School of English
Module manager: Dr Ian Fairley
Email: i.a.fairley@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
Grade B at ‘A’ Level English Language or Literature (or equivalent) or an achieved mark of 56 or above in a Level 1 module in English (or its non-UK equivalent).
This module is approved as a discovery module
Our principal object of study is Ovid’s Metamorphoses in its first English translation. Our principal objective is to explore the nature and necessity of metamorphosis in the conception of human life and death. We shall develop our inquiry through attention to two of Shakespeare’s plays informed by the translation of Ovid, to later English versions of certain key episodes in the poem, and to modern thinking about metamorphosis. Our interest in transformation will take us, among other places, into dream, magic, love, hate, and the passage between human and non-human states. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
This module aims to develop a secure knowledge and appreciation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in English translation. It will explore the reanimation of the poem’s transformational concerns in Shakespearean drama. Its range of texts will engage the ancient and the modern, myth and theory, in order to foster a creative understanding of metamorphosis and the human potential for transformation.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Compare ancient and early modern myths of metamorphosis through present-day cultural and critical frames of reference.
2. Engage critically with primary texts and peer-reviewed scholarship concerned with the representation and conception of metamorphosis.
3. Analyse comparative poetic, dramatic and narrative representations of metamorphosis.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1) Conduct independent and appropriately referenced research.
2) Produce independent arguments, and to demonstrate advanced proficiency in critical thinking and writing.
3) Articulate the relevance of literary study to the socio-cultural context of the wider world.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| Seminar | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Private study hours | 185 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 15 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Weekly seminar contributions. Student progress is further monitored through consultations to discuss thinking and planning for coursework. Summative feedback on the first assessment acts as formative for the second.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | essay | 30 |
| Coursework | essay | 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: 13/02/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team