Module description
This module explores the flourishing of the lyric genre of poetry in the British Isles from c.1790-1830. Whilst lyric forms were produced and defined from ancient Greece up to the present, they reached a particular cultural high water-mark in the Romantic period, and this writing has often been taken to reflect on the nature of art, of modernity, and of human experience itself. A key concern of this module will be to explore how ‘lyric’ has been related to the evocation of the human senses, sensuality and synaesthesia. We may also consider dreams, media theory, and medical humanities approaches to our materials. This module is organised around the close reading of a diverse weekly suggestion of poems both canonical and non-canonical, including by women and labouring class writers, as well as Romantic-period criticism and contemporary secondary readings. Assessment will involve regular, informal written responses on a Forum, revised into a formally-assessed portfolio of four short essays.
Assessment details
Coursework
Portfolio of 4 x 1000 word essays (100%)
Educational aims & objectives
1. To have a historically nuanced understanding of the flourishing of the lyric genre in the British Isles in the period 1790-1830
2. To have sustained and rigorous engagement with substantial theories of lyric poetry from the early nineteenth century through to recent academic debates.
3. To examine critically different literary and philosophical references to the senses.
4. To consider issues such as gender, class, sexuality and the body as they pertain to the production, content and reception of Romantic lyric poetry and the critical analyses that have followed it.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 6 module and in particular will be able to:
1. analyse critically a variety of poems from the period 1790-1830
2. demonstrate broad awareness and relevant reference to the circumstances of production and reception of those works
3. demonstrate detailed knowledge of well-established theories and concepts of lyric poetry and aesthetics, including the active methodological and aesthetic debates of the last decade.
4. synthesize different ideas, contexts and frameworks and recognizes those areas where the knowledge base is most/least secure
5. communicate reading and research effectively, through oral presentations and discussion (formative assessment)
6. develop and sustain an argument, drawing on appropriate resources (to be demonstrated through final essay)
Teaching pattern
One two hour seminar, weekly