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ENG32780

Academic Year 2024/2025

Presenting Tennessee Williams (ENG32780)

Subject:
English
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
English, Drama & Film
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Dr Cormac O'Brien
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 critically interrogate both the well- and lesser-known works of the mid-twentieth century and world-renowned dramatist, Tennessee Williams. It will also have a key focus on the ways in which Tennessee Williams’ life influenced his work, as well as scholarly, institutional, popular, and self-reactions, to his dramas on stage and on screen.
Whilst many of the primary texts studied will be the plays of Tennessee Williams, students will also study, discuss, and unpack his prose fiction; indeed, students will be interested to learn that the short story form was favoured by Williams as a ‘first draft’ method for his significant dramas. Students will also study and discuss his only full-length novel, "The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone". An in-depth study will also be given to William’s considerable canon of one-act plays.

Both the American South and Sexualities – of every stripe – permeate the works and life of Tennessee Williams. Indeed, William’s cacophony of emotionally damaged, eccentric, and bizarre characters pulsate with the heat of the South and sexuality, be that repressed, overt, or celebratory. Students will, therefore, engage in critical debates, research, and discussions regarding the intersections of mid-twentieth century sexualities as they played out in the American South; the impact of settler colonialism on William’s works and characters; and Williams’ figurations and conceptions of gender.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this module students can expect to:
• Be able to convey in critical terms the biographical details of Tennessee Williams’ life and the ways in which it relates to his writing.
• Have an intricate critical understanding of the major dramatic works of Tennessee Williams and their screen-adaptations.
• Have a broad critical understanding of Tennessee Williams’ lesser-known works with particular regard to his short prose fiction, and his considerable corpus of one-act plays.
• Become conversant with several scholarly discourses regarding Tennessee Williams’ work, with key focuses on his representations of sexualities, gender expression and identity, and the Deep South landscapes in which they are situated.
• Understand and be able to critically express the relationships between the American Deep South, sexualities, and Williams’ writing.

Indicative Module Content:

- Eras or periodization of Williams' creative output
- forms, genres, and dramatic structure of Williams' work.
- Williams and the one-act drama form; limitations, expectations, boundary busting

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Small Group

44
Seminar (or Webinar)

24
Project Supervision

12
Specified Learning Activities

76
Autonomous Student Learning

44
Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module will have one weekly 2-hour seminar, every Thursday afternoon from 2 pm to 3.50 pm. Each seminar will commence with a student or a group of students giving a short presentation on a previously agreed primary text from the module.
Seminars will take the form of guided debate and discussion. The module has a ‘handout system’ whereby each week, no less than 5 working days before the seminar, a handout will be disseminated via Brightspacewith debate and discussion points and questions. Students are expected to work through the handout with that week’s primary text(s) and therefore come to class with some questions or discussion points prepared.
Students will be expected to watch screenings of both film adaptations of Tennessee William’s significant plays and videoed theatrical productions. All of the theatrical productions, as well as Williams’ play scripts, are available on Drama Online.
As well as reading one major or two shorter works by Williams for each class, students will have one or two secondary sources per week to read as class preparation; all of which will be disseminated via Brighspace.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy Invalid Option
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Participation in Learning Activities: Students will give, either individually or in groups, a short presentation based on that week's primary text. Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Pass/Fail Grade Scale No
20
 Yes
Reflective Assignment: Students will write a short (max 1000 words) piece reflecting on how the life of Tennessee Williams is reflected in one of the primary source texts covered between weeks 1 - 5. Week 7 Graded Yes
30
 Yes
Assignment(Including Essay): FInal essay: Students will write a 2500 word essay comparing and contrasting 2 of the primary texts on the module giving in-depth reference to secondary sources Week 12, Week 14 Graded Yes
50
 Yes

Carry forward of passed components Invalid Option
Yes
 

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

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

'A Streetcar Named Desire' - Methuen Student Edition
'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' - Methuen Student Edition
'Tennessee Williams: Collected Stories' - Vintage Classics

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Thurs 14:00 - 15:50
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