School of English
Module manager: Professor James Mussell
Email: j.e.p.mussell@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2024/25
This module is not approved as a discovery module
In this module we will read Victorian literature in its original print context: in serial parts, periodicals, and newspapers. This means encountering familiar texts in unfamiliar contexts, with illustrations, advertisements, and surrounded by other articles. It means considering a wider range of Victorian writing, including opinionated leading articles, scandalous news stories, hostile reviews, and bickering correspondence. By examining literature in these print formats we can learn how, and what, the Victorians really read.
This module will introduce students to the range of ways literature was published in the period. We will read a longer text week-by-week in serial parts. Seminars will be dedicated to particular types of publication, focusing on a literary text but exploring what else is in the issue with it.
Through this approach students will think hard about the importance of media formats. We will attend to how printed objects were designed to appeal to particular readers and encourage particular modes of reading. We will also explore the different forms in which this material survives today, whether by handling print in the library or remediated in digital form.
The module will guide the students as they explore the materials for themselves, pursuing their own interests and enabling them to put what they find in literary, cultural, and historical context.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Describe the various print formats in which literature was published in the period.
2. Show how material was organised and produced to appeal to particular sets of readers.
3. Reflect on how historical printed material is encountered today.
4. Demonstrate how print contexts can affect textual meaning
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Conduct independent research into the nineteenth-century newspaper / periodical archive (enterprise; academic; digital)
2. Communicate the results of their research in different modes (e.g. written, verbal) (work ready; academic; enterprise; sustainability)
3. Demonstrate a range of media literacies (digital skills)
4. Show critical thinking by analysing texts in context (academic; work ready; sustainability)
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practical | Delivery type 5 | Number 1 | Length hours 5 |
| Seminar | Delivery type 10 | Number 1 | Length hours 10 |
| Private study hours | Delivery type 185 | ||
| Total Contact hours | Delivery type 15 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | Delivery type 200 | ||
Formative assessment will be by individual presentations delivered in seminar / practical time. Presentations will be 5 minutes with time for questions (so feedback will be from peers as well as staff)
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment type Assignment | Notes . | % of formal assessment 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | Assessment type 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: 5/22/2024
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team