COURSE CURRICULUM

The BA (Hons) English Literature course offers students a comprehensive exploration of literary studies while fostering critical, creative, and professional skills. In the first year, students engage with core modules including reading texts, story shapes covering drama, structure, and plot, literary landscapes, introduction to Renaissance literature, and readers and reviewers. These modules provide a foundation in textual analysis, literary history, and interpretive skills. Optional modules such as exploring form and genre or introduction to American literature and culture allow students to personalise their learning and broaden their understanding of different literary traditions. In the second year, compulsory modules focus on developing research skills and deepening literary knowledge, including English employability and research, the Gothic in literature, visual culture and film, reading and writing fairy tales, and literary culture from the Romantics to the Decadents. Optional modules such as writing adaptations, reading and writing the short story, literature in translation, and the graphic novel encourage creative application and analysis of literature in diverse contexts. The final year enables students to synthesise their learning through a dissertation and advanced study in modern and contemporary literature, as well as science fiction and fantasy. Optional modules allow further specialisation in areas such as advanced creative writing, literature into film, and colonial and postcolonial literature. The course equips students with analytical, research, and communication skills, preparing them for careers in writing, publishing, media, education, and related fields.