Module overview
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- a range of contemporary novels and the stylistic and structural devices employed by their authors.
- the process of writing a novel.
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- give and receive constructive criticism.
- plan, structure, edit and improve your work.
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- write an opening and several chapters of a novel
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- look critically at your own work in order to edit and rewrite it as necessary to achieve a professional standard.
Syllabus
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Follow-up work | 26 |
| Wider reading or practice | 74 |
| Completion of assessment task | 100 |
| Preparation for scheduled sessions | 56 |
| Seminar | 44 |
| Total study time | 300 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Louis Sachar (2000). Holes. London: Bloomsbury.
Evelyn Waugh (2002). A Handful of Dust. London: Everyman.
Meg Rosoff (2004). How I Live Now. London: Puffin.
John Mullan (2006). How Novels Work. Oxford: OUP.
Jane Gardam (2004). Old Filth. London: Chatto & Windus.
Curtis Sittenfeld (2006). Prep. London: Picador.
Frank Cottrell Boyce (2004). Millions. London: Macmillan.
Ali Smith (2002). Hotel World. London: Penguin.
Julia Bell (2001). The Creative Writing Coursebook. London: Macmillan.
Virginia Woolf. Mrs. Dalloway.
Anne Tyler (2007). Breathing Lessons. London: Vintage.
Julia Darling (2004). The Taxi Driver's Daughter. London: Penguin.
Sandra Newman & Howard Mittelmark (2009). How Not To Write A Novel - 200 Mistakes To Avoid at All Costs if You Ever Want To Get Published. London: Penguin.
Mark Haddon (2004). The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. London: Vintage.
Assessment
Assessment strategy
Feedback and constructive criticism of draft and marked assignments will be available from seminar tutors and will enable you to critique and improve your work. For students during the referral period this may only be available via email and will depend on staff availability. Writing exercises used during the module and the discussion in seminars will provide you with potential starting points and foundations for your writing. You will be required to bring drafts of your work to seminars and to present it to groups of your fellow students for constructive criticism prior to submitting each assignment. This process will assist you in looking critically at your own work (as well as that of your fellow students) and so help you to edit and rewrite it as necessary to achieve a professional standard.Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Critical commentary | 25% |
| Written assignment | 25% |
| Written assignment | 50% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Critical commentary | 25% |
| Written assignment | 75% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External