Module manager: Dr Denis Flannery
Email: d.j.m.flannery@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2024/25
ENGL5752M The Brontes
This module is not approved as an Elective
This module surveys key moments in the writing career of the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne), focusing on their major novels and on the poetry of Emily Brontë. The module reads their major works in conversation with each other, focusing on questions such as their creative use of established literary modes such as lyric, ‘realism’ and Gothic. The module also reflects on ways in which questions of personhood, place, sexuality, and gender are explored in the work of the Brontës.
The module aims:
• to introduce students to a range of major writing by the Brontë sisters.
• to invite students to consider the extent to which the Brontës’ writing explores relationships between literary forms and major thematic questions such as personhood, place, sexuality, and gender.
• to equip students with the confidence and skills to engage in acts of close, alert reading, often in dialogue with contemporary critical approaches such as close-reading, feminism, postcolonial studies, and queer theory.
• All of the above objectives will be achieved through seminar discussion, through in-class writing exercises and through the provision of two assessment times/opportunities.
On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
1. Identify a range of important moments in the writing career of the Brontë sisters.
2. Evaluate relevant critical responses to major works by the Brontë sisters, both in recent times and at the time of those works’ publication.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
1. Conduct independent research, gathering information from a range of sources, and engaging in good academic practice in referencing their sources.
2. Produce independent arguments demonstrating advanced proficiency in critical thinking and writing skills.
3. Show developed close-reading and writing skills.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seminar | 10 | 2 | 20 |
| Private study hours | 280 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 300 | ||
Students will engage in small, informal writing tasks in seminars for which they will receive supportive feedback.
Students will receive written and in-person feedback on their first (1500-word) essay – due for submission in Week 6 of the Semester.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay: 1500 words | 30 |
| Essay | Essay: 2500 words | 70 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 1/30/2024
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team