Explore UCD

UCD Home >

ENG10030

Academic Year 2024/2025

Literary Genre: the Art of Criticism and the Craft of Writing (ENG10030)

Subject:
English
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
English, Drama & Film
Level:
1 (Introductory)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Professor Jane Grogan
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

Literary genre is the first (and maybe even the most important) element of understanding a text of any kind. In every kind of writing, it is genre that governs and shapes language, style, form, address and the engagement with the literary tradition; in deciding how to write about a particular subject, literary genre is the writer’s first consideration, and engaging with a text's genre is vital to any act of literary criticism. In this module we aim to equip students with the skills to understand and work critically with the critical concept of literary genre, as well as particular examples of it, across poetry, prose and drama.

The module will examine a range of texts, classical to contemporary, drawn from the different genres of poetry, prose, and drama. It will identify and explore the terms by which particular genres are designated and literary traditions are built. Module texts will illustrate the flexibility, adaptation, and evolution of specific genres across time and space, in dialogue with other cognate texts and authors, and consider the relationship between genre and the always-evolving historical literary 'tradition'.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

1. Understand the concept and implications of literary genre
2. Acquire strategies for identifying literary genre(s) and thinking critically with them
3. Demonstrate awareness of the evolution of key genres of poetry, prose and drama in pre-modern as well as modern periods
4. Develop knowledge of literary terms, and an ability to apply them to the analysis of a range of texts.
5. Deploy new knowledge about literary genre and critical skills in close readings and essays.

Indicative Module Content:

PROVISIONAL content - see Brightspace for finalized content

Selected poems from The Making of a Poem, ed. Eavan Boland and Mark Strand (Norton, 2000)
Thomas Malory, Morte d'Arthur (excerpt)
Aphra Behn, Oroonoko
Herman Melville, Benito Cereno
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
'Noah' from the Chester cycle
Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12
Small Group

12
Specified Learning Activities

36
Autonomous Student Learning

40
Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
1. Lectures

2. Workshops
active/task-based learning;
peer and group work;
critical writing;

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Equivalents:
Literary Genre (ENG1002E)


 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): A short close reading assignment based on the Poetry section of the module. Week 6 Graded No
40
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): A final 2000-word essay, based on the Prose AND Drama sections of the module. Students must write on BOTH a prose and a drama texts from the module. Week 14 Graded No
60
 No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

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

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students will receive grade for mid-semester essay prior to final exam

Name Role
Professor Jane Grogan Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Assoc Professor Naomi McAreavey Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Assoc Professor Niamh Pattwell Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Professor Emilie Pine Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Assoc Professor Rebecca Stephenson Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Assoc Professor Nerys Williams Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 10:00 - 10:50
Spring Small Group Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 10:00 - 10:50
Spring Small Group Offering 2 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 12:00 - 12:50
Spring Small Group Offering 3 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 10:00 - 10:50
Spring Small Group Offering 4 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 10:00 - 10:50
Spring Small Group Offering 5 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 13:00 - 13:50
Spring Small Group Offering 6 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 11:00 - 11:50
Spring Small Group Offering 7 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 11:00 - 11:50
Spring Small Group Offering 8 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 13:00 - 13:50
Spring Small Group Offering 9 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 10:00 - 10:50
Spring Small Group Offering 10 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 11:00 - 11:50
Spring Small Group Offering 11 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 12:00 - 12:50
Spring Small Group Offering 12 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 13:00 - 13:50
Spring Seminar Offering 13 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 09:00 - 09:50
Spring Seminar Offering 14 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 09:00 - 09:50
Print this page
Fill in the following details:
Enter the body of your query here.

From time to time UCD would like to send you further information that we feel, based on your enquiry, would be of interest to you.