Revolution, Rebirth, Religion: Early Modern Poetry Course Descriptor

Course Overview

The early modern period, which is broadly the years between 1550 and 1700, is the hinge between the medieval and modern world, and it was a period of extreme cultural and social change. This is a period which begins with the great upheaval of the Reformation and which culminates in the revolution of the English Civil War. In these times, and most intensely expressed in poetry, we find a new and often radical exploration of what it means to be human; of the nature of worldly society, and the rights and wrongs of inherited political systems; of gender, humanity’s relationship with the environment, and the individual. This course will introduce students to the key poets of the period and may also include one or two verse dramas and short extracts of prose as a counterpoint to the poetry which will be the focus of the course. Authors may include Mary Sidney, John Milton, and John Donne. The lectures will examine key writers in the context of the encounter with the new world of the Americas, early English colonialism, the rise of capitalism, and the transformation of domestic structures.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Lectures/Seminars

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1:all sessions in the same sized group

OR

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessment are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE.

Summative Assessments

There are two written assessments; the first is short and concentrated, whereas the other is a longer research-based essay. The latter requires students to engage in original research into a key theme or topic from the period, to relate selected works to this topic with the aid of appropriately selected interpretative techniques.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Christopher Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”
• John Milton, Paradise Lost
• Mary Sidney, The Sidney Psalter
• John Donne, Selected Poems
• Andrew Marvell, Selected Poems
• Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy
• The Book of Common Prayer, extracts

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below are used as a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Early colonialism and the New World
• Literary production and gender
• Political poetry of the English Civil War
• Devotional poetry and the Reformation
• Metaphysical Poetry
• The Art and Poetry of Death
• The Renaissance and the rise of the individual