader, how characters can be imagined, how imagined worlds are built and brought to life, and how readers connect with literary worlds.

• Ice and Fire: Myths and Heroes of the North: The stories of Old Norse mythology have influenced writers throughout history. This module will take you back to the beginnings, exploring images on stone and wood in the Viking Age, and the written texts of the Middle Ages, and we will learn about mythical beings, cosmology and religion, and heroes and villains.

• From Stanislavski to Contemporary Performance: This module will develop your understanding of the theory and practice of theatre and performance from the beginnings of the twentieth century through to the present day. Building upon Introduction to Drama, we will consider the work of influential theorists and practitioners who have impacted theatre and performance in this period.

• Twentieth-Century Plays: Theatre makers in the 20th century have considered a range of artistic and social issues still pertinent today. This module gives an overview of key plays and performances from the 1890s to the present and you will study these key texts in relation to their original political, social, and cultural contexts.

• Fiction: Forms and Conventions: This module focuses upon the technique and craft of fiction writing, including narrative voice, point of view, character development, dialogue, plot, and setting. You will explore a diverse range of writers and techniques and will also consider the publishing industry. You will develop your own creative work, alongside your critical and reflective skills.

• The Viking Mind: This module explores Norse and Viking cultural history, using an interdisciplinary approach grounded in the study of texts. It questions and challenges taken-for-granted perceptions of the Viking age and covers topics such as Viking society, exploration and diaspora, gender and family, religion and belief, outlaws, poetry and the supernatural.

• The Gothic Tradition: This module examines gothic texts and their connections to literature, politics, and historical/cultural contexts. You may cover poetry, novels, graphic novels or films and the course will explore critical and theoretical approaches to literature. The module also seeks to decolonise Gothic Studies, examining works by diverse creators from a range of subject positions.

• Advanced Stylistics: This module offers advanced study of the language of literary texts and how it impacts reading and interpretation. It equips you with skills useful to the teaching of English, or for a career in publishing. You will learn how style contributes to meaning and interpretation, and why texts affect you in different ways.

• Dreaming the Middle Ages: Visionary Poetry in Scotland and England: The genre of dream-vision inspired work by all the major poets of the Middle Ages. The course will depend upon close, detailed reading of medieval literary texts, as well as focusing on the variety and urgency of issues with which dream poetry is concerned: literary, intellectual, social, religious and political.

• Changing Stages: Theatre Industry and Theatre Art: Examining the mainstream and fringes of 20th and 21st century theatre production, this module illustrates how theatre responds to changing contexts and audiences. Key topics include: long-running productions, the role of the theatre producer, subsidised theatre, theatre companies, reviewing cultures, theatre’s relationship with the film industry and the advent of the mega-musical.

• Advanced Writing Practice: Fiction: In this module, you will read key writers within specific forms and genres and will receive critique of your own writing. By the end of the module you will have been given opportunity to develop and extend your writing skills and expertise through workshop exercises and the constructive feedback received during the workshop.

You will take the five core modules and...

• Writing and Place: Discover the work of selected regional writers, including Nottinghamshire authors such as DH Lawrence, Sam Selvon and Irvine Welsh. You will consider how their work engages with regional landscapes, the literary and industrial heritage of their area, and other distinctive cultural elements such as dialect. The module encourages you to reflect on recent theoretical developments in the field of literary geography, while also equipping you to read and appreciate literary works through a focus on their tangible social and historical contexts.

• Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Page: This module explores material written between 1580 and 1630, introducing methods of reading early modern texts. Shakespeare’s poetry is among the core texts; other canonical writers include Marlowe, Spenser, Sidney and Donne. We explore the practice of historicised readings of early modern texts and consider the related challenges and limitations.

• Literature and Pop Culture: This module investigates the relationship between literature and popular culture. You will explore works from a range of genres and mediums, including: prose fiction, poetry, comics, graphic novels, music, television and film. As well as exploring topics such as aesthetics and adaptation, material will be situated within cultural, political and historical contexts.

• Language in Society: This module focuses on how people use language, how language varies between different speakers, and how language is used to represent and influence different social groups. We consider the ways language is used by the media, advertisers, online communities and workplaces and also look at the relationship between language, gender and sexuality.

• Ice and Fire: Myths and Heroes of the North: The stories of Old Norse mythology have influenced writers throughout history. This module will take you back to the beginnings, exploring images on stone and wood in the Viking Age, and the written texts of the Middle Ages, and we will learn about mythical beings, cosmology and religion, and heroes and villains.

• Old English: Reflection and Lament: This module explores the tradition that the poetry and prose of Old English often focuses on warfare and heroic action. You will study and analyse poems from the Exeter Book 'elegies' and also passages from Beowulf to explore this rich and rewarding genre.

• Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Stage: This module focuses upon the historical and theatrical contexts of early modern drama. It invites students to explore the stagecraft of innovative and provocative works by Shakespeare and key contemporaries, such as Middleton, Johnson, and Ford. Students consider how practical performance elements such as staging, props, costume and music shape meaning.

• Contemporary British Fiction: Contemporary fiction focuses on writing from Britain and closely-related contexts in the post-war period. We concentrate on the formal operations and innovations of selected novelists, considering how the contemporary socio-historical context influences form. We explore the relationships between context, content and form, supported by related literary and cultural theory and philosophy.

• Island and Empire: This module interrogates English and British representations of colonisation and empire, within Great Britain and Ireland and with particular reference to India. Well known writers such as Rudyard Kipling and Salman Rushdie, will be set against less familiar voices, to consider the ways in which dominant narratives come about and can be challenged.

• Language and the Mind: This module examines the role of the mind when we speak, listen, read and write. It explores the difference between human language and animal communication, the purpose of our inner voice, how language and reading are learnt, language deficits, language production, sign language and the relationship between language and thought.

• Songs and Sonnets: Lyric Poetry from the Medieval Manuscript to Shakespeare and Donne: Through exploring lyric poetry, this module examines cultural and literary change from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, developing student confidence in reading poetry from this period. We will consider the rise of ‘named poet’, the interaction of print and manuscript culture, the representation of love, and the use of the female voice.

• Modern Irish Literature and Drama: This module studies twentieth century Irish literature and drama. Students read texts in relation to their social, historical, and political contexts, tracking literary and cultural responses to Irish experiences of colonial occupation, nationalist uprising and civil war, partition and independence, socio-economic modernisation, and the protracted period of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.

• Reformation and Revolution: Early Modern Literature and Drama 1588 - 1688: This module allows students to read Early Modern texts in their immediate contexts. It will situate the poetry, prose and drama between 1580 and 1700 against the backdrops of civil war, political revolution, scientific experimentation, and colonial expansion. It will ask how the seventeenth century informs modern understandings of the world.