During your first year you are introduced to prose, poetry and drama and performance from the medieval period to the modern day, and to aspects of English language from the beginnings of English to applied linguistics.
While some of these areas may be familiar to you, others may be quite new, and our aim is to support you as much as possible as you encounter fresh ways of approaching and thinking about the study of English.
Alongside these modules, you will take the Academic Community module, taught in small tutorial groups, to introduce key issues to English and to develop your study skills as you make the transition from school or college to university.
You are also able to take module options in creative writing or in subsidiary modules, offered by the School and by other departments in the Faculty of Arts and across the University. See the modules tab for further details.
Core
Academic Community
This module introduces the key issues and skills in English, for transitioning to university-level study. It explores areas of overlap between the different areas of English at Nottingham.
You will be taught in small groups by your personal tutor, and encouraged to explore – both critically and reflectively – what it means to be a student of English.
We support you to develop study, research and communication skills, which will be useful across all your modules. This includes building effective skills for reflective writing and oral presentation.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Beginnings of English
What was the earliest literature in English like? Where does English come from? What does ‘English’ really mean, anyway?
On this module, we’ll explore a range of English and Scandinavian literature from the medieval period. You'll also meet themes and characters who are at once familiar and strange: heroes and heroines, monster-slayers, saints, exiles, tricksters, lovers, a bear, and more.
From Tolkien to Marvel, the medieval past has been an inspiration for fantasy fiction and modern myth. As well as introducing you to stories and poetry which is exciting, inspiring and sometimes plain weird, we’ll also be looking at some of the challenges of the modern world.
Thinking about the past, means thinking about how it is used in the present day. The idea of a 'beginning' of English language and literature often gets incorporated into modern beliefs about national, ethnic and racial identity. On this module, we’ll begin the necessary work of challenging these ideas and building a better understanding of the medieval past and why it still matters.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Drama, Theatre, Performance
Who makes theatre? Where does performance happen, and who is in the audience? How is society represented on stage?
These questions are at the heart of this module, and we will explore the extraordinary variety of drama in the Western dramatic tradition. You will examine dramatic texts in relation to their historical context, spanning:
- ancient Greek tragedy
- medieval English drama
- Shakespeare and his contemporaries
- the Restoration stage
- 19th century naturalism
- political theatre of Brecht
- drama and performance, for example the West End hit Emilia by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (2018), a celebration of women’s voices and history, inspired by the life of the trailblazing 17th century poet and feminist Emilia Bassano
Alongside texts, you'll also consider the extra-textual features of drama, including the performance styles of actors, the significance of performance space and place, and the composition of various audiences.
You will study selected plays in workshops, seminars and lectures, where we will explore adaptation and interpretation of the texts through different media resources. You can also take part in practical theatre-making, exploring extracts from the selected play-texts in short, student-directed scenes in response to key questions about performance.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Studying Language
On this module you will learn about the nature of language, and how to analyse it for a broad range of purposes. It aims to prepare you for conducting your own language research across your degree.
The accompanying weekly workshops will explore levels of language analysis and description – from the sounds and structure of language, through to meaning and discourse. These can be applied to all areas of English study, and will prepare you for your future modules.
In your lectures, you will see how our staff put these skills of analysis and description to use in their own research. This covers the study of language in relation to the mind, literature, culture, society, and more. Your seminars then give you a chance to think about and discuss these topics further.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Studying Literature
This module introduces the core skills for literary studies, including skills in reading, writing, researching and presentation. Topics covered include:
- close reading
- constructing an argument
- handling critical material
- introducing you to key critical questions about literary form, production and reception
You will put these new skills into practice through reading specific literary texts. These are focused on poetry and prose selected from the full range of the modern literary period (1500 to the present).
Across the year, you will learn about different interpretive approaches and concepts, and will examine literary-historical movements and transitions.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Optional English modules
Creative Writing Practice
Taking a creative approach to language is a big part of what all writers do. In this module, we introduce the process of writing poetry and fiction.
You'll gain a broad perspective on creative writing, exploring essential techniques and examining the contexts in which writers create their work.
We will cover:
- techniques in poetry (imagery, stanza and poetic form), and fiction (character, narrative and point of view)
- ways of developing your creativity
- creative and analytical responses to texts, by a wide range of contemporary and classic writers
You are taught by published poets and novelists, who'll share their insights and work closely with you to support your development. We also invite guest lecturers, so you can benefit from a professional perspective on the realities of writing and publication.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Regional Writers
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.
This module is worth 10 credits.
Shakespeare's Histories: Critical Approaches
What is 'England'? Should we have a choice in who rules us? And can we ever really believe the news?
Shakespeare's history plays are less known to modern readers than his comedies and tragedies, but the question they ask are startlingly visionary. Through his sequence covering the monarchs from Richard II to Henry V, Shakespeare used the resources of the commercial theatre to explore a nation in crisis. These wildly successful plays have also been the inspiration for some of the most political Shakespeare productions of later centuries, as the plays continue to be applied to modern contexts of war and regime change.
Through close reading, performance analysis, and critical writing, this module explores how Shakespeare reshaped history to dramatic effect, and how later theatre- and filmmakers have reinterpreted them in light of current events.
Key issues include:
- Kingship and authority
- Gender politics and marginalised voices
- Race and nation
- War and trauma
- Class and power
Through exploring these plays, you will gain a grounding in the analysis of theatre and film – drawing on a wide range of mainstream and fringe productions – and in the performative, linguistic, and thematic contexts that shaped Shakespeare's writing.
This module is worth 10 credits.
Alternatively, you may prefer to start or continue learning a language, or choose other modules from across the Arts faculty and the University, such as in American studies, philosophy, history, art history or classics.
The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer but is not intended to be construed and/or relied upon as a definitive list of the modules that will be available in any given year. Modules (including methods of assessment) may change or be updated, or modules may be cancelled, over the duration of the course due to a number of reasons such as curriculum developments or staffing changes. Please refer to the
module catalogue for information on available modules. This content was last updated on Tuesday 02 July 2019.
Year two enables you to develop a deeper understanding of the issues and critical approaches across the areas of literature and language, as well as having the possibility of continuing with the study of other disciplines within English if you wish.
You will take a total of six modules during your second year. You will begin to specialise in language and literature through two core modules and by taking a further three modules from both Literary and Language Studies, and one module from any area of study in the School of English.
Core
Texts Across Time
This module will consider key issues in the study of English language and world literature, locate language and literature in time and place, and extend your knowledge of the intellectual, political, historical, and cultural developments in language and literature.
Literary Linguistics
All literature is written in language, so understanding how language and the mind work will make us better readers and critics of literary works.
This module brings together the literary and linguistic parts of your degree. It gives you the power to explore any text from any period by any author.
You will study how:
- Literature can feel rich, or pacy, or suspenseful, or beautiful
- Texts can make you laugh, cry, feel afraid, excited, or nostalgic
- Fictional people like characters can be imagined
- We can get inside the thoughts, feelings, and hear the speech of characters, narrators and authors
- Imagined worlds are built, and how their atmosphere is brought to life
- You as a reader are manipulated or connect actively with literary worlds and people
This module is worth 20 credits.
Optional
You will choose three options from Literary Studies and Language Studies and then one further optional English module.
Literary Studies
Each of these modules will offer a comprehensive introduction to the changes in the genres of prose, poetry and drama across the period studied, placing the works encountered in the context of key aesthetic, social and political/historical contexts.
Chaucer and his Contemporaries
Chaucer dominates our conception of late Middle English literature, but he was one among several exceptional writers of his time.
This module focuses on 40 years of writing, to consider whether Chaucer’s concerns with identity and authority, comedy and tragedy, and wit and wisdom are uniquely his, or shared with other writers.
We will cover a wide range, including:
- romance
- dream vision (both mystic and secular)
- love poetry
- lyric
You will read works by the so-called Ricardians: Chaucer, Gower, the Gawain-poet, and Langland, but also the mystic writings of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe and some poetry by Thomas Hoccleve.
By the end of the module, you will have gained confidence in reading and discussing Middle English texts, and be aware of key issues around form, language, and authority and influence.
This module is worth 20 credits.
From Talking Horses to Romantic Revolutionaries: Literature 1700-1830
This module introduces different kinds of literature, written between 1700-1830. This was a dramatic time in literary history, resulting in the Romantic period. It involved many areas of great contemporary relevance, such as class, poverty, sexuality, and slavery.
We will examine:
- utopian literature (through Gulliver’s Travels)
- the developing novel (such as Moll Flanders and Pride and Prejudice)
- how irony works
- what is self-expression
- how the emergent genre of autobiography can be either manipulated, or used as part of a larger cause
As part of this module, you will explore novels, poems, and prose works that bring to life the intellectual, social and cultural contexts of the period.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Literature and Popular Culture
This module investigates the relationship between literature and popular culture. You will explore works from across a range of genres and mediums, including:
- prose fiction
- poetry
- comics
- graphic novels
- music
- television
- film
As well as exploring topics such as aesthetics and adaptation, material will be situated within cultural, political and historical contexts allowing for the distinction between the literary and the popular.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Modern and Contemporary Literature
This module charts the dramatic transformations and innovations of literature in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Moving between genres, the module unfolds chronologically from modernism, through the inter-war years, and into postmodernism and the contemporary scene.
We explore some of the huge artistic shifts of this long and turbulent period. 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.
This module is worth 20 credits.
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. You'll have a two-hour lecture and one-hour seminar each week for this module.
Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Page
This module focuses on material written between 1580 and 1630 to provide you with an introduction to methods of reading early modern texts. Shakespeare’s poetry will be among the core texts; other canonical writers will include Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Philip Sidney and John Donne. You’ll explore the practice of historicised readings of early modern texts and you’ll consider the related challenges and limitations. You’ll have one hour of lectures and two hours of seminars each week.
Ice and Fire: Myths and Heroes of the North
Odin, Thor and Loki: almost everyone has heard about them, but where do their stories come from?
In this module, we will learn about the origins of their myths from various sources: images on stone and wood in the Viking Age, as well as the written texts of the Middle Ages.
We will learn about giants, dwarves, valkyries and rumour-spreading squirrels, as well as the cosmology and religion which are embedded in Old Norse mythology. We will talk about heroes and villains, from dragon-slayers to queens who kill to avenge their brothers.
The stories of Old Norse mythology have influenced writers throughout history. from Tolkien to the Marvel Universe, they are still part of our culture. This module will take you back to the beginnings and show that there are so many more marvellous myths to explore.
The module is with 20 credits.
Victorian and Fin de Siècle Literature: 1830-1910
Explore a wide variety of Victorian and fin-de-siècle literature, with examples taken from fiction, critical writing and poetry.
You will examine works by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Charles Dickens, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, HG Wells and Joseph Conrad.
We will focus on understanding changes in literary forms and genres over this period, and how these relate to broader developments in Victorian social, economic and political culture.
The module is organised around the following interrelated themes:
- Empire and race
- Class and crime
- Identity and social mobility
- Gender and sexuality
- Literature and consumerism
This module is worth 20 credits.
Language Studies
Building on the study of language undertaken in year one, these modules provide the exciting opportunity for you to explore aspects of language use in the mind, in society and in literature.
Language in Society
When we study language, we learn about how society works. Why do some people have more noticeable accents than others? Why are some people taken seriously when they talk, while others aren’t? How do those with power use language to manipulate us into thinking a certain way?
On this module, these are the sorts of questions you’ll be thinking about. We focus on how people use language, how language varies between different speakers, and how language is used to represent different social groups. We consider:
- The way that language is used by people online to create communities
- How the mainstream media uses language to represent particular groups, such as immigrants or gay people
- The ways that language is used in particular contexts, such as the workplace
- How advertisers use language to persuade us that we need their products
- The relationship between language, gender and sexuality
- How language can be used to signal a person’s race or ethnicity
You’ll learn how to conduct a sociolinguistic study which explores topics such as these. You will also spend time each week analysing original language data.
The module is worth 20 credits.
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. You'll have a two-hour lecture and one-hour seminar each week for this module.
The Psychology of Bilingualism and Language Learning
Are you interested in languages and the multilingual world? Have you ever wondered how our brains process learning a second language? Would you like to teach English overseas one day? If so, this module could be for you.
Drawing on current theories of second language acquisition, we will consider:
- How globalisation has increased bilingualism in the world
- How languages are learnt
- How students differ from each other in their mastery of languages
- How the psychology of the classroom environment impacts the effectiveness of learning
- How to motivate students and create good learner groups
You will spend three hours per week on this module, split equally between a lecture and follow-up seminar.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Language Development
You’ll explore how English is learnt from making sounds as an infant through to adulthood. Topics relating to early speech development include: the biological foundations of language development, the stages of language acquisition and the influence of environment on development. Further topics which take into account later stages of development include humour and joke telling abilities, story-telling and conversational skills and bilingualism.
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. Interactive lectures and seminars, and a project based on primary material tailored to each participant, will introduce you to the many and varied, fascinating and extraordinary types of personal name and their origins.
History of the English Language
This module focuses on the development of the English language from before the arrival of Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century to the present day. It offers students a thorough grounding in the changes that the language has undergone over this time. We will look at topics such as the development of writing, language contact and standardisation. An important theme running through the module is the relationship between the historical record and the political power of those who produced and preserved that record.
Other optional areas of study in English during the second year:
Drama and performance
These modules gives you the opportunity to develop approaches from year one by studying twentieth and twenty-first century theatre: by exploring key critical approaches to drama in theory and practice, and by focusing on a key period in the development of our nation's theatre. Modules in this area of study include:
Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Stage
This module offers an in-depth exploration of the historical and theatrical contexts of early modern drama. This module invites students to explore the stagecraft of innovative and provocative works by Shakespeare and key contemporaries, such as Middleton, Johnson, and Ford (amongst others). Students will explore how practical performance elements such as staging, props, costume and music shape meaning. You’ll have one hour-long lecture and one two-hour long seminar each week, with occasional screenings.
From Stanislavski to Contemporary Performance
Develop your understanding of some of the most influential performance theories and practice, from the beginning of the 20th century to the present.
Building on the ‘Drama, Theatre, Performance’ module, you will deepen your understanding of Stanislavski and Brecht in practice, as well as exploring the work of other influential theorists and practitioners.
Possible material includes:
- Konstantin Stanislavski
- Vsevolod Meyerhold
- Bertolt Brecht
- Antonin Artaud
- Jacques Lecoq
- Ensemble physical theatre makers such as DV8, Gecko & Frantic Assembly
For this module, you’ll have a mix of lectures and practical workshops, totalling three hours a week.
Workshops offer the opportunity for practical drama. You will explore theory in practice, through work with excerpts from canonical theatrical scripts and other performance scripts.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Twentieth-Century Plays
Theatre makers in the long 20th century have been dealing with a series of pressing artistic and social issues, many of which still concern us today.
These issues include:
- What makes a play worth watching?
- Why do audiences enjoy watching bad things happening?
- How are minority groups represented on the stage?
- How might the stage advance the cause of gender or sexual equality?
- What role does social class or nationality play in the workings of theatrical culture?
- How can we talk accurately about an art form like performed theatre, that is so fleeting and transitory?
In order to answer such questions, this module gives an overview of key plays and performances from the 1890s to the present. You will study these key texts in their original political, social, and cultural contexts. You will also:
- consider their reception and afterlife
- focus on the textual and performance effects created
- place the texts alongside the work of relevant theorists and practitioners
This module is worth 20 credits.
Creative writing
Students who choose Creative Writing Practice in year one as an option may take one creative writing module. Modules in this area of study include:
Fiction: Forms and Conventions
This module expands on the work done in the first year by undertaking a sustained analysis of technique and craft related to fiction writing, including narrative voice, point of view, character development, dialogue, plot, and setting. You will be introduced to a wide and diverse range of writers and techniques as well as exploring the publishing industry as it relates to fiction. You will develop your own creative work as well as your critical and reflective skills.
Poetry: Forms and Conventions
This module expands on the work done in the first year by undertaking a sustained analysis of technique and craft related to writing poetry, including poetic line, stanza, rhyme and related techniques, and imagery, along with a number of traditional forms such as the sonnet or haiku. You will be introduced to a wide and diverse range of writers and techniques as well as exploring the publishing industry as it relates to poetry. You will develop your own creative work as well as your critical and reflective skills.
The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer but is not intended to be construed and/or relied upon as a definitive list of the modules that will be available in any given year. Modules (including methods of assessment) may change or be updated, or modules may be cancelled, over the duration of the course due to a number of reasons such as curriculum developments or staffing changes. Please refer to the
module catalogue for information on available modules. This content was last updated on
Of the six modules taken in year three, at least two must be in language and two in literature. You may choose these from a wide range of specialist topics.
You also have the opportunity to develop an individual research project of your own choice with the one-to-one support of an expert member of staff.
You will take a total of six modules during your final year
You will choose two modules in Literary studies and two modules in Language studies. Two further modules are chosen from any area of study in the school. Students also have the opportunity to develop an individual research project of their own choice with the one-to-one support of an expert member of staff.
Literary studies
- The Literature of the Anglo-Saxons
- Dreaming the Middle Ages: Visionary Poetry in Scotland and England
- The Self and the World: Writing in the Long Eighteenth Century
- Contemporary Fiction
- Making Something Happen: Twentieth Century Poetry and Politics
- Single Author Study
- Dark Futures, Tainted Pasts: Dystopian and Gothic Fictions
- The Viking Mind
- Reformation and Revolution: Early Modern literature and drama 1588-1688
- Island and Empire
- Henry James and Oscar Wilde
Language studies
- Teaching English as a Foreign Language
- English Place-Names
- The Literature of the Anglo-Saxons
- Language and the Mind
- Advanced Stylistics
- The Viking Mind
- Discourses of Health and Work
- Language and Feminism
Drama and performance
You may choose up to two options from the following modules:
- Performing the Nation: British Theatre since 1980
- Changing Stages: Theatre Industry and Theatre Art
- Modern Irish Literature and Drama
- Reformation and Revolution: Early Modern Literature and drama 1588-1688
- Writing for Performance
- Theatre Making
Creative writing
Or if you chose Creative Writing Practice in year one, you may choose up to two of the following modules:
- Advanced Writing Practice: Fiction
- Writing for Performance
- Advanced Writing Practice: Poetry
Individual research project
You will have the opportunity to undertake an individual research project. This will give you the chance to work on a project of your choice with the one-to-one support of an expert member of staff.
The modules we offer are inspired by the research interests of our staff and as a result may change for reasons of, for example, research developments or legislation changes. The above list is a sample of typical modules we offer, not a definitive list.
English Dissertation: Full year
English Dissertation: Spring Semester only
Project-Based Dissertation