EN3OW-Oscar Wilde and the World of Art

Module Provider: English Literature
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Terms in which taught: Autumn term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Dr John Scholar
Email: j.m.scholar@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

Oscar Wilde, lover of beauty, sexual rebel, and socialist, was unique but he didn’t emerge from a vacuum. This module looks at how the Aesthetic Movement, the new celebration of art for art’s sake which swept across Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century, inspired Wilde. We will look in depth at Wilde’s fiction, drama and poetry, through the lens of the pioneering painters, designers and art critics who motivated him, asking why words and images combined and collided in this period in new and controversial ways. The module will take advantage of digital technology to confront the most vivid images of this period, such as the Gothic buildings of Venice, the medieval maidens of the Pre-Raphaelite painters, and the smoky sexualities of French symbolist painting. We will examine a wide range of visual arts including painting, photography, fashion, architecture, and interior design. The module will also pose fundamental questions, such as, does a knowledge of the visual arts help us understand literature? And how in this period did literature and the visual arts differently register cultural, technological and political changes?

Aims:

This module aims to provide students with an informed critical understanding of writers and artists of the second half of the nineteenth century, and an understanding of how the visual arts and literature can influence each other.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module, students will become acquainted with a range of important novelists, poets, critics and artists from the Victorian period, and be able to compare and contrast them. They will also be able to discuss in both theoretical and historical terms some of the ways that a knowledge of the visual arts can help us understand these writers.

By the end of the module students will be expected to:

• Demonstrate knowled ge and understanding of certain key cultural debates between 1850 and 1900


• Show an ability to use these debates to inform close critical analysis of selected texts


• Understand the implications of different literary forms for reading


• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the visual arts as a context for literary study


• Show an ability to use this knowledge to inform close critical analysis of selected texts


• Engage critically with ideas presented in seminars and secondary materials


• Research, organize and articulate a scholarly critical argument in writing

Additional outcomes:

Oral and written communication skills will be developed, together with critical, interpretative and analytical abilities.

Outline content:

This module examines a range of Victorian writers and artists in the context of wider artistic, social and intellectual debates. Alongside Oscar Wilde, writers may include John Ruskin, Christina Rossetti, Henry James and Violet Paget (‘Vernon Lee’). Artists may include William Morris, Marie Spartali Stillman, Holman Hunt and Maria Zambaco.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Three seminar hours weekly, for which students are required to do preparatory reading. Students are also entitled to a half-hour tutorial on their formative written work.

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Seminars	30		1
Tutorials	0.5
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)	25
Wider reading (directed)	67
Exam revision/preparation	33
Preparation for seminars	17
Completion of formative assessment tasks	9
Essay preparation	17.5
Total hours by term	199	0	1
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written exam	50
Written assignment including essay	50

Summative assessment- Examinations:

A two-hour exam.

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

A summative essay of 2,500 words, due on the last Friday of term.

Formative assessment methods:

Students write a formative essay of 1500 words, on which both written and oral feedback will be offered. Feedback will also be provided on the summative essay.

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/qualitysupport/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

A mark of at least 40% overall.

Reassessment arrangements:

Re-examination in August. Coursework will be carried forward if it bears a confirmed mark of 40% or more. Otherwise it must be resubmitted by 25 August.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books: £20

2) Specialist equipment or materials: 

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: 

4) Printing and binding: 

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification: 

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence: 

Last updated: 24 November 2021