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CRWT40260

Academic Year 2024/2025

Reading Like A Writer (CRWT40260)

Subject:
Creative Writing
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
English, Drama & Film
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Dr Niamh Campbell
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module will introduce you to the notion of reading like a writer. Through close reading and exploration of the variety of techniques and strategies prose writers bring to the page, you will form an enhanced understanding of the ways writers work.

The module is broken into two halves. In the first half of the semester, you will discuss particular technical components of fiction – point of view, dialogue, setting, etc – through extracts supplied by the module leader. In the second half of the semester, you will lead a class focussing on the ways in which the insights gained apply to extracts of your choice, including your own creative work.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course you will:

1. Understand the ways a writer works to produce texts.
2. Develop the skills to identify and analyse the work of specific authors with regard to creative intention and technical strategies.
3. Apply the insights gained to the production of your own writing.

Indicative Module Content:

Indicative Reading List

NW – Zadie Smith
The Lesser Bohemians – Eimear McBride
Tender – Belinda McKeon
The Secret Place – Tana French
The Last Good Kiss – James Crumley
Summerwater – Sarah Moss
Devil In a Blue Dress – Walter Mosley
The Green Road – Anne Enright
Tennis Lessons – Susannah Dickey
Get Shorty – Elmore Leonard
The Butcher Boy – Patrick McCabe
All Grown Up – Jamie Attenberg
Before The Fall – Noah Hawley
Weightless – Sarah Bannan
Normal People – Sally Rooney
Life Sentences – Laura Lippman
Then We Came To The End – Joshua Ferris
Story Of My Life – Jay McInerney
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

100
Autonomous Student Learning

80
Small Group

22
Total

202

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Peer and group work; reflective learning; debates; student presentations.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Portfolio: 5,000 word portfolio submission (fiction), to reflect work undertaken during term Week 12 Graded No

100

 Yes

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

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